Hunua Ranges and Cosseys Dam

In the last post, I showed you Hunua Falls. This post is from the same trip. After walking around the falls (it’s not really even proper to call it “hiking” since it was probably a little over a kilometer of walking all told), I took to the trails. I wanted to hike to Cosseys Dam (it appears that the proper name is Cosseys Dam but Cossey Track. Kiwis seem to be fairly lax about spelling and grammar sometimes, but I’m replicating here what is written on the signs).

As a side note (I wish I had been able to get a picture of this, but it was too difficult to frame without a wide-angle lens), the trail splits at one point. The Cossey Track and the Massey Loop run concurrently for part of their journey, and you get to decide which side to take. I took the one with the steep incline, on the theory that getting the incline out of the way at the beginning would make for easy walking near the end. I don’t think this worked out for me, since the direction I chose was a ton of very steep climbs and then some nice, gradual descents. But there is a reason why I was glad I took the way I did, which I will get to in a minute. But first some photos.

Walking away from the falls, you still get one more glimpse through the trees.

Oh, I must have been mistaken. Here are the real Hunua Falls :). This tiny little waterfall is all part of the same river system that feeds the big falls as well as the reservoir I’m hiking toward.

Here’s a vertical photo of the tiny falls.

This river is running downhill, but I’m climbing. I know it’s called Hunua Ranges, but I didn’t think I’d actually be going up a mountain!

The climb was worth it, though, because here was my first glimpse of the Cosseys Reservoir.

Here I am, much closer. Just kidding! This photo is from the same place, I just zoomed the camera in :)

This is Cosseys Dam. It’s an earthen dam, and there’s no flow control or inlets because the other side of the dam is dry.

Here’s the other side of the dam. It’s terraced, and there are some sheep keeping the grass nice and trimmed. I made a “baaaaa” noise at the sheep, and I swear one of them glowered at me. I must have said something rude in sheep language.

Sadly, climbing around was discouraged. Normally I’d be over that fence and scrambling around both sides of the dam in a heartbeat, but I was obedient.

I haven’t quite been able to find information on what the purpose of Cosseys Dam is. Probably to provide more land for sheep to wander around. But the reservoir certainly is pretty!

The water of the falls is a murky brown since the river flows over a lot of loose, soft ground. After the reservoir, though, I did find some interesting green-hued water.

I don’t know what sort of mineral composition causes the water to turn this color, but I think it’s really pretty!

After hiking most of the way around the loop, I came to a ford with no bridge! I was surprised there were no signs warning of this. Maybe the river isn’t usually this high, or maybe Kiwis just assume that if you’re up for a hike this long, you can ford a small river. In any case, I was wearing sandals and cold water doesn’t bother me, so it was a pretty easy crossing. I was just glad I had taken the upper path so this was at the end of my hike rather than the beginning; 5km or so in wet sandals is a good recipe for blisters!

There you have it! That was my trip to the Hunua Ranges! I have a feeling this might not be the last time I head out that way, as I would love to make it to the other side and explore Waharu. But that’s it for now; hope you enjoyed!