June Club Meeting
Our meeting was hosted by Bess this month
AGM and May Club Meeting
Annual General Meeting 2024 Jenny chaired our A G M. Usual format was followed and minutes recorded. Jenny delivered her Presidents Report and Neville the Financial Report. Both the club and finances are going well but member numbers are declining. The committee remains the same as there were no new nominations for positions. Notice was given of a special meeting in July to ratify the changes to our constitution required by the Incorporated Societies Act. A set of Club rules were also introduced. A.G.M closed and we moved on to our general meeting. Club Meeting Trip Reports Herbert Forest Open Day: This was well attended by the public. Unfortunately 2 people had to be helicoptered out to hospital. Both were happy with the care received at the time. Communication lines were good, and people enjoyed the day. Snowy River Gorge: It turned out that the Ahuriri was too high to cross so an alternative into the Dingle Valley to Top Hut was undertaken. Day one was very cold with snow on the ground. Great views from the ridge. Next day was lovely and the walk out pleasant. Staircase Ridge: Seven people enjoyed this walk in the Waianakarua area. Fortunately, the track was quite dry which made the steep easier going. A good work out. Wednesday walkers gave their Report. Up and Coming Trips Silverpeaks: Will only go ahead if enough interest is shown. Ben Lomond: Climb Ben Lomond and explore the area. Mt Cook: Matariki Weekend Day walks from base hut. Trip planning then followed. Meeting closed 8.50pm with a cup of tea.
Paradise Creek 16/17 November 2024
The upper Paradise Creek is in a hanging valley above the Huxley River and it flows into the Hopkins. A weather window opened up for 4 of us and provided a fine weekend. Rain on the previous Friday had made the 4wd part of the access to Monument Hut just tricky enough.
Access to the last stretch of riverbed before Monument was compromised and so our vehicle was left about 2km before the hut and clothes were changed and packs donned for our tramp. As we got to Monument Hut, we could see a 4wd stuck in the river and a young man rescuing his gear from it. He’d been unfortunate enough to have driven into the river to cross it without checking how good the bottom was and lost traction in the loose gravel.
We couldn’t help him so carried on to the Huxley Bridge where we had lunch on the other side. Just after spotting 6 deer on the far side of the grassy flat, we started our steep assent of the bushy hill which leads to a ridge at the 1100m contour. Very slow travel on this with lots of tree fells providing interesting route finding opportunities.
Eventually we got to a ridge at the correct contour and surprise surprise there was a DoC 200 trap and a trap line right along this ridge leading to further traps. This provided a decent route for us to follow right along until we dropped slightly and found ourselves at the edge of the bushline which happened to coincide with the start of the grassy flats along that section of Paradise Creek.
Our hard slog up the hill was well rewarded, it had taken over 3 hours to get here but the views of the cirque leading to Mt Boanerges and Taiaha Peak were spectacular. We didn’t waste any time in finding a suitable camp spot and tents were quickly erected and a welcome brew put on. The usual world issues were solved that evening and just after bed time a group of Kea was heard overhead which did leave anxiety for the safety of our tents. The night was moonlit, cold and filled with the occasional noise of avalanches coming off Taiaha Peak.
Morning saw us getting up at 6 with a decent frost on the tents and people sharing how they stayed warm at various parts of the night. Kea once again were heard overhead, but not seen. A Karearea was seen however. By 7 we were on the move to check out the head of the valley and had only gone a short while when we saw that we did have some neighbours in the form of 3 hunters who had been there for 2 nights. They had bagged 3 Thar and a deer the previous day and were looking forward to a big day of lugging out their catch.
The head of the valley was about 2km and although we didn’t get right to the end, we did go far enough to see all that we wanted before returning to our camp to have a brew and pack up.
The return trip was so much easier as we followed the ridge and the trap route all the way down into the Hopkins valley and a fast walk back to the car. The trapped 4wd at Monument was no longer there in the river, so that guy must have some mates.
A great trip, very strenuous at times, visiting an area which is not often seen by many.
Photography by Lorena can be seen on her Facebook (look up Lorena Marshal) or eventually on the NOTMC Facebook page.
Thanks to Julian for the 4wd driving, and Jenny and Lorena for their company.
Robbie
Waianakarua to Kakanui
Sunday 20 October 2024
This was the first time for many years, if not for ever, that this stretch of coast had been traversed on foot by the club. The walk was organised around a scheduled low tide at 12 o’clock, so the departure from Medway Street was at the unusually late time of 9.30am. The seven trampers drove the 22 kms to where the track into the Waianakarua River mouth leaves the road, where they met another two participants. A car was left at Kakanui along the way.
Boots on, we walked south along the deeply rutted 1/2km track to the mouth, admiring the way the shingle bank across the mouth of the estuary had been sculpted by the competing forces of high river flow and southerly storms. At 10.15 we turned down on to the beach and headed north, initially on shingle and then on to the progressively fine, white sand of Te Hakapureirei Beach. After just over half an hour we passed the closed mouth of the Bowalley stream and, at 11.15 we stopped for morning tea just short of the first obstacle on the journey: Bridge Point. We were entertained there by a surfer on a foilboard riding high above the waves.
The limestone promontory of Bridge Point is noted for the two natural tunnels which go through it and which are negotiable at low tide. We took the inland tunnel and, being about half an hour before low tide, most traversed it without getting wet feet. Coming out the other side, we paused to admire some massive limestone rocks, a cave, and a flat rock platform extending to the next obstacle: Orore Point. As we approached Orore Point, we could see the platform extending several hundred metres out to sea, providing a base for a number of paua gatherers and children with buckets exploring the many rock pools.
After rounding Orore Point, we headed along the firm golden sand of All Day Bay, reaching Campbells Bay about 12.45. Lunch was declared, so we settled down on two handy logs just by the path down to the beach. Two surfers provided entertainment, and they were joined by a third as we stood up for the last leg of the walk: around Kakanui Point. A short exploratory trip around the foreshore rocks revealed a gap which would make it impossible to get around and stay dry, so we climbed the ramp from the beach, past the toilets, along the grassy clifftop past Lindsay’s Seat to a track leading back down to the rocks. The rock formations here were different – volcanic remains of an ancient caldera and the going comprised a mixture of volcanic rock outcrops, flat rock platforms, kelp, shingle and sand. It was straightforward apart from one outcrop which required a bit of a scramble, not aided by the guarding seal. Eventually, we got around the point and came to a higher rock formation which formed a more serious obstacle. Three managed to get over while the other four turned back to find other routes up to the terrace. In so doing, all missed the path which zig-zagged up the bank to come out on top just past Molly’s Seat.
All regathered on the clifftop which we walked around, continuing along the track beside the estuary, and over the bridge to arrive at the Kakanui Store just on three o’clock and enjoy a well-earned ice cream. The drivers were then ferried back the Waianakarua mouth to pick up their cars. It had been a very different walk in perfect conditions, with interesting geological formations, seals, seagulls and surfers enjoyed by Lorena, Julian, Mike, David, Helen, Rodney and John.
Kahikatea Lodge Circuit, Mt Miserable, 13 October 2024
Nine of us met up at the Mt Misery Road corner on Sunday morning. A quick transference to accommodate everyone into a 4WD and away up the hill through Glencoe Run to the end of the road carpark. The weather forecast predicted a change after lunch, but in the meantime conditions were cold and windy but otherwise fine. The circuit proposed involved going down the fairly steep muddy track ( newly marked by DoC) down to a creek before a short steep pinch (15 min) to the saddle where the Lodge is located. Morning tea was enjoyed here and for those who had not been to this location an inspection of the new hut and the particularly impressive composting toilet.
We carried on from the saddle in a clockwise direction to climb up through tussock, following the ridge all the way up with very good views of the surrounding hills and a great overview of large parts of the Waianakarua Reserve including the entire length of the Staircase Ridge. Meeting up with the 4WD track and marked route to Mt Miserable we decided to carry on to Mt Miserable. This is one of the least impressive mountain tops and only distinguished from other tops by the trig. But great views and the location for lunch. Conditions started to deteriorate and we had to dress up for the occasion, with even small bits of snow coming down and the build up of major clouds from the south.
Down the 4WD track and the marked route back towards the carpark just in time as the rain came pelting down at exactly that point. The road out was still dry enough not to pose any difficulties in the drive back down.
This was a fairly short tramp in terms of distance (just 7km) but this country is steep and and the tussock can be slow to walk in so no speed records were set in our 5 hour walk.
A very enjoyable day out in our own backyard with great views in every direction.
Thanks to Bess,Charlotte, Shirley, Jenny, Rodney, David, Colin and Mike for coming along.
Robbie
