Head to Hunua Falls Carpark. This place is pretty flash since I was last here as it has a fair amount of car parks along with loos & changing rooms & a drinking fountain & a new wooden bridge.
Start out across the bridge over the river where you’ll get your first sight of the picturesque Hunua Falls form the middle of the bridge. At the other side there is a T junction. To the right is the track to the base of the Hunua Falls & to the left is the start of the Cosseys Gorge Track. We head left. This track has plenty of lush ferns & is well maintained & gravel, so for those mud lovers – you’re out of luck here.
This starts out at a slight incline and after a few minutes you’ll pass an unsign posted track (which we discovered later is another track to the falls via a lookout) before you reach the junction a few more minutes later where Massey Track meets up on your right. We continue on the Cosseys Gorge Track veering to the left.
We head left which pretty much heads downwards straight away & down to the Cosseys Stream with an easy crossing with plenty of big rocks assisting. After the crossing the track heads back up again fairly steeply with lots of stairs. Once up all the stairs the track is reasonably flat & goes alongside the stream which is a fair way below. After about 50 minutes we come out at the carpark (also with loos) for Cosseys Dam.
We go through the gate & follow the signs & we pass over the dam. On the other side of the dam is where the Wairoa Cosseys Track starts. Here is a also a spot for morning tea & they even have a picnic table if you prefer. There was a tad too much concrete for our liking so we went along the track a bit & had Tea & Golden Crunch Cookies trackside sitting amongst the ferns.
From there this track inclines steadily, about 20 minutes or so upwards we reach a wooden platform with a view looking out over Cosseys Reservior. From here, the track continues upwards but is a fairly slight gradient & also the growth on each side closes in a bit giving it a better vibe. Some parts feel almost tunnel like with the supplejack overhead.
After abour 45 minutes the track forks . Straight ahead is a gate that you would need to go through for the rest of the Wairoa Cosseys track & to the right is the Massey Track. We head right. This track still climbs up, but is still pretty easy going. We pass a slight detour/junction that goes around a small kauri grove in a loop with a bit of a view beyond. From here the track mostly flattens out amongst plenty of rimu , puriri & pongas, then there’s an easy descent, with a few stairs here & there. We finish this loop at a leisurely pace about 2 ¾ hours from starting out. We then head to the falls & sit on a rock for lunch of Sarnies & a cuppa. Afterwards there are a few smaller tracks around the falls to explore with different lookout points that were checked out, then it was back to the falls for a swim.