The south coast of the eastern side of Wellington harbour is some of the most rugged coastline in the country. New Zealand's first lighthouse at Pencarrow Head and the most intact mainland lighthouse complex at Baring Head, stand as testiment to the dangers the coast has served up to shipping over the years. If you follow the coast road from the inner harbour around to the south coast you pass the memorial to the Wahine disaster; possibly New Zealand's most famous seafaring tragedy.
The rugged valleys and mountain ranges that stretch inland from this spectacular coastline are now open to explore on professional quad bike expeditions. Based at Orongorongo Station at the mouth of the Orongorongo River, you are immediately introduced to a world you wouldn't believe is just 45 minutes from Hutt City, Wellington and its industry and suburbs.
This is rugged country and the quad bikes have plenty of power so safety is paramount. After a helmet fitting and footwear if necessary, a briefing of go and stop buttons and levers, then a short practice on flat terrain and we were off on what was going to be a 90-minute ride up onto the top of a ridge and back.
The thrill of riding through scrub, across a river bed and up farm tracks heading towards the tops is immediate. We paused for a short break to look down onto Turakirae Head. The perspective our height gave us of the earthquake scars was unique. We could clearly see the scars of earthquakes 600, 400 and 250 years ago; our guide points out that we are overdue for another big one! We promise to sort out our survival kits when we get home and rev our engines in the hope that signals 'can we go now?'
Reaching the tops is special. The views to the South Island up the Wainuiomata Valley and Orongorongo Valley and across the harbour to Wellington are simply unbeatable. Our guide announced that this was the turn around point for the 90-minute ride. We thought that bringing us to this magnificent view and then cutting us off was not going to work so we extended our ride time there and then. More valleys, views and river crossings and another hour had us finally satisfied.
There are flatter ride options around the coast to the Turakirae Head seal colony and longer, tougher options of up to two days with an overnight camp. In my head I've already signed some mates up for the two dayer - boys and toys!
I totally recommend a couple of hours out on this exceptional piece of Wellington which too few people know about. http://www.wellingtonadventures.co.nz/
David Hancock is the visitor development manager for Hutt City, Wellington, New Zealand and would be delighted to receive comments on this or any other topic.
http://www.huttvalleynz.com/
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