Club Night September 2020

Tuesday, September 15th, 2020

This meeting was held in the Ardgown Hall to allow for more social distancing.

A report was presented on the Oamaru Walkways tracks indicating a need for maintenance. There are gates locked, parts of tracks blocked off and a lack of signs to indicate where the tracks are. Some narrow sections of the track are being used by mountain bikers, creating a danger to walkers. The committee will look at what the Club’s next moves are.

There was general agreement on holding another Herbert Forest Guided Walks day in April next year.

Trip Reports:

Eight e bikes and six pedal power bikes joined Nev’s  Mystery Bike Ride, though it was not so much of a mystery after being issued with riding directions at the start. We started at the Historic Precinct heading North along the railway line before climbing Buckleys Hill and winding through rural roads to the Enfield Domain for lunch. Then there were various bike riding competitions before riding home.

A trip to Swampy started with a climb through the cloud forest to the communication towers, before going down the Pineapple and Secretary Tracks and circling back to the cars.

Wednesday Walkers walked the Kurow Hill circuit anticlockwise from Kurow, the Tapui Farms circuit anticlockwise, Kuriheka to the dogs den and return, The Benmore Walkway from Loch Laird and the A2O from Elephant Rocks to Prydes Gully, returning via Grants Road.

Coming Trips are:

A farm walk near Trotters Gorge, Huxley Forks Hut, Duntroon to Kurow bike ride and a Herbert Forest working bee. Details are available on this website – Whats on?

The next Club Meeting will feature a talk on a programme to protect endangered long tailed bats in South Canterbury.

The evening concluded with an entertaining quiz led by Bess, complete with yellow and red cards and a mix of serious and not so serious tramping questions. One not so serious question was; on which trip did John have to mend his shorts with duct tape? Almost everyone knew the answer!

Club Night August 2020

Tuesday, August 11th, 2020

Trip Reports:

7 members enjoyed a walk around the Mt. Nimrod Reserve, with views from Banks Peninsula to the Waitaki River Mouth.

There was a 17k return walk up the Mt. Studholme access road was on another fine day, also with great views. Sitting in the lee of the transmission tower for lunch resulted in the odd shower of icicles being blown on them.

The Wednesday Walkers had day trips to Snake Gully near Hampden, the Three Peaks and 2 Tunnels circuit at Tapui, the Maerewhenua gold diggings, and a new walk up Mt. Tara in South Cantebury.

The Wanderers had walks near the Moeraki Lighthouse and Kelseys and Gunns Bush.

Coming trips are

a local bike ride and a tramp up Swampy with several possible return options.

Trip Planning for the October to December period took up the bulk of the evening. These tramps will shortly be available on the NOTMC website.

Takahe on Heaphy Track

The evening concluded with Maurice Gray telling us of a couple of trips he did. The first was riding the Heaphy Track from the Collingwood end while his 2 companions walked it. A highlight was seeing what seemed to be a very tame takahe on the track.

The other trip was to Ben Dhu in the Rhoboro Hills beside Lake Pukaki. This was a round trip which included negotiating almost impenetrable wilding pines and rosehip bushes by walking up a creek bed and ascending above the snowline for some fantastic views of Mt. Cook and over Lake Pukaki. A kind couple in a Juicy van gave him a ride back down the road to his car to complete the round trip and saved him riding his bike in the dark.

On Ben Dhu

Club Night & Annual Meeting July 2020

Tuesday, July 14th, 2020

The Annual Meeting, having been delayed for 2 Months by the pandemic, took place at our July meeting with a full SAR room of Club members.

President Robbie Verhoef, in his Annual Report summarised the Clubs activities over the past year, with 17 day trips and 2 weekend trips. There were quite a number of trips cancelled because of unsuitable weather. A lot of work was also done in the Port Blakley Herbert Forest on track maintenance and pest control.
He commented of his wish for a more balanced way of life which is more in keeping with nature, where his grand daughter can enjoy the privileges we have had and that our special places and creatures will remain for her grand-children to enjoy.

The Treasurer reported a small surplus for the year. It was agreed to increase the amount we contribute to the Federated Mountain Clubs in recognition of the crucial advocacy work they do on our behalf.

Julian Hardy was elected the new Club President. The photo competition results were announced with Ross Milmine winning and Bronwyn McCone a close second.

Trip Reports:With the lockdown restrictions lifted, 18 trampers spent a winter wonderland weekend at Mt Cook with snow and sun producing some fantastic photos. There was also a day trip to the Tavora Reserve near Goodwood, with a beach walk and a climb around Bobby’s Head.  Puketapu was climbed on the way home.

