! and a half hours later ,lighter by about 1 kg of pure sweat and having proved that our lungs were in top working order we got to the top I will let the pictures I took on the way down speak for themselves 

  Top of the falls 

Looking out towards MataMata ,think we can see your farm Stu

Lots and lots of stairs and bridges 

Beautiful bush scenery a photographers dream

For anyone with a young family I highly recommend the effort to get to the top ,the kids will love it there are some great spots at the top when it gets a bit drier for a spot of lunch and some good swimming holes 

As for the hunting I will let Tim tell you why we should have had a nice big hind but didn't get it ,the tops are mostly flat walking with great grassey clearings lots of sign .Meet a couple of young guns from Morrinsville who go up there regularly who  saw another one but missed it .They gave us a lot of info that seems to confirm that there is big populations of Red deer up there all the way from Wahi to Tauranga .Also as was explained by Predator previously the best way in is from the other side ,in from Katikati to the bulldozer blade (no longer there) then in from there .Instead of a 90 min uphill climb its more like 20 mins till you get up on the tops (plans are already afoot for an expedition from that side in the next few weeks )

I tend to agree with the young guys that a GPS is essential up there ,the tracks are well marked and easy to follow but if you were to venture off them ,everything looks the same and there are lots of small streams and creeks that look very similar and it would be easy to get bushed very quickly.The walking is easy even when you go off track so this is definitely a place i will be going back to.Just wont be putting my tired old 53 yr old body up that falls track to get there .My calves ache from the uphill climb and my thighs ache from the downhill jarring .God I hate getting old 

plenty of pork wondering around there I bet?