Reset and Recharge at Lake Ōkataina
Tony, Lietta, Christine, Alison and Sharon, Ōkataina Trails, July 2026
There's a particular kind of quiet that settles over a group standing above a lake nobody's spoken about yet. That was Rotongata, a couple of hours into the walk, sun on the water, no one in any hurry to be the first to say something.
The Freewheeling Kiwi Reset and Recharge Walk moved on to the Ōkataina Trails in July, deep in ancient forest near Rotorua. We'd talked about this one since June, and it more than delivered.
Sunlit view over Lake Rotongata from the Ngahopua Twin Lakes Track lookout
The Forest
The first thing you notice at Ōkataina is the scale of it. Kahikatea towering overhead, straight-trunked and ancient, the kind of trees that make you tip your head back and just stand there for a moment.
The forest here has had time to become itself, layered and dense and quietly self-assured, and walking into it felt like stepping down a few gears before we'd gone a hundred metres.
Walkers beneath towering kahikatea trees on the Ōkataina Trails near Rotorua
Anaha Track and Kepa Track
We set off on the Anaha Track, which winds through old logging sites now fully reclaimed by bush. It is easy to miss the history if you don't know to look for it, the forest has done a thorough job of covering its own tracks, quite literally.
The Kepa Track carried that same thread further, passing through clearings where the evidence of past logging is still visible if you know what you're looking at. There is something grounding about walking through land that has been worked hard and left to heal, and healed well.
Regenerated native bush on the Anaha Track, Ōkataina Trails
Ngahopua Track — Twin Lakes
From there we picked up the Ngahopua Track, also known as the Twin Lakes Track, and it was the highlight nobody quite had words for on the day. Two volcanic crater lakes, Rotongata and Rotoatua, sit side by side, formed around 3,500 years ago and now home to birdlife that clearly considers the place its own.
We stopped for lunch at a lookout high above Rotongata, the sun sparkling across the water below us, and nobody was in a hurry to move on. Some places do the work of a reset walk all by themselves, and this was one of them.
Sunlit lunch spot overlooking Lake Rotongata, Ōkataina Trails
Te Auheke Track — Cascade Falls
Te Auheke Track, the Cascades Track, was the one that had everyone reaching for their camera. The track runs beneath a sheer cliff face draped in moss and fern, and leads to Cascade Falls, tumbling around 10 metres over a jumble of rock protrusions.
Te Auheke means "tumbling water," and once you've stood in front of it, the name needs no further explanation.
Cascade Falls tumbling over rocks on the Te Auheke Track, Ōkataina Trails
What We Noticed
What strikes me every time I walk with a group in nature is how quickly something shifts. Out here, surrounded by trees older than any of us can properly comprehend, the day-to-day stuff loses its grip a little.
People arrive carrying whatever they're carrying that week, and somewhere between the lake lookout and the waterfall, they set it down without quite noticing they've done it.
The tracks linking each of these sections through the wider Ōkataina network gave us plenty of time for that kind of quiet, the sort that doesn't need filling.
Walkers on one of the connecting tracks through native forest, Ōkataina Trails
The Swim
Every Reset and Recharge Walk seems to end with someone deciding the day isn't quite finished yet, and this time it was Lake Ōkataina itself. A few of us waded in and swam for at least a minute, which felt like a genuine achievement given it was early July. Cold, briefly regrettable, and completely exhilarating in the way only a wild swim can be.
We climbed out, wrapped up, and lit the billy. Tea and biscuits on the lakeshore, everyone talking over each other about the swim, the falls, the trees, the whole day. That's usually how I know a walk has gone well.
Billy tea and biscuits on the shore of Lake Ōkataina
What They Said
“The ice cold swim, followed by a hot drink and biscuits, was the highlight. I felt exhilarated by the end of the day”
— Christine P, Coromandel
Alison, Christine, Lietta, Tony and Sharon, Ōkataina Trails, July 2026,
Join Us on the Next Walk
The Reset and Recharge Walks are small by design, unhurried and intentional, built around the idea that time in nature is one of the most restorative things you can give yourself. There is no fitness benchmark to hit and no pace to keep up with, just a beautiful place, good company, and space to breathe and think and come back to yourself.
In August we are heading to Pirongia Forest Park, on the edge of Mount Pirongia, with streams, mature native trees, and a couple of limestone caves along the way.
Lietta, Sharon and Christine ready to “enjoy” a mid-winter swim, Ōkataina Reset and Recharge Walk
There's a particular kind of quiet that settles over a group standing above a lake nobody's spoken about yet. That was Rotongata, sun on the water, no one in any hurry to say something.
The July Reset and Recharge Walk took us into the Ōkataina Trails near Rotorua, through towering kahikatea, twin crater lakes, and a 10 metre waterfall called Te Auheke — tumbling water.
This is the story of that day.