Coming trips are to Mt. Nimrod Reserve, a weekend trip to Liverpool 

Hut, Mt. Studholme and a local mystery bike ride.

The Wednesday Walkers had day trips around Oamaru and Cape Wanbrow during level 2.  With the more relaxed level 1 rules there were trips to Hampden – Moeraki, Elephant Hill, Durden Hill and Mt. Baldie, a Ngapara farms walk and the Timaru walkway to Centennial Park.

Club Night March 2020

Tuesday, March 10th, 2020

The Club had three day trips during February.
A trip to Hideway Hut in the Ahuriri Valley was enjoyed by 14 trampers, including 5 new members. After crossing the Ahuriri River it was 2 hours to the tarns, where there was an opportunity for a swim on the sunny day. Hideaway hut was reached about 1 pm for lunch. Some went back the same way, while the rest did a circle east and back to the cars.
Orbell’s Cave was reached by five trampers via Orbell’s Creek and a couple of hills. There are actually two shallow caves up on a hillside, one with a meat safe and clothes line, so there must have been a resident not too long ago.
A trip in the Silver Peaks started at the Possum Hut track, going down to the Waikouaiti River, along Catsteeth Creek and Tunnels Track to the Phillip J Cox Hut for lunch. The route back was via a steep uphill ridge to Walker Road and 30 minutes along the road to the cars for a 16k walk.
Coming Trips are to Kurinui behind Hampden, the Otago Anniversary weekend trip to Mt. Alexander on the West Coast, and a Herbert Forest working bee to repair and clear the well used tracks there.
The Wednesday Walkers have had day trips to Roseneath with its spectacular rock formations, Grassy Hills farm near the Stone Wall beside the Waitaki River, Otekaike Hill on a foggy day and a walk from Aviemore Dam to Kurow along the newly opened A2O bike track.
Guest Speaker for the night was Club Vice President, Julian Hardy who spoke and showed photos of his recent tour in China.
It included some walks and bike rides and started in Beijing. 30% of the cars are electric there, which contributed to the low levels of smog seen.
Next stop was Gubei Watertown, a purpose built city built to access the nearby Great Wall by the hoards of tourists. They did a day walk along the wall here.
It was then on to Xian and the terracotta warriors. They travelled by bullet train at up to 290k per hour to Pigan where they saw extensive paddy fields of rice on steep terraced hills.
The Lee River’s spectacular cast landscape of limestone cliffs and hills was well worth seeing and included a bike trip and a river cruise.
The trip finished in Shanghai, a diverse and multicultural city of over 24 million people.

Club Night February 2020

Wednesday, February 12th, 2020

The results of the club’s predator trapping in the Port Blakely Herbert Forest can now be viewed through the Traps N Z app which can be downloaded to your device.

The next Herbert Forest guided walks day will be in 2021.

Trip reports

The Mt. Kyburn trip was canceled due to a poor weather forecast and a round trip up to the Whitehorse at Waimate went instead.
There was a walk from Aramoana to Heywards Point and further towards Longbeach, until they came to a private property boundary. There were excellent views of seals and gulls from the cliffs at the Point. A short walk along a track at Port Chalmers rounded off the day.
A walk was enjoyed around Blairgowrie Run behind Five Forks with views of the North Otago downlands and Kakanui Range.
An overnight camp at Cattle Creek enabled an early start for a 23k, 10 hour traverse of the Dalgety Range with a group starting from each end. There were great views from Mt. Hutt to Mt. Aspiring as well as sightings of resident wallaby’s and vegetable sheep.
The Maitland Valley tramp included tracks, scree slopes and bush and staying at the Maitland hut where they were entertained by the resident mice having an overnight party on supplies left by a deer stalker. There was a day visit to Lake Orbell. 

Coming trips are day trips to Hideaway Hut in the Ahuriri Valley, Big Hut on the Rock and Pillar Range and  Orbells Cave behind Waikouaiti.

The Wednesday Walker’s day trips were to Island Stream Waterfall behind Herbert, Big Ben next door to Little Domet, Hillgrove Farm to Waimataiti Lagoon near Moeraki, Mt. Dasher (4 walkers) Kattothtrst (18 walkers) Siberia Hill (4 walkers), and Island Cliff Farm. The annual barbeque was held that evening. Up to 40 walkers are coming out at the moment.

The rest of the evening entailed choosing Club Trips for the April to June period, details of which will soon be on the NOTMC website.