Whirinaki Forest Loop Track, North Island, New Zealand

The Whirinaki Loop Track is usually a three day trip along the Mangamate and Whirinaki Rivers in the central North Island of New Zealand. We did a long first day to fit it into a winter weekend in July 2022. The Whirinaki Forest is part of the enormous track of largely unspoilt forest that also covers Te Urewera National Park. It is a beautiful forest rich in ancient podocarps including Totara, Rimu, Miro, Kahikatea and Matai. The forest was saved by conservationists from logging in the 70's and it is now a home to endangered species such as Whio (Blue Duck) which are fairly plentiful along this track. The river crossings keep the entertainment high with more than 60 to the first hut; I lost count after that on day one. Day 2 had no crossings, but our boots that froze overnight still kept the feet chilled for the first part of the day.