Club Night October 2016
Monday, 10th October
With the weather warming up, going for a tramp appealed to many over the last month. Trips included Maerewhenua area, Spring Creek and Mt Victoria/Raki’s Table for the Wednesday Walkers. Many also helped with the DOC inspired tree planting at Gards Road. This was a successful day by planting native trees to enhance an area where existing species were unique. Tramping Club trips included Shag Point and Pukehiwitahi, Cromwell day trips, and Herbert Forest Botanical Walk with Zuni Steer and Hugh Wood from Waitaki Forest and Bird. Our Guest Speaker for the evening was Lindsay Kyles, a paramedic from St John who has been involved with them for 30 years. He is also on the South Island Health and Safety Committee for St John. He has seen many life threatening situations but thankfully, he enjoys his job. Lindsay gave a talk on First Aid in the outdoors, where an ambulance may not have access to. Again, raising the importance of carrying a PLB when going tramping. Visit our website for information www.notmc.org.nz
Edwards to Hawdon Valleys via Tarn Col
Labour Weekend 2016
A long weekend with fine weather forecast proved to be a good incentive to head over to Arthurs Pass for some tramping.
Friday night was spent at Porters Heights skifield accommodation where Tim’s daughter, Clare lives and works.
We woke to a -3degree frost on Saturday morning with fog blanketing the lower reaches on the way to Arthurs Pass. As Tim had already had a car at Porter Heights we were able to drive and leave it at the Hawdon carpark to await our return on Monday.The four of us then drove around to Greyneys where we parked the second car near the Bealey River.The fog had lifted and the sun shone as we made our way across the railway bridge and up the Edwards River Valley only to get wet feet soon after immersing in the Minga and various other streams.
After a pleasant walk on the riverbed and in bush, mainly uphill, we stopped for an early lunch at a viewpoint where we could see a spectacular waterfall on the Edwards River. A wire chain to assist passage over a rocky bluff had been replaced by re-routing the track down a steep gravel zig-zag.
We arrived at the Edwards hut just before 2pm to find we were the only ones there. That soon changed as more people arrived at various stages during the afternoon including a group of five from the South Canterbury Tramping Club, swelling the numbers to over twenty, with some sleeping on the kitchen floor and outside. A few of the SC TC members were known to us so we had an enjoyable evening reminiscing with them .
Another frost, but fine day saw us leaving the hut at 7.30am to make our way up the head of the Edwards Valley to the Taruahuna Pass and across an enormous pile of rocks of all sizes, the result of landslides from Falling Mountain triggered by a large earthquake in 1929. A climb up a gut led us to a steep face about three quarters of the way up to Tarn Col. Concentration levels were high as we hauled ourselves up clinging to the snowgrass to reach the top. One slip here would not be pretty.
A lunch break was taken sitting beside the tarn on the Col and then it was over the edge and down the narrow gut on the other side towards the East branch of the Otehake River, where we had another rest and snack before heading upstream criss-crossing to reach the turn-off to Walker Pass.
A short climb through scrub led us over the top passing a picturesque tarn on the way. Many crossings of the tarn outlet followed until a steep, sometimes rocky track took us down passing Twin Falls ( Two waterfalls) and then onto an easy going track in the bush to the Hawdon Hut, arriving at 3.15pm. Once again the comfortable hut, built in 2007 was at full capacity sleeping twenty people for the night.
A 7.30pm start once again on Monday morning enabled us to walk down the Hawdon River Valley and out to Tim’s car by 10.15am. This involved some easy walking in the bush but with quite a few river crossings, the last being well up our thighs (Not Tim’s though). Russell from SC TC hitched a ride with us back to Greyneys and we all left from there to head home.
Thanks to Clare, Tim, Maurice and also the SCTC Members, Dorothy, Kathryn, Russell, Martin, and Robert for their company in making an enjoyable weekend.
Phyllis
Cromwell Explore
1st-2nd October 2016
Saturday started with fog over Lake Dunstan but soon a bright clear Central sky came through for the day. Jac and Karyl walked the Cromwell – Bannockburn Lakeside Walk starting from Old Cromwell. Bev, Dave, Bill and I did the Cairnmuir Track starting on Pigeon Rock Rd on Cornish Point. The DOC track follows several ridgelines up the Cairnmuir Range. When the ground is barren – the smallest flora and fauna become larger in perspective. Thyme, Bidibid, California Poppy, Kowhai and Hebe were all in flower. Dave spotted a Yellowhammer sitting on a rock. Over 3-4 metres, Bev saw a lot of black fluffy caterpillars which possibly were the caterpillars of the Magpie Moth, which we had seen earlier in the day. Bill sniffed out an old water race enroute – a short cut to the hut. It took 3 hours to reach the large Cairnmuir Musterer’s Hut, it contained a table and no bunks. The hut is still in good condition. We got back to the vehicles by 4pm and after dropping off Bill, we went back to camp to catch up on Jac and Karyl. On Sunday, we went for a short walk out to the Bannockburn sluicings on Felton Rd. Here we were humbled by the sheer hard labour that went into gold exploration.
