2023-01-25 < Weekly activities > 2023-02-08
Activity summary: Wednesday Feb 01 to Tuesday Feb 07
Days Bay Pavilion, Gilberd Bush Reserve, Belmont Hill Road circuit, Orongorongo River, Mount Reeves, Coal Creek, Te Puke Ariki Traverse, Butcher/Cattle Ridge Tacks, Ruahine Range.
Wednesday 1st February
Lunch at Days Bay Pavilion led by Kath Offer. 5 members.
As usual a very pleasant lunch was enjoyed by older members of the club. The day was fine and the company companiable.
E Gilberd Bush Reserve led by Margaret Foden. 6 members
In spite of enlarging the street map of Newlands for car drivers, we all managed to get slightly lost in the new subdivision so had to abandon the first bit and start further along. The track goes through cool regenerating bush and finishes at the old Horokiwi tip site (Waihinahina Park), now a dog exercise area. After lunch we 4 retraced our steps while the 2 ramblers waited to be picked up. Thank goodness for cell phones and GPS!
EM Belmont Hill Road circuit led by Alison Stephenson. 11 members.
We gathered at the Hill Road entrance to Belmont Regional Park with the plan of circuiting the head of the valley. We climbed up the unnamed bike track through bush, and emerged to traverse rolling farm hills, before eventually returning to the carpark via the so- called 'scenic route'. Highlights were the panoramic views, the lack of rain, and being able to help the intrepid TTC bike group lift their bikes over a recalcitrant gate.
M Orongorongo River to the sea led by Jim Gibbons. 9 members.
We met at the entrance to the Catchpool valley and waited about half an hour while a car was parked at the Orongorongo river mouth, so about 10am we started walking up the five-mile track. It was a warm cloudy day with rain predicted in the afternoon. We stopped for morning tea at the Orongorongo river then walked down the river all the way to the sea. We stayed on the riverbed, crossing the river as necessary. Some had a swim in one of the deeper pools, but most of the time the river was below knee depth. We arrived at the river mouth soon after 3 pm and used the car that had been parked there to collect the other cars at the Catchpool carpark. Despite the forecast the weather remained warm, calm, and it didn’t rain.
MF Mt Reeves via Coal Creek led by Gerald Leather. 9 members and 2 non-members
The party spent 6.5 hours navigating the southern branch of Coal Stream from its mouth near the carpark to the Mount Reeves track at 820m. just below Mount Reeves. The climb out from the end of the blue line to the track was easy travel through open forest. The return trip to the cars was via the track down to Coal Stream and took around 2 hours. The weather was overcast but warm and the forecast rain only after we were in our cars.
Biking Te Puke Ariki Traverse in Belmont Regional Park led by Celia Wade-Brown. 2 members.
Helen and I met at Manor Park Station and biked and hiked up the steep 4WD. I knew this would be hard but some of the smaller ascents also saw us pushing the bikes. Great panoramic views of the Porirua and Te-Whanganui-a-Tara harbours. Coincidentally we met a group of Wednesday trampers, who helped lift our bikes over a fence which had a latch we couldn't open. Fortuitous timing! A few links between 4WD tracks over pasture would be confusing in poor weather. Took us from 9:45 to 4:15. The descent to Korokoro through Bush with emergent nīkau palms is superb for riding, so a bike trip would always be best going south.
Multiday M Tramp Saturday 4th to Monday 6th Waterfall Hut, Broken Ridge, Hinerua Hut led by Anna Davison. 4 members.
Undeterred by the forecast for rain and more rain (we'll be soaked through to our undies said Kobus), 4 TTC trampers enjoyed a fantastic adventure in the Ruahine over Waitangi weekend - with only a light shower for a couple of hours on our Monday walk out. Kobus did get soaked to his undies - twice- but more about that in the full trip report! After travelling up to Triplex hut on Friday after work, Saturday found us boulder hopping up 3 rivers (Waipawa, Waikamaka and Kawhatau) and bush bashing up, over and down 2 untracked, steep, bush clad saddles (Waipawa and Rangi) to eventually arrive at Waterfall hut after a long, hot day - thank goodness for the rivers for frequent refills and hat dunking to cool ourselves down. Sunday started with a steep climb up an untracked spur to the craggy, narrow ridge leading to Paemutu Peak. The rocks were scarily crumbly, the environment lofty and exposed, sometimes sidles were possible, other times not. The views were expansive, the weather perfect, fine and incredibly still. Long sections of the ridge required care and caution, but by mid-afternoon the ridge broadened and became grassy and tussocky, and so the descent to Hinerua hut. With the sign advising just under 2 hours on to Smith Stream we decided to continue with the promise of a river and a refreshing plunge ahead. The way forward was far from straight forward however with recent heavy rain causing multiple large slips, which we traversed with great care, the track washed out in places and heaps of tree-fall to navigate either over or under depending on tramper height. A soak at Smith Stream hut and another communal dinner was a welcome end to another long day. Slips and tree fall were a prominent feature of Monday morning as we enjoyed more gorgeous river travel before heading up and over various low lying hills, through open hillsides with views of farmland, to return to the North Block road end car-park, and the drive home after another epic Ruahine adventure.
Sunday 5th February
EM Butcher/Cattle Ridge tracks led by Judy Alexander. 5 members and 2 non-members
Butcher Track and Cattle Ridge Track begin about 10 min along the Orongorongo Track. A good climb to the morning tea spot, which was a bit overgrown but there was still a nice view over towards Wellington. A range of forest types and shrubland rewards you with views of Wellington Harbour, a bit of gorse around. Cattle Ridge then heads north, with plenty of tree roots to watch. We had lunch at the lookout point on Brown's Track after which we rejoined the main track that joins the Orongorongo Track near Turere Stream. And back to Catchpool. The Navigator measures were:12.39 km, 4.10 hours moving, 5.43 hours on the track. Alan tried his photography skills using an underwater waterproof case for his iPhone, and was happy with the results. A good time was confirmed with lots of laughing and chatting. Thanks for the opportunity.
Total 51 members and 4 non members