Jess is a Wanderer was faced with another rainy day in New Zealand's Northland but that didn't stop the adventure commencing. Mount Parihaka is only around 240m above sea level but offers some lovely views of Wharangei city and harbour below.
There are several options for what to do or how to see the mountain. From the bottom up, you can take one of three tracks: Ross, Dobbie or Drummond. All are less than 2km and take under an hour to complete. They are the same in difficulty - according to the official website.
Alternatively, you can drive to the viewpoint at the top and then go down one trail and back up another. This is what I opted to do in case the weather turned particularly bad in which case I could see the view and then retreat to the car. There's a special history about this stone keeping watch over the mountain.
Fortunately, there was nothing more than a quick sprinkling of a shower and I was able to do a 5km circuit. I jogged down the Dobbie track and followed the river until I hit 3km then turned back and ascended following the Drummond track back to the car. The view was actually pretty good for such an overcast day.
