This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
Murray Martin
(483m) cops a lot of weather but on this day it offered
_ay-trips-are-a great. way-to-get out and_about I 4WD track toward the wild south coast. Mount Misery without taking up the whole weekend. The South Karori/Makara hills are close to the heart of the city and yet offer an invigorating change of scenery. For beginners and experienced trampers alike, a day trip offers many benefits including being able to casually explore some wilderness right on the city’s backdoor step. Harry Smith’s day trip on the 16" April started from South Makara Road, at a junction before the Karori Golf Course, and meandered all the way over a private stunning views north, along Shepherds Gully toward Mana and Kapiti islands. Closer to the coast, the hills framed the views over the Cook Strait to the picturesque South Island. Dropping off the steep south coast cliffs down to Oteranga Bay, where the inter-island power cable lands, the group had a pre-lunch nibble and Simon demonstrated how his mis-spent youth produced a cont on page 14 cont from page 13 keen ability to skim stones in between breaking waves. All in all it was about 8km from the road to the coastline. We walked south-east around the rugged coast to have lunch out of the wind in the shadow of Outlook Hill (537m) and overlooking a sunbathing lone seal. During a relaxed lunch, having boiled the billy for a cuppa, we watched a lone seal sunbathing on the rocks next to us. Heading around Cave Bay toward the Old Terawhiti station, Andrew Mann and a pack of hopeful gold panning followers tried their luck at finding the illustrious shiny metal at the mouth of Waiariki Stream. Unfortunately finding gold in this area is as rare as finding a dry weekend in the Tararuas. The coastal walk was about 5km. Following the gold-laden Waiariki Stream inland, the scrub on either side of the gully started to thicken to the point that our esteemed leader wisely decided to ascend the humungous hill on the starboard side, to the relative safety of a snaking 4WD track on the ridge. After a near vertical never-ending 280-metre climb we reached the track to be greeted by a stiff northerly which is synonymous with the hills in this area. That was the tough part of the day and I’m sure Andrew was glad he didn’t have to lug any bulky nuggets up that hill! Harry produced a packet of Toffee Pops. Hilary arrived at the top ushering a few expletives including loud repetitions of the infamous Toyota “B” word and I’m sure someone kneeled down and kissed the 4WD track — all in jest (I-think?). It was mid afternoon and the longish walk back along the track was mostly in the prevailing northerly which at times, going back past Mt Misery, was atthe bo ota Lunch hurricane force (or so itseemed). At the halfway point, I Harry produced a welcome bag of boiled sweets that, after everyone had one in their mouths, we found out had been in his day pack for a decade or so. Still it all seemed worth it when after 9km heading inland we in the shadow of Outlook Hill Murray Martin hit the South Makara Road again and jumped in our cars to drive a short distance home to reflect on a great day’s outing. Day trippers were: Harry Smith, Nicola Burkitt, Andrew (fortune seeking) Mann, Anne-Marie Wood, Simon (boil the billy) Ward, Sue Higgins, John Heffeins, Hilary Watermann, Trish Knox, Bridget Murphy and Anne-Marie Strickland. (Plus 3 others that joined us to Oteranga Bay and then returned back along that same route — sorry I don’t know your names.)
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Trip Reports