“Covid has changed things. Summer is taking over from the traditional winter ski-field sports. Since the border closures we’re seeing fewer backpackers, and more visitors who want to hike and cycle. These people either have their own RVs or require a different type of accommodation to the traditional hostel style, and stay somewhere not necessarily boutique where they can relax in comfort.” Braden Allen of Ohakune Hot Tubs is one of several people who have moved to Ohakune for the lifestyle and set up a business catering to these needs. After walking the Waitonga Falls Track we’d submerged ourselves in one of his private open-air wood-fired tubs. In late afternoon, relaxing under a blue-dome sky, being studiously ignored by a couple of kererū that were feasting in a tall kōwhai tree, the experience was nothing short of magical. “When the sun sets on the mountain, it changes colour. We call it the ‘golden hour’ and that’s also a lovely time to relax in a tub,” said Braden.
WALKS
Waitonga Falls Track, which we’d walked earlier that day, begins about 11km up Ohakune Mountain Road on Mt Ruapehu. It’s a 4km return walk to the falls which at 39 metres are the largest falls on the mountain. A couple of trailheads to longer walks branch off the main track. Signage indicates that the time for the walk is 1hr 20m – 2hrs but it took us longer than that, thanks to the Rotokawa
