Head to Kuataika Track carpark on Anawhata Road. Start off on foot up the Anawhata Road, back in the direction you came from, for about half an hour until you come across the Chateau Mosquito Track on your left .
Go up this track. This track is fairly wide, more than enough for a quad bike and slopes slightly upwards at the start and then undulates at reasonable gradients. The ground is orangey brown clay & can be a tad slippery at times.
After about 30 minutes from starting this track you’ll pass the RGB track on your right, continue straight ahead& upwards. Soon enough the bush closes in around you and you can really start to enjoy the green hue with plenty of moss, flora & fauna. The track now starts to slope downwards too. There’s also fallen trees to go through & duck under. After a while the track gets even steeper as it makes its way down towards Anawhata Stream.
At the stream we head left and basically walk through the stream (downstream) navigating your way around the slippery rocks both under the streambed as well as the protruding ones. After about 10 minutes of so you’ll come across your first of 6 compulsory swims through beautiful (& very refreshing) blue water. As well as these swims there are also a few small rapids of fast running water that you’ll need to make your way through -taking a lot of concentration to avoid slipping over . After our swims we stop for a change of tops & a hot cuppa tea with some golden crunch cookies.
This route is absolutely stunning with plenty of moss& rocks, rapids, pools & a couple of small waterfalls. As well as the swims there is also plenty of wading through up to waist deep water. At one point the stream goes through a fairly narrow ravine where the rock towers above on each side. We also pass the site of an old dam where a couple of massive wooden beams are still in place.
After a couple of hours the stream allows you to walk to the side of it on alternating sides (dictated by when you run out of flatness on each side). This also provides the opportunity to get out of the water for a bit to warm up. Also after a couple of hours from morning tea a sunbeam declares itself on a flat grassy bit stream side so he stop for lunch for some Charissa (Chermoula & Harissa) Sarnies & another Hot cuppa & another change of tops. We don’t stop too long as we need to keep moving to stay warm.
After about 3 ¼ hours of following the stream we reach where the Kuataika Track crosses this stream on either side. There is no actual signage besides the trusty maker designating part of the Hillary Trail. From here we head left (not before taking one last dip in a pool just ahead) and upwards. This is another wide orangegy brown track for a quad bike. This is pretty much straight up for half an hour at a fairly steady gradient to warm you up. At the top of the track we reach a cow paddock where there is a marker pointing you in the right direction. From here it’s not long before you can see the car across the paddock and we make our way around the surly looking cows.