Trip Reports
Katiki Beach – Shag Point
Tuesday, July 9th, 2019
Sunday 7th July 2019
Eight trampers in two vehicles arrived at the car park at the north end of Katiki Beach at 10 o’clock, having driven the 45 km from Oamaru – the late start was determined by the 1 pm low tide. A ninth participant met them there. The two largest vehicles were ferried down to the car park at the south end of the beach and left there, with the third vehicle returning north with the drivers. About 10.30am we set off north up Katiki Beach to walk the 2kms to the northern limit where the beach meets the hills of Katiki Point. On the way we crossed the trickle that comprised Trotters Creek and turned around just before 11 o’clock at an unnamed estuary by the end of the beach.
We then headed southward down the beach, passing our starting point and stopping for morning tea about an hour after we had set off. It was now 1 ½ hours from low tide so the sand was getting wider and was firm enough to provide an excellent walking surface. The beach was sheltered from the stiff, cold northerly breeze so it was warm enough some top clothing layers to be removed. Shortly after smoko, we started coming across the many and varied rock formations which are a feature of Katiki Beach. There were reefs with round pools, Katiki boulders (similar to Moeraki boulders), layered strata in the cliffs, rock shelves notable for their protection of slippery algae, and, further along, myriad small spherical rocks like bowling balls. Navigation of the rock formations, not to mention photography, made for slow progress, so it was not until almost 1.15 that we passed the last rocks and settled down for lunch.
Lunch over, we walked down the sandy beach to the start of the rock shelf which runs down the north-east side of Shag Point and was now fully exposed by the low tide. Walking was a careful process, avoiding the dark algae which could make the surface extremely slippery and using poles for extra stability. The sandstone shelf supported an amazing variety of rock formations including huge Katiki boulders, many split to form open flower buds or spa pools, straight drainage channels, parallel tram lines and strange prehistoric scripts. Many of the rocks contained fossils. By 3 o’clock, we had reached the end of the walkable section and, watched by a group of young seals, we climbed up the rocks and then some steps to a grassy reserve behind some cribs.
Because of the time, we decided not to continue on to the point itself but, after a short break, turned right up the road and old railway formation for the 2km walk back to the cars. The 17 km walk in very pleasant conditions had offered much of interest for Chris, Bronwyn, Bess, Bevan, Julian, Lynette, Neville, Robbie and John.
Deep Stream, Lake Aviemore 9 June 2019
Tuesday, June 18th, 2019
Six of us met in Oamaru and headed for Lake Aviemore with a fine weather forecast for the day. As we crossed the Aviemore Dam the lake was quite rough with plenty of whitecaps. We pulled up at the car park at deep stream and met another one of our members there. The wind was a cold westerly coming down the lake, so it was on with all our warm gear before we headed off, but it was soon off with all the warm gear once we started the walk because we had shelter from the wind.
Deep Stream is a public walkway that follows around the side of a small Lake that Deep Steam flows into. The track is about 2km long and has a couple of picnic spots along the way, but the track is getting a bit rough near the top end of the track.
We had permission from the farmer to carry on up the stream, so after crossing the stream with wet feet the gorge opens up into a big valley. We followed a 4WD track up the valley for about 3 km till the stream goes into a bit of another gorge.
We then climbed high out of the valley to the east trying to find the best path through the scrub and matagouri to meet up with a wee valley that meets the stream from the east. It was in this valley that we had seen heaps of Wallabies about 4 yrs ago when we last did this walk, but there was none to be seen this time.
On the saddle at the head of the valley we had lunch looking down on Lake Waitaki and the mountains beyond. After lunch we dropped down into a wee gut and back up onto a 4WD, where we did see one Wallaby. We then followed the 4WD track down pass some remains of an old building and out pass the fisherman’s bend camping area.
Back down at the camp it was back into the cold wind, so it was back on with the warn gear, but as we got up to the dam the wind changed to a warm NW. It was soon back to the cars after a 5 ½ hour hike and about 15km all up.
Thanks – Julian, John, Marian, Robbie, Shirley and Bill F for the great company for the day. Neville
Big Hut June 2019
Monday, June 17th, 2019
After a break of 5 years this event was reestablished for the NOTMC this last weekend by an intrepid group of 7. Leaving the comforts of civilization this group made their way to the bottom of the 3 hour climb required to get to Big Hut with uncertain overcast conditions. Cloud covered the tops as we headed up but the activity resulted in rapid warming and before long clothes were being shed to avoid overheating. After a short munch stop about two thirds of the way up and an improvement on the meteorological front a small snow ambush took place with less fortunate down hill members being attacked from above no injuries resulted and we continued up the hill to arrive at the hut by about 1 ish.
