This article was first published in the Tararua Tramper Volume 95, no 8, September 2023
Crowther – McKerrow Track – Whakanui Track E/M
Wednesday 5 July 2023
With four bus stops on Hine Rd, the Wainuiomata South number 170 bus offers good transport, if you can get the connections. For this trip, our excursion did not include meandering down into the upper Turere, lovely as it is. The shorter version allowed for many stops and much chatter. A start from Willis Grove soon had us warmed up and pausing at the Crowther masts, and then puffing up and finding the muddy piece before reaching the top of Sunny Grove firebreak. Two guys arrived there at about the same time, having walked up the firebreak. We certainly didn’t envy them, even though it’s a much shorter route. Amongst the kāmahi and near the tree with the twisted branch we took morning tea. A number of suggestions as to what the tree is were rejected, but we didn’t come up with an answer we could agree upon. A great footpad and easily followed, the Camp Wainui Track eventually got us to the junction with the McKerrow Track.
As it very slowly deteriorates with rot, the ‘B’ and half the ‘O’ are now missing from the old wooden signpost indicating the ‘Boys Brigade Camp’. The spot invited us to perch on handy roots for lunch. Ambling along the McKerrow Track we noted there seems to be little that changes, from the luxurious Astelia plants and the semi-open view spots to the very muddy, rooty strip. For fun we did consider trying to find the shortcut that bypasses the Whakanui and McKerrow Tracks junction, but thought better of it when we couldn’t easily locate it. Coming down the persistent gradient of the Whakanui, one couldn’t help wonder how many times TTC boots had passed over it on day, weekend and trapping trips. Sunny Grove lived up to its name and only one dog barked.
- Party members
- Michele Dickson (leader and scribe), Diana Barnes, Lois Kluger, Jeanette Martin, Pip Newton, Lynne Pomare.