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WWW.COROMANDELLIFE.CO.NZi parked up at the end of the Kauaeranga
Valley road at the start of the track to the
Pinnacles hut. i began to bundle, cram
and shove all of my gear, which had been
floating around in the back of my truck,
into my bag.
i was staying in a hut but i carried a tent
just in case (you never know when you’re
‘the wildboy’). i also decided i needed a
watermelon, a bottle of red wine, some
fresh meat and vegetables. i also carried
the ordinary camp foods. all up i had about
15kg of food (i eat a lot) and 14kg of gear.
it was still drizzling as i took the first step
on what was going to be an easy 3-hour
walk to the hut. five minutes in and i came
across the first river crossing. i walked
through the water instead of using the
bridge. wet feet – now i’m truly ready
for the hike!
the track was wet and slippery from the
rain – that made it all the more exciting.
half an hour in, and i came across the
most beautiful stairs that had been carved
out of the rock.
the feeling of beauty quickly turned to
the feeling of sorrow for the poor buggers
who had to make those stairs ... and then
turned into sorrow for myself having to walk
up them. if there one thing i don’t love it’s
stairs! and they climbed higher and higher,
like they were never going to end.
i pushed on for i knew that eventually they
would flatten out.
something that stood out to me already
was the lack of rubbish on the track.
The Pinnacles track is in Kauaeranga
Valley in the Coromandel Forest Park.
The track can be done in one 8-hour
day or in two days with a night in one
of the the huts or camp grounds.
This is my story of the beautiful
walk that it is!
Brando Yelavich
wildboy Adventures
normally when you walk a busy track it
is literally hard to spot the
clean
bit, but
i noticed the Pinnacles track was clear.
another thing that i realised: there were
lots of birds... they were singing in the
middle of the day... and it was wonderful!
i can imagine even though i wasn’t
enjoying the stairs, if they weren’t there it
would be a very slow and strenuous trek
up from the valley floor to the Pinnacles.
the sweat was running off my face and
down my neck – the rain was saturating
my clothes. My scarpa boots (the ones
that took me around the coast of new
Zealand) were still just holding together,
and still keeping my feet dry.
the ground started to flatten out. i realised
i was at the top of the stairs. the track
from here was beautiful. cobblestone
paths laid by the kauri loggers, surrounded
by manuka trees and young kauri that
were just old enough to create a tunnel.
it was magic.
high and wild – even
for the Coromandel’s
own... ‘wildboy’