16/3/25 - ZL1/WK-176 Taupiri

After having fun doing Puketutu a couple of weeks prior, I was keen to take advantage of the good weather and do another new summit.

This time I set my sights on Taupiri which is just south of Huntly. I hadn't been through Taupiri in a long time due to the new motorway, so today was a chance to revisit this area.

While technically this land is not publicly owned, there is a track open to the public so access is not an issue.

Park here and walk up the gravel road to Taupiri Mountain Walkways. You will come to an archway and a sign showing you the beginning of the track.

I will admit, this climb was a challenge for me (particularly near the top) and I had to stop and take several breaks along the way. While you are sheltered from the sun due to the fantastic tree coverage, that also means no breeze to cool you down. It is a beautiful green hike but loud cars sounds are also a companion; which reminds you you're not far away from a state highway. It took me approx 1 hour from bottom to top.

The summit is "well equipped" with a picnic bench and a trig, although not huge amounts of room for antennas. I was using the new EFHW and after a bit of tuning the day before at the club, it got me 1.30:1 SWR at 40m.

I utilised the picnic bench, trig, and a tree to setup the antenna:

Once setup I tuned to 40m and got calling CQ SOTA on 7.090 MHz.

I got my first 4 contacts for a successful activation in ~3 minutes:

• ZL2BB Rob in Tauranga

• ZL1KN Andrew in Tauranga

• ZL1YX Steve in Ruakaka

• ZL1FTH Phil in Auckland

Followed by:

• ZL2ATH Wynne in Wellington

• ZL3RIK Rick in Christchurch

• ZL3TZP Tony

I then decided to try out some other bands, and I heard some international chatter on 15m from Colorado, USA. I settled into 21.310 MHz and picked up ZL1HIM in the Bay of Plenty.

Unfortunately no international contacts for me this time, although I'd love to be able to get more of them like I did on Mangantangi.

I then turned my attention to the Geocache that resides at the summit, which hadn't been found in three years prior to me being up there.

After that I nabbed some local contacts on 146.500 MHz, including a contingent up on ZL1/WK-086 Kohukohunui:

• ZL1KB Scott in Auckland

• ZL1SKL Soren S2S on Kohukohunui

• ZL1MBZ Murray S2S on Kohukohunui

• ZL4TRX Tracy S2S on Kohukohunui

All in all I had a very enjoyable time up on Taupiri, even though the hike was a challenge!

Stunning views: