Deep Stream Tramp Report 10-5-2015

After all the good weather the week leading up to this day Tramp I was hoping it was going to hold out for this day because it had been a while since we had been out due to the weather. Sunday dawned fine so 7 of as headed off up the Waitaki Valley to the Aviemore Dam where we started our day. It was on with our day packs and off up the road on the north side of Lake Aviemore to the start of the Deep Stream public walkway. The walkway track follows around the side of a small deep lake that Deep Stream flows into. The track is about 2km long and along the way there are a couple of picnic spots. At the head of the lake and where the stream flows into it is where the walkway finishes but we had permission from the farmer to carry on up the stream. After crossing the stream the gorge opens up into a big flat valley. We followed a 4WD track up the valley till the stream veers to the right and goes into a bit of a gorge. We decided to go high along the true left of the stream to meet up with a wee valley that meets the gorge from the east. We headed up this valley but had to go higher up to get out of the scrub and matagouri that wasn’t very nice to go through. This valley was just hopping with wallabies; I have never seen so many in one place in all my tramping years. One popped up in some scrub beside me and I thought it was going to hop over me. At the top of the valley on a saddle we had lunch looking down over Lake Waitaki. After lunch we had to drop down into a wee gorge, push through a bit more scrub and matagouri to get up to a fence and 4WD track on the other side. We follow this track but it turned into a dry creek bed that took us down to other 4WD track pass the remains of a old stone building and along to the fisherman’s bends camping ground beside Lake Waitaki. It was then over a gate and up a gravel road back to the cars. The whole day took us 5 and half hours, with good weather and great company. Thanks to Bron, Linda, John, Jane, Phyllis and Maurice for a good day out Neville

Coming down dry creek bed

Stone building remains