After a substantial recovery break a group rugged up to face the elements once again to explore the range to the south with its spectacular rock tors. A couple of young students keen on skiing had come up before us and could be seen in the distance for most of the afternoon indulging in their snowy pastime, they later informed us that they had hoped to get to one of the Queenstown skifields but lacking in snow cover they had decided to come to the Rock and Pillars.
As the photographic evidence shows, the snow was not abundant on the Rock and Pillars either, a dump of some 2 weeks earlier had not been replenished. Conditions were rather cold though with a biting westerly wind ensuring a polar aspect that we have come to expect up there. The one iceaxe brought up by the party was usefully employed to gain access to the water tank at the hut.
After the reuniting of the intrepid group with the stay behinds the convivials were brought out and the social aspects of this trip were established with shared nibbles, drinks and eventually table tennis to keep the circulation going. After dinner the main event took place and a large array of desserts took centre stage. One member started to display major signs of distress at this point, with frequent absences and mutterings on return. It turned out that their contribution to dessert had failed to make it up the hill having been left behind on the kitchen bench at home. We all felt great sympathy with this member and many sounds suitable to this situation were made in his direction. His contribution of canned high pressure cream was appreciated though. It is highly unlikely that this omission will ever be forgotten and it will undoubtedly enter the historical record of our club.
As has been the case in the past the desserts far outweighed our capacity to eat and the 2 young skiing fellows were dragged from their beds in order to help us consume the wonderful delicacies on offer leaving just a smaller remnant to be taken care of for breakfast the following morning.
The night was long and the temperature variable going from quite cold to too warm and back to cold after a small blizzards passed through at about 5.36am which made the journey to the loos challenging.
The intension had been to do the round trip and return via Leaning Lodge but after much waiting for the clagged in cold conditions to change during the morning it was eventually decided to return the same way that we’d come the previous day. The snow encountered the previous day was hard on the return and we were pleased with our decision to return that way. We would have encountered harsh conditions via the Leaning Lodge route with exposure to steep snowy slopes making for unnecessary risks of a fall.
It did warm up on the way down and our winter gear was shed at different points on the journey. We arrived back at the carpark in time for another lunch (a previous lunch stop having already taken place). After another discussion it was wisely decided to stop at Stanley’s for a pint and a debrief.
This was a great trip with a strong social focus which highlighted the high regard and enjoyment we get from the spending time in the hills with our mates. Thanks to those who came and they were Marion, Maurice, Phyllis, Neville, Julian, Bill F and Robbie.
Old Ghost Road
Wednesday, May 1st, 2019
April 1-7
Seemed appropriate that it was April Fool’s Day when eight aspiring trampers plus one walker/driver carefully packed themselves – and four days’ worth of tramping gear – into a rented 10-seater van to drive the 533km from Oamaru to Murchison before tackling the Old Ghost Road trail. It was a long drive for a long (85km) walk. Were we nuts?
But everything fitted in, the weather was fine and the forecast optimistic. So far, so good. And nutty optimism proved totally appropriate for the OGR. It is the spirit in which this ambitious and challenging bike/walk trail was built. Reading Marion (Weasel) Boatwright’s account of how it came about (some of us took advantage of the copies of Spirit to the Stone left in the huts) adds a lot to the whole experience.
It all began with an old map and the ghost of a road that had been built in the late 1800s from the once bustling gold rush town of Lyell.
After a meal fit for giants, a good night’s sleep in Murchison and an hour or so’s driving, that’s where our tramp started in what is now a DOC camp. The first day may have been all uphill but what was once an old dray track is gently graded through beech forest and boasts a rich mix of both human history and regenerating natural history.
At every stop, robins would emerge from the bush to hop close, perching on packs or even boots. Curious weka honed in on potential food sources with confident intent. Old kettles, pans, a collapsed hut held traces of the human history – detailed in story boards along the track. We paused for lunch at the “big slips” – where the old track had been obliterated by major earthquakes (Murchison, 1929; Inangahua, 1968). It had given pause to the current century’s effort to create a trail and the hand-benched track across this terrain is impressive testimony to the determination of its builders.
Our first overnight was at Lyell Saddle where we got a first-hand look at the role of helicopters both in building the track’s huts and maintaining them. The close manoeuvring onto a nearby skid site was impressive with a downdraught blowing the odd sock off the deck. An empty gas bottle and large white sack went into the sling, the rotors whined into full throttle and all was lifted away. Peace returned – along with a family of wild goats.
If we thought the views from Lyell Saddle were impressive, the next evening was even more so. That Ghost Lake Hut is built atop a very steep bluff becomes very evident when you leave it. Sleepwalking would be ill-advised. The second day’s walk was both shorter (13km as opposed to 18km) and more spectacular as the track rises above the bushline to the impressive Rocky Tor and “Heaven’s Door” – and yes, we did knock.