Many Thanks for your company Karyl, Jac, Bev, Bill, and Dave.
Bess
Shag Point and Pukehiwitehi
18 September 2016
It’s good to have a local ‘ easy flat walk’ on the programme, so Shag Point with an option of a climb up Puketapo seemed a good plan. The walk out to the boat harbour along the rock shelf must be North Otago’s best kept secret. The walk did live up to seeing the amazing geological formations, but it was slippery, and took more effort than maybe expected to clamber over the rocks etc. The seal colony was much depleted in comparison to other times I have been there. We explored for signs of the coal mining as we went up a hill to view the Shag River mouth. Attempts to find a short-cut back to the cars through the forest failed, but what with the differing cribs and sussing out where the rail track may have gone, the road walk passed without too much boredom.
All were keen to climb Pukehiwitehi as Puketapu was closed for lambing. So following Jane M instructions we headed over the maim road. We did not actually find the driveway but we got over the railway line plus fence to scramble over cleared forestry rubble until hitting a forestry road, and eventually onto a road that leads to the top. There were excellent views Northwards until close to the top. Here we found the remnants of the majestic monument to McKenzie until it fell over and was replaced at Puketapo. Jane had given us the co-ordinates of the ‘tumbled down hill bits’ but after a short hunt, decided that it was too steep, slippery and the GPS’s were not happy with all the trees overhead. On our return journey we endeavoured to find the correct entrance, but again were unsuccessful. Thanks to Rodney for these web sites:
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/OW19021112.2.97.1
http://hockensnapshop.ac.nz/nodes/view/35392
It was an interesting more casual day, and it’s always fun to go somewhere new and conquer another peak even at if only at 227m. Thanks for the company of Helen, Rodney, Bill, Maurice Phyllis and Sharon.
Jane
Beyond Trotters Gorge
Sunday the 4th September 2016
Five of us met at the car park at 8am and headed down to the Trotters Gorge Reserve. I picked up John and Jane on the way and when we got to the Reserve we were met by the Rickerby family. Karen is the daughter of one of our previous club members Dave Sinclair who passed away about 10 years ago too young. Karen had heard about the track the club had named after her dad, but had never been up it before, so it was a nice thing for them to do on father’s day.
The day was cloudy and cool so it was on with the day packs and we headed off up the valley. Trotter’s creek was running a bit high so it was wet feet all round with the 6 creek crossings up to the start of Dave’s track. The club had spent a day in February cleaning up the track and it looked like it had been well used since then. Everyone enjoyed the ½ hour hike up the marked route and a snack break was taken when we climbed up out of the valley. It was then on to the forest road and up past South Peak.
A cool wind had now picked up from the nor/east, so it was good to find the track back in the forest that goes past North Peak. By now the mist and fog and a bit of drizzle had set in so it was no use in climbing up North Peak for any views. At this point we split into two groups, with Maurice, Phyllis and Ross taking the Rickerby family back. They headed back around South Peak, down Fantail Rd and had Lunch at the University Hut before heading back to the cars.
Our group of four carried on to see if there was still a track out onto the top end of Easons Rd. Last time I was up there the track we had used was covered in gorse, but the track we were on was a good track and we had seen the old track but it looked a bit over grown.
So we stayed on the good track and soon we popped out onto Easons Rd about 3km down from the communication tower.
Our plan was to walk up the road to just before the tower and take another track down to Pigeon Bush. The wind, mist and fog were not going to make it a good walk up the road so we popped back into the bush to have lunch out of the wind where we decided we would go back to South Peak and drop down to Pigeon Bush from there.
On the way back we had great views not but we were soon on the track down to Pigeon Bush which was getting a bit over grown in gorse in places.
We had permission from the farmer to follow Pigeon creek down through the gorge with plenty of creek crossings and wet feet along the way. We soon met up with Trotters creek which we followed back down to the University hut, where we had a break before heading back to the car. The whole day took about 6 and half hours and about 19km.
Thanks to Maurice, Phyllis, Ross F, John, Jane, Debbie who was out on her first Club trip and Karen, Georgia, Riley, Marek and Nigel for their company for the day
Neville
