Taieri Recreational Tramping Club

69 km from car-park

24/1/2012. Trampers. Goodwood. Ken.

14/5/2003. Trampers. Bobbys Head, Goodwood. George, Ria L.

22/11/1987 Goodwood, Bobby’s Head. Leaders:

Date – Group – Area – Grade – Cost – Leaders

(Passenger costs subject to possible change)

est. 50 km from car-park.

Three of us, & Fin the dog went on the tramp to Lawson’s Farm at the North end of the Silverpeaks, in the Waikouaiti River valley.

It was a very warm day, so we took advantage of the shade where we could. As I was the only one who had been there before, I put the previous tramp from there onto my GPS, & we followed that route up to where we had previously had lunch, but as it was only 11:00am at this time, we just rested in the shade for 10 mins or so, …

… before climbing the steep face up to the top paddock. Our lunch stop was by the Limestone rock formation, but this time, we sat down by the fence below them to keep out of the sun.

The after lunch climb up the vehicle track to the Old Mountain Track was next, & then just a leisurely walk along this back to the vehicle. – Ken.

21/7/2010. Trampers. Orbells Crossing, Mountain Road Track. Medium. Leaders: Ria, Hazel.

Ken’s GPS tracking of the tramp goes anti-clockwise from top right where we parked the cars, across left alongside two large water tanks and a new building, then a zig-zag down to the river where we stopped for morning tea. Here we were amazed by evidence of a large flood that had tangled debris in bare willow-branches (not evident in the pic) well above our heads.

Following Ken’s GPS tracking up the true right side of the river, and you come to the extreme left of the map where a mixture of tracking signals indicates our lunch-stop. As you can determine -click to enlarge the pic – from whether the tracking signals are behind or in front of each other, you will see that the track took us up and down several slopes. Lunch was on a ledge well above the river. A great view. The steep ridge showing in the pic’s background is what we c-l-i-m-b-e-d after lunch.

A gentle descent across a newly-grassed field took us to a track down to a gully between two ridges, then up the gully to the remarkable set of unusual rocks. Beyond these, we climbed the steep slope up to the left to emerge eventually on the Mountain Road track. It was then only the case of following this back down to the the cars. Thanks to Ria and Hazel for a well-led tramp, enjoyed on a grand winter’s sunny day following a good frost. – Ian

27/2/2008. Trampers. Orbells Crossing, south. Medium. Leaders: Ria L, Hazel

Distance from car-park: 27 km.

Year round. Winter option. Contacts:

Parking: Contact Manager, Christian Youth Camp, Mr Kinnon 03 417 7120 for permission to park on the old wooden two-storey house property.

Carpark to Wilkinson Road 45 minutes.

15 minutes

Wilkinson to top of Easement 1 hour.

Easement to Bluff 30 minutes.

Bluff to Waihola top 1 hour.

Down Finlayson Road to car park. 30 minutes.

Wenita permit. Require 6 weeks notice, but less from us.

18/1/2012. Hikers. Finlayson Road picnic area. Wilkinson, Easement, Skyline and Waihola Roads round trip. Leaders: Marjorie and Bruce.

28/10/2009. Hikers. Waihola Forest area. Leaders: Chris, Dot B

27 km from car-park.

11/1/2012. All. Allans Beach. Leader: Fred.

15 km from car-park.

George first took 22 of us along a short beach walk and up to his property for morning tea. A light drizzle had set in, but not too discouraging. Thank you George for providing so many chairs.

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Distance for carpark: 31.5 km.

Distance f: 31.5 km.

26 km est

23/11/2011. Hikers. Lee Stream Ramble, Scorgies Farm. Easy. Leaders: George, Fred.

7/5/2008 Both. Lee Stream Ramble, Scorgies Farm. Easy. Leaders: George, Doug M

23/11/2011. Hikers. Fairfield circuit, Fairfield. Leaders: Graham, Wendy.

26/1/2011. Hikers. Chain Hills Road, Flower Street, Fairfield. Easy+. Leaders: Frank and Lesley.

Some 18 of us (the number varied a little at points in the walk) set out from the bridge carpark on Saddle Hill on a fine and calm morning, continued up Chain Hills Road with morning tea at the “potato planter” (pictured),

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Seven of us did the shorter 7 km tramp up Leishmans, down Chalkies. We entered in past the weir and old Mosgiel water supply holding tank and negotiated our way to the small bluff at the foot of the ridge. We were surprised to find a sturdy new rope. So, ‘plus ca change plus c’est la meme chose’.  First the old rope. Then the ropeless period after its removal. Now a new one. Well, bravo, anyway. Safe and reassuring.

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Click Swampy ridge track for background information.

Nine of us met at Booth Road. We entered Davies Track via McGoun this time, exiting it on the left a short way up past the cairn. A light shower came on during the bush section, sounding quite pleasant as it struck the leaves overhead. Out in the tussock at the top, the weather was clear again. Ria and Hazel had discovered a new track had been made above the bush, this time striking to the left instead of the one to the left, the one that got several of us lost last time where overgrowth had rendered a crucial turn invisible.

We emerged on the Flagstaff walkway above a rock outcrop and headed down to the top of the Pineapple. Here Gay, a visitor, left us and we continued along Swampy Ridge to the top of the Nicols/Moonlight track. A little way in and we found the track has been ruined by mountain bike wheels cutting a narrow deep groove down the track middle, making keeping our footing on the restricted track-sides difficult and dangerous. Further down, we kept to the Moonlight side of Nicols Creek and traced, where we could, the original track, bisected however by the zigzags of the mountain bike route. Rain now really set in and we sheltered in nearby bush for lunch. We then continued down the old track, through the macrocarpas, the stone outcrop and yet further carefully down to emerge at the creek crossing below the waterfall – to Ian’s delight but Ria’s chagrin who had hoped to emerge via the onto the Leith Valley road on the north side instead of now forced across to the other side. So it was down and out and up Islay St back to the cars. All felt it had been another good day out. Too dull and showery for photo opportunities however. – Ian.

17/10/2001. Trampers. Nicols Creek – Swampy Saddle – Warburton Track. Leaders: Lex, Mary L, Irene.

18.2 km from car-park.

2/11/2011. Both. Logan Park, Centennial Memorial. Leaders: Jim, Betty, Ian.

The mist and rain was heavier on the Taieri than Dunedin, as 8 of us found on a tramp that turned out well worth while.

It was parka weather but neither rain- or sun-hat was necessary. Continue Reading »