The quirky signs – the “Tombstone”, Lakes “Grim” and “Cheerful” along with the huts’ idiosyncrasies (moon and stars carved in toilet doors, hanging “hearts” of trunk cross-sections) highlight the fairly personal input the track builders (Mokihinui-Lyell Backcountry Trust workers and volunteers) had in its creation. Days 2 and 3 highlighted some of the other challenges they faced – the mudstone terrain past Lyell Saddle that necessitated painstaking “corduroy” beech track building; then the hard granite of Lyell Range which had to be blasted into usable track.
Mist covered the land below as we left Ghost Lake Hut and headed along the sharp spine of Skyline Ridge to pause where it dropped like a stone into the Stern Valley catchment.
This is where the brave bikers have to shoulder their machines to get them down the 300 or so steps that proved the only means of possible descent for the trail. Despite such obstacles, we met bikers who were doing the 85km stretch in just one day as well as a couple who were doing a two-day there-and-back effort with a night’s respite at Rough and Tumble Lodge.
The grandeur of the tops gave way to beech forest, rushing streams, more robins and the promise of whio (blue duck). At Stern Valley Hut, at least one of our party managed a full immersion in the freezing river. Even paddling was wonderfully refreshing – for a short time. West Coast, sandflies, ‘nuff said.
The next day was our longest – at 25km – and took us up through the rumpled landscape of Earnest Valley. Here, “The Boneyard” offers very graphic evidence of a landscape rift by faultlines. An info map marks some eight or so faults in the near vicinity! The rather haunted atmosphere is enhanced by keas calling across the hills. There were closer encounters with these cheeky birds at Ghost Lake hut. The track heads back to the Mokihinui South Branch and past the mysterious “Resurgence” where a flood of clear, green water surges from an underground source that even intrepid divers haven’t apparently managed to track. Magic!
Our next “hut with a view” at Specimen Point looks out over the tumbling, roaring glory of Mokihinui River (damming it would have been criminal) and is as comfortable as the others. All come well equipped with pots, plates, mugs, cutlery and even measuring cups etc – as well as gas cookers. No need to carry a kitchen in your pack.
From there, the trail mostly follows the Mokihinui – again tracking the history of those who’d hacked a trail up to the long abandoned Red Queen Mine (site of a small village in the 1880s). Various gold working remains plus the remnants of a bridge that once spanned the Mokihinui providing a route through to Karamea are features along this part of the track. The bridge fell during the 1929 Murchison earthquake.
The last day is easy walking and it seems no time at all before we arrive at the Rough and Tumble Lodge – which is both a start point for the Old Ghost Road’s existence (read the book!) and our re-entry into civilisation. Our driver, Mike, had walked in early to meet us, so it was back into the van for our trip’s next highlight – a long, much-needed dip in the hot pools of Hanmer Springs. Staying in Hanmer overnight was another great idea from trip organiser, Jane Green.
A big thank you to Jane for her brilliant organisation and to her, Graham, John, Christine, Lynn, Marion, Grant and Mike for their great company, evil card games and thoughtful support along what proved to be a fantastic trek.
Vicki Jayne.
Otago Peninsula
Tuesday, April 30th, 2019
Sunday 28th April 2019
Record breaking numbers of walkers turned out for Otago Peninsula day trip. On a cool Autumn morning 16 people gathered at the car park on Highcliff Road in Dunedin. The overhead conditions were perfect for the spectacular views that followed.
From the Hunter farm a downhill followed by the usual uphill to an old farm shed was the warm up for the day. Sidling around from the shed gave access to our first of many great views of the Otago Harbour, Port Chalmers, Taiaroa Head and Aramoana to name a few. A loop back up to the road below Larnarch Castle led us to the farm shed and return to the ridge leading down to Smith Creek Wetlands, where extensive native replanting continues. Another workout uphill back to Highcliff Road followed and then led us to yet another climb to the summit of Harbour Cone. The views kept coming, out to the East where the large Hoopers and Papanui Inlets could be seen. While taking a lunch break on top of Harbour Cone we continued to locate more landmarks up and down the coast.
With bodies fuelled up we returned part way down the track then turned off to follow across undulating farm land, passing some amazing old stone fences ( A work of art no less) back to the cars. A short drive to the Sandymount carpark and we were on our way for the next walk and views of the coastline. The track started with an avenue lined with magnificent old macrocarpa trees and emerged on to a short side track and platform to view the Chasm, a stunning drop off the cliffs.
The track then led to another platform overlooking Lover’s Leap, another spectacular view of a tunnel where the sea rushes in.
The last section for the day was up the sand dunes path to Sandymount trig and then back down to the cars. The walking was over before 3pm but the cafe at Portobello welcomed us with some great friendly service doing the drinks and eats to finish the day relaxing with more chatting.
Thanks to all for supporting the club programme.
Bill, Bronwyn, Mike, Vicky, Robbie, Joe, Dave, Bev, Chris, Jac, Roz, Julian, Shirley, Marion, and Phyllis.
Maurice.
