2024-02-28 < Weekly activities > 2024-03-13
Activity summary: Wednesday 2024 Mar 06 to Tuesday 2024 Mar 12
Ōtari Troup Lawn, Raumati Escarpment, Nikau Creek, Turere Stream, Mt McKerrow Track, Keith George Memorial Park/Silverstream Scenic Reserve, Tepokopoko, Mt Frith from Boar Bush Gully Road
Wednesday 6th March 2024
Lunch(BYO) to Ōtari Troup Lawn led by Margaret Foden 12M
The BBQ lunch was a great success. 12 people came including Janet King on her walker. We reheated precooked sausages & chicken nibbles, and people brought food to go with them. We will do it again next year."
E tramp over Raumati Escarpment led by Peter Nixon 5M
To begin with, the elusive car park at the start was conveniently marked by a road crew who had established a road block there to prevent people driving any further up Waterfall Road because a grader was operating further up the hill. The main navigation hazard was thus eliminated. We had a perfect Autumn day with a slight chill to begin with, and it followed some previous rain which eliminated the risk of fire in the long grass. That long grass gave some trouble in finding the track in the northern half of the route. Thus, we took longer than expected but everyone enjoyed it.
EM Tramp Nikau Creek Turere Valley, McKerrow Track led by Marg Pearce 5M
We had perfect conditions for our EM trip, which left from Hine Road in Wainuiomata, followed the Nikau Track and then up a steep off-track spur onto the Whakanui Track. We took two hours for this section as the spur had lots of windfalls which were quite difficult to get past because of the steepness of the terrain. After that we continued on the Whakanui until a point where we dropped down to Turere Stream; from there, up to the McKerrow Track where we had a late lunch before returning to Hine Road. There were five members on the trip and we took close to 6 hours - an hour more than anticipated.
M tramp to Keith George Memorial Park/Silverstream Scenic Reserve led by John Allard 7
On 6 March seven of us explored the trails and tracks in and around Keith George Memorial Park, off State Highway 2. near Silverstream. Members may have wondered about the escarpment in that area as they have sped towards the Wairarapa. The reality is some areas of pleasant bush with steep and slippery tracks, that’s not especially well-signed. The trip was deliberately an exploration, planning for future days with TTC. There were some dead end side trips; one as we came out of the bush and established the route north to Moonshine Road (a future trip) and another as a route advertised by the Upper Hutt Council now has a high gate, some hostile signs and a rather large well-horned billy goat to stop ‘hikers’. (Check with John to see a trace of their route on the tramp.)
SF tramp to Mt Frith from Boar Bush Gully Road led by Joan Basher 3M
Our small and happy group of three started from the end of Boar Bush Gully Road, on the outskirts of Featherston. The first part was along the 4WD road to the reservoir, somewhat overgrown by gorse. Near the reservoir we scrambled across the overflow weir, pleased to have the fixed rope to haul ourselves up the other side. The uphill bush track began immediately, with a firm footpad though increasingly overgrown by gorse and bush as we got higher. The bush was wet - and we got sodden! We reached Finis 577m at 10.30am, for a quick, cold morning tea, with the odd sunbeam to warm us. At this point, we had joined the main track towards Frith, and it was much easier going undulating along the top of the spur, including a couple of quite steep ups and downs. We had an early, sunshine lunch before noon at the summit of Mt Frith 645m, enjoying the widespread views. The afternoon retraced our morning route, with the by-now-fine weather allowing to us to be relaxed about stopping to admire panoramas over the high Tararaus, the Wairarapa plain, and the nearby Remutakas. In total, about 12km walked, about 800 metres elevation gain, 7 hours 30 mins.
Sunday
E tramp over Bell’s Track and and the Skyline/Silversky Track led by Bob Cijffers. 3M
We had all of three participants, including the leader, for a lovely sunny, if not windy in places, day.
Club Meet at Nelson Lakes 2-10 March 34M
About 34 people attended the Meet most staying at the excellent Rotoiti Outdoor Education Lodge. Carol Kelly and her kitchen crew produced a very tasty shared meal for our first night. Day trips were run to Parachute Rocks, the Bushline Hut circuit, Whiskey Falls, Beeby’s Hut, Red Hills Hut, Speargrass Hut and there was a special Dave Bartle trip. Longer trips went to Cupola, Angelus, Hopeless and Mole Tops. David Wanty completed a Travers/Sabine circuit and Tina went fishing. The weather delivered plenty of sunshine, not much wind, some challenging snow and ice. On the last night several people tested positive for Covid and some minor reorganisation of bunks and travel to Picton was necessary but despite this it was a very successful Meet.
Total 71 members