Julie looking fresh as a daisy and dappled in the light as we head down the more pleasant part of the track.
This is a stepped track that descends gently through the sub-alpine shrubs, and eventually drops into forest.
Along the way there was a view of a 450-year-old lava flow from Te Mari that has cut through the forest.
After a lot more damn steps - so hard on the knees - the meandering track eventually opens onto the car park
where we arrived a hour hour earlier than the arranged pick up time for the 'Howards Lodge' bus.