Trip Reports
Rabbiters Peak – 29-30 March 2025
Monday, March 31st, 2025
Four members and 2 extras set out from town at 7 am. We rendezvoused at the Wrinkly Rams for a quick coffee and headed up to the Temple carpark which was quite busy with campers. It was a blue sky day and we had a pleasant walk up the valley, reaching the head of the valley in time for lunch. One of the group decided to stay and camp there for the night while the rest carried on up the steep hill in the general direction of Rabbiters Peak. Good route finding skills by the 2 extras resulted in minimal scrub bashing. Our aim was to find a camping spot at the tarn just below the 1600 contour and explored the ridge beyond that for possibilities to get to the peak by following along the ridge. After about 2 1/2 hours we reached the tarn and set up our tents and after the usual snacks and drinks were had we went to the ridge just there 150m further up to check the likelihood of going that way in the morning. It turned out that this way was not the easiest with some steep rock climbs required with a lot of exposure to bad outcomes should anyone take a tumble.
So we packed up and went down retrieving some of the bits of gear that had blown away during the night as we went. We met up with the lonely camper at the head of the North Temple, even getting him out of bed and after his pack up walked back down the valley to reach the cars just before lunchtime. The day was much more overcast than the previous day and a broody NW promised rain at some point.
This was a short but otherwise very nice trip into out backyard hills. We didn’t reach our objective, but there is always another day. Thanks to Julian, Lorena, Neil, Jonah and Scout for coming .
Robbie
Twilight Walk: Skyline Walkway – 17 March 2025
Monday, March 17th, 2025
Seven of us met at the Oamaru Public Gardens car park at 6pm for a 6.15pm departure. We left the car park and went up Chess St to the start of the Skyline Walkway.
From there we walked west towards Old Mill Rd, looking down on Chelmer St and the Top 10 Holiday Park also with great views of the Kakanui mountains. The track then heads around above Old Mill Rd looking down on the old waterwheel before heading up past the Observatory Retirement Village, which is growing bigger all the time with more land getting developed.
We then crossed over Eden St into the Glen Eden Reserve and followed the track down into the valley below, where we had to decide which bike track would get us up the hill to get over to the Glen Warren Reserve. The track we took zigzagged up the hill until we came to a fence with a paddock on the other side and the bike track that carried on north along the fence line, which was not the direction we wanted to go. So we crossed over the fence and headed up to meet the track from Reservoir Rd on the skyline.
We then followed that track back towards town going through the Glen Warren Reserve, which is a wee bit of native bush above Warren St which hasn’t been looked after for a while, and then dropped steeply down to meet back up with the track that comes through the Glen Eden Reserve.
We then came out onto the bottom of Eden St and went up and over Devon Terrace back towards the Gardens, where we walked through the Chinese Gardens before arriving back at the car pack just before 8pm.
All up, it was about 5km and took us about an hour and ¾ on a calm and warm evening.
Thanks to the ones that showed up and made it an enjoyable night.
Neville
Mt David – 9 March 2025
Sunday, March 9th, 2025
Summary: After a cool start, and then rain threatening from mid-morning until around 1pm, it was fine and sunny for most of the afternoon. High cloud returned and temperatures dropped later in the afternoon. We had excellent 360 degree views while on top of Mt David, with no wind and clear skies. We followed a farm track for most of the walk, apart from the ascent up to pt 1366 where we followed a fence line, and the walk along the ridge to the cairn and Mt David peak at pt 1412. We then descended and followed a farm track in a long loop back to the cars. We walked about 20km in total – it was a long, but enjoyable day, with the fine weather and great views on top of Mt David the highlight of the day.
Five trampers left Oamaru just after 8am in one car. We took the side road off Danseys Pass Road at the Otekaieki Bridle Track sign (this is about 18kms from the start of the gravel road from the Oamaru side). We met Rodney and David W. at the first gate about 9.15am (they travelled from Dunedin, leaving at 7am and taking the Pig Route), and then continued a short distance down the farm track and parked at the locked gate.
We began tramping about 9.30am, following the farm track across the flats and the Otekaieki River, then continuing along the farm track until it branched left up towards Mt David. The climb then began in earnest up the zigzagging farm track, mostly in line with pt 1366.
We had morning tea in a relatively sheltered spot on the farm track at about 11.00am, with great views across the valley and surrounding hills.
We left the farm track where we had morning tea and went across a small gully and paddock to a fence line. We followed this up to pt 1366. The initial stage was relatively straight forward, despite the steepness. Then it became rockier and more challenging – the gully up the middle section provided some shelter from the wind and easier walking. The last section was the hardest – some scrambling, crawling, and using tussock to pull ourselves up was required in places, with lots of loose rock.
