I like taking photos of mushrooms if I come across them on a hike, but I wouldn't call myself a mushroom enthusiast. Sam and Tracey on the other hand, they're real shroomers. Sam invited me out on one of their Sunday fungi frolics, and as this was my third time walking the Mokaihaha Track (the first for them both), I became the designated “guide” for the day.

The Mokaihaha Ecological Area is the largest surviving block of native forest that once covered the Mamaku Plateau. It became an ecological area in the 1980's to preserve and protect the remaining unmodified tract of podocarp/tawa forest. It's about a 20-minute drive from Rotorua in the village of Mamaku, 10km down a gravel road. There are two official “car parks”, just small clearings on the side of the road that can fit a couple of cars. I usually park at the Northern entrance, and that's always been flooded. This time, we started from the Southern entrance.


Google map: Mokaihaha Track - Southern entrance


The track is 4km between the “car parks” (approx. 2 hours), with an additional 15-minute walk along the gravel road that can technically make it a loop. In Mamaku, Sam got a text from her husband with a picture of her hiking boots patiently waiting by the door. She looked down at the bright pink Crocs she was wearing and figured, oh well, that’ll do. If you're wondering, yes, the track is Croc-able.

When I'm in the bush, I spend most of my time looking up at the trees, observing the changing light and listening to birds. Hanging out with shroomers is the total opposite. Their ability to spot mushrooms smaller than the size of a fingernail requires an incredible attention to detail that's fascinating to watch. Even after 10am, sunlight was only starting to break through the canopy, making it tricky to photograph mushrooms. As Sam and Tracey were mushroom hunting, I would walk ahead, scouting for some interesting shrooms, but mostly listening out for birds. There were plenty of kererū (wood pigeons) and tūī around, as well as pīwakawaka (fantails), toutouwai (robins), and I even heard kākā (native parrot) along the way.



Polypores were everywhere (bracket or shelf fungi), although pretty common back home, these ones were much bigger than what I'm used to. Not surprising given the forest had plenty of damp, shaded spots, and as decomposers, more were growing on the windfalls at the track’s edge.

It was close to midday by the time we reached the South Rd/West Rd junction. West Rd is a 4WD track that also links up to South Rd. After realising we were walking at a much slower pace than anticipated, Sam and Tracey decided to be more selective in their shrooming. And it turned out there weren't as many mushrooms on the northern section. “Knowing what we know now, I'm glad we didn't come this way this morning,” Tracey said. Our saving grace was a tree full of either oyster mushrooms (edible) or Angel Wings (toxic), unfortunately we didn't have a reference guide with us so we just took a gazillion photos and videos and carried on.

Another highlight was Lake Rotohokahoka, a beautiful oasis about 20 minutes from the Northern entrance. The water is super clear and the water reflections are incredible. From here the track splits - the main track is up the bush, or there's a narrow, rooty track lakeside. It eventually joins the main track again. While Sam and Tracey were taking photos, I walked a bit further down to see if there were other photo spots nearby. Not really. Wearing Crocs on narrow, rooty tracks like this isn't ideal, so we took the main track instead.

It was probably a bigger walk than what Sam and Tracey had anticipated for their shrooming, though they both really enjoyed the bush walk too. We popped out at a flooded Northern “car park”, to be honest, I've never seen it dry…ever. The three of us power walked back to the truck, more than ready to tuck into the lunch Sam had packed. The sausage rolls and cheese and onion sandwiches were a great way to finish a lovely morning shrooming and hanging out with the trees.