Rāpaki Track and Rāpaki Rock

Distance: 9.5 km
Time: 2 hours and 40 minutes
Start: Bottom end of Rāpaki Road
Same place: It's mostly here and back
Date: Friday 1st July 2022

This track is heaving in the weekends and pretty busy during the weekdays so I usually avoid it, but today I was expecting to be walking on my own and it's a good one for chicks like me who are mostly afraid of solitary hikes in the hills. 

I was just about to step out the door when a fabulous message came through that Kim was going to join me. Yay! She picked me up and we parked near the bottom of Rāpaki Road (on busy days it can be tricky getting parking further up) and set off up the hill.  

It was fairly chilly -Kim had cold ankles -and a bit icy too in places but it's a hefty hill to begin with and it didn't take long to warm up. As the track levelled out we were finally in the sun and looking back on a glorious winters day in Ōtautahi. 

  
We crossed the Summit Road and climbed up a small track towards Rāpaki Rock. We were able to skirt around the back of it and up on top.  I shimmied to the edge and looked down the sharp drop where I went rock climbing a few times with my whānau when we were all younger.  You probably wouldn't want to be standing at this point in an earthquake. With that thought, I strategically backed away from the edge and shimmied my way back down to the path. 

 

 

Rāpaki means "waist mat" in Te Reo Māori. According to Ka Huru Manu the Ngāi Tahu Cultural Mapping Project, the full name of the nearby harbourside settlement of Rāpaki is "Te Rāpaki o-Te-Rakiwhataputa" which translates to "The Waist Mat of Rakiwhataputa". Rakiwhataputa was a Ngāti Kuri rangitira (chief), who symbolically placed his waist mat on the ground to claim the harbour for his people. Interestingly, Ka Huru Manu does not link the name Rāpaki with the rock we were standing on today. 

We returned mostly the same way.  Halfway down the Rāpaki Track, who should be walking towards us but Edel!! We managed to convince her to turn around and join us for a cuppa. We took Rodgers Track which slipped and slid down the hill, through some native bush before ending up on Vernon Terrace.  

From here we wound our way back to Centaurus Road and then Rāpaki Road and the car. We drove higgledy piggledy across town to "Under the Red Verandah" where we had dirty chai's and smashed avocados and lime tart for lunch. They make amazing food there.