Once at the top of this section, it was not over! Another 20 minutes up relatively easy ground saw us arrive at the top near pt 1366. The weather had now cleared, and we had lunch here about 1.00pm.
About 1.30pm we continued up the ridge to the cairn and Mt David peak at pt 1412. The weather was great – no wind, sunny, and with great 360 degree views of the surrounding areas. We could even see Aoraki Mt Cook!
Following an extended photo shoot we began our descent about 2pm, following a fence line down the ridge, crossing some tussock, and then meeting up with a farm track (more like a goat track in the parts!). We followed this track in a long loop back to where the cars were parked. There were a couple of stream crossings, and apart from a couple of hills, it was mostly down hill.
We arrived back at the cars by 6.45pm, and were on the road home by 7pm. Oamaru trampers arrived back at the Medway car park around 8.10pm.
Thanks to everyone for making it a great day: Rodney, David. W, Geoff, Mary, Jenny, and Jonathan.
Thanks to Tony at Otekaieki Station for permission for the tramp.
David N.
Twilight Walk: Cape Wanbrow – 17 February 2025
Monday, February 17th, 2025
On Monday night the 17th of February the club ran a twilight hike up to Cape Wanbrow, with the general public invited to join us. Three members of the public came along and about thirteen members of the club turned up.
We started at the park behind the Council building (Banks Park) at 6.30pm where we crossed the Oamaru Creek and then under the Thames St bridge to the park beside Steampunk HQ. From there we went around behind the historical area along the harbour and took a track up on to Test St beside Harbour View Rest Home.
We then walked along to the end of Test St and up into Cape Wanbrow reserve, and then uphill to the old gun site. There is a lot of history in this area, and along with visiting the old gun site, we also went down another track and visited the old lighthouse and underground lookout bunker. There was a bit of cloud cover and a cool wind, so we didn’t hang around long.
It was then off up around the top of the reserve and over to Lookout Point, but with the cloud cover there was not much of a view of the mountains, but still good views over Oamaru. We then took a walk through a bit of bush and out on to Avon St where we took another track back down onto Test St and retraced our steps back down into the harbour area.
We then walked down past Scott’s Brewery through Harbour St and the historical buildings, past the Harbourside railway station and back to the Medway St car park.
All up it took us just under two hours, and we walked just under 6 km. It was just a different and a new thing for the club to try out, and it may be something to look at again next summer with the longer nights.
I would like to thank the three members of the public that can along and our club members that joined in.
Neville
Trotters Gorge and North Peak (449m) – 16 February 2025
Sunday, February 16th, 2025
Seven of us left Oamaru and headed down to the Trotters Gorge reserve, where we met up with three more members.
We took the usual track up the valley past the Otago University hut with several creek crossings along the way, but no wet feet this time.
At the end of the maintained track we carried along a track that the club keeps clear from time to time until we got to the entrance of a track that the club maintains called Dave’s Track – named after at passed member of the club.
We have been maintaining Dave’s Track for many years now, but only have a clean up about once a year, so it was going to be interesting to see what it was like. The first half of the track was not too bad, but as we got further up there was a bit of gorse to push through and near the top it was pretty overgrown, with only the markers that I had put up during the last clean up showing the way out. So we will have to go back down at some stage and have another clean up.
Morning tea and a break were taken on the rocky outcrop where the track comes out. We then headed out on to the forestry road, where the coastal fog was coming and going. As we walked up the road the fog cleared to a very warm day.
After about 3km up the road we came to the North Peak cave which is just off the road. John Chetwin and I rediscovered the cave last November after it had been hidden in the forest for a number of years. The club had a photo taken in 1993 of club members by the cave before the trees grew up around it. Now that they have harvested the trees we were able to find it again, and hopefully it will not be lost again when they replant.
Also with the trees been harvested we were able to get up onto North Peak which has usually been hard to access, and not many of the club members had been up there. We had a leisurely lunch on North Peak in the heat with no breeze, taking in the view of the hills around us and the mountain in the distance, with the fog still lingering around the coast.
After lunch we retraced our steps back down on to the forestry road and down to just past South Peak, where we took another forestry road that follows a ridge before dropping steeply down an old fire break track back into the Trotters Gorge reserve.
We then retraced our steps back past the Otago University hut and the several creek crossings again back to the car park.
All up, we hiked 15.2 km in 6 hours and a total ascent of 289m.
Thanks to David, Julian, Rex, Lorena, Mary, Geoff, Robbie, Rodney, and Clare for the company for the day in very warm conditions.
Neville Corry
