Club Night 15 February 2021

Tuesday, February 16th, 2021

The Clubs Annual Meeting will be held on the 10 May 2021.

Thanks to a generous grant from the Waitaki District Council, the Club has purchased a locator beacon to replace the out of date one.

Trip Reports

A trip to Chinaman’s Cave was attempted from Trotters Gorge via Vickers Hut, but a badly overgrown track through gorse forced them to use an alternative route via Palmerston and Chalmers Road.
Leaving the yards they initially followed a well formed track NW beside a creek through a plantation. The last section to the cave involved a bush bashing section with a lot of onga onga.
After lunch and exploring the large cave, they returned by going over the hill and down a gully to the cars.

Elephant Hill was tackled in the rain which soon cleared, enabling a walk up the valley and back over the hill.

Waitangi Weekend saw 10 trampers climb up to Lake Wilson above the Routeburn Track for a fantastic fine weekend trip, camping beside the lake for two nights. It is becoming a favourite destination with 30 tampers camped there that weekend.
The middle day saw various trips undertaken, including climbing Mt Erebus, going to the saddle between Mt Erebus and Xenicus for a view into the North Routeburn, or exploring the West Ridge for the many alpine plants and flowers.
The final day they returned via Lake Harris to the Routeburn car park, Glenorchy and home.

A trip around Roseneath Station from Aviemore discovered old water supply reservoirs for the now nonexistent Aviemore village.

The Wednesday Walkers enjoyed day trips to the North Temple, Waimate Whitehorse Hill, the A2O to Elderslie just after the new year flood, Island Stream waterfall, which was the most spectacular they had seen, West Maerewhenua Gold diggings, Otekaike Hill and Bridal Track in a viscous westerly gale, Maereweka Forest, and Deep Stream via the old stone cottage.

Coming Trips are the bike ride on the new A2O track from Sailors Cutting to Benmore Dam, Huxley Forks and a Herbert Forest working bee. Members will guide a school group staying at Camp Iona around a local track and teach them bush-craft skills.

March Clubnight – Nick Shearer will speak about his backcountry Makarora trip.

The rest of the evening was spent planning Club Trips for the April June period.

Club Night 9 November 2020

Monday, November 9th, 2020

Club members were interested in a proposal to build a new 6 bunk Hut in the Waianakarua Reserve, though being off any tramping routes, would be of limited use for the Club.

Trip Reports:
!2 members rode the A2O bike trail from Windsor to Duntroon and back on ebikes while 3 rode pedal power bikes from Cants road. All met at Duntroon for lunch.

6 trampers climbed the 1917m high Ohau Peak in a 12 hour day. They encountered gale force winds along the top, which made the necessary boulder hopping a bit of a challenge!

Wednesday Walkers had return trips along the Waiho Walkway to the Waiho Forks Hotel, Andersons Lagoon to the Shag River Mouth at low tide passing 7 sea lions basking on the beach. They enjoyed a new coastal walk south from Timaru to Jacks Point lighthouse, and a farm walk circuit near Taieri Peak with lunch beside the Waikouaiti River.

Coming trips are to Kakahu Bush, a night walk in the Herbert Forest, climbing Mount Kyeburn, and weekend trips to the Neuman range via the Dobson Valley, and the Mount Somers Track. There will be a Christmas pot-luck meal on the 14 December.

The evening then concentrated on planning trips for the summer.

Club Night October 2020

Tuesday, October 13th, 2020

 12 October 2020

A full room of members at the SAR rooms in Severn Street listened to Zac Robinson, Health, Safety and Environment Manager for Port Blakley, give an informative address about their programme to protect critically endangered long tailed bats in South Canterbury.

They are quite small with a wingspan of about 120mm and live in clusters of about 20. They cling to the tree rather than hang upside down like an Australian fruit bat. There are only about 300 left due to predation and loss of habitat. They roost in trees such as willows, sequoia’s and oaks, tending to move around according to the weather as they like to keep warm. They go into a state of semi hibernation during the winter.

Zac and his team use automatic bat monitors which tune in to their transmitting frequency to follow them round. They also put transmitters on some, to make tracking easier. When a roosting tree is identified, adjustable metal bands are placed around the tree to prevent possums and other predators from attacking them.

Other environmental work the Port Blackley team are involved in include looking at falcons nesting patterns  and water monitoring, using a DNA test called Wilderlab. This test analyses the DNA of plants and animals found floating in the river or stream. They can see if there are any possums left in the area after eradication measures have been used, and identify what fish, birds or farm animals are present in the catchment.

Trip Reports:

A Trotters Gorge farm walk over a cutover forestry block revealed interesting rock overhangs and caves including a stalactite.

10 bikers rode from Duntroon to Kurow and back on a track covered in branches from the recent strong winds.

The Herbert Forest tracks received a repaired bridge and several new steps during a maintenance day.

The Wednesday walkers had walks to on Dave’s track to South Peak in Trotters Gorge, The Wainono Lagoon track with lots of birdlife and inland views, a new walk along the escarpment above the Mill House, and the Seacliff Split Rock circuit.

Coming trips are a bike ride on the A2O to Duntroon, Arthurs Pass at Labour weekend and Ohau Peak in the Quailburn area. Details can be found in this website in “what’s on”.

The club gratefully received a donation from the Waitaki District Council to replace their out of date Locator Beacon.

Harvesting around the tracks in the Herbert Forest is nearly finished and normal access will be available shortly.

The Club has talked to the Waitaki District Council about reinstating parts of the Oamaru Walkways and upgrading the signage.

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