SIMON O CONNOR/Stuff
Though conditions appeared calm, Search and Rescue teams were unable to retrieve the bodies of the two men on Wednesday. Stratford man Anthony Wedgwood had been in the same area of the mountain on Tuesday. He had reached Syme Hut, about 500 metres from the summit at about 2pm when he decided to make the three-hour trek back to the Dawson Falls car park.
Anthony Wedgwood/Stuff
Anthony Wedgwood made it all the way to Syme Hut, 500 metres from the summit of Taranaki Maunga, when he decided to turn around on Tuesday. Later that night two people died near the hut.
A section of the new boardwalk in Te Papakura o Taranaki / Egmont National Park.
Photo: Supplied / DOC
Part of the $19 million Taranaki Crossing project, the work includes building 720m of 1.2m wide boardwalk from the Pouakai Hut down to the Pouakai Tarns, and 650m of 1.2m wide boardwalks across the Ahukawakawa wetland.
Department of Conservation strategic project manager Carl Whittleston said the boardwalks would replace existing track which deteriorated. Previously we ve had timber rafts in there and what s happened over time is that some of those have sunk into the wet areas and people then start to walk around them and onto the fragile vegetation and eco-system.
New phase of work underway at Taranaki Crossing miragenews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from miragenews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Rafferty Wright, 16 months, has an important job with the dog ball launcher for his mate, Vizsla/Huntaway cross, Bodhi, at Back Beach, New Plymouth
An unusual absence of rainfall on Mt Taranaki during January caused river levels and water temperatures to drop below normal, the Taranaki Regional Council reported. Rainfall was mixed for January, with Ngutuwera in South Taranaki receiving only 61 per cent of its normal rainfall for the month, TRC hydrology data analyst Fiona Jansma said. Rainfall sites on Mt Taranaki were 63-73 per cent of normal for the month, she said. North Egmont had 13 days with less than 5mm of rainfall, while Dawson Falls had 14 days below 5mm.