Oct 21 2023
1. 18/10/2023. Maia to Port Chalmers. Hikers. Leaders Mike and Max
Once again Max and Mike showed their dedication to the TRTC by leaving a delicately poised England v Italy football match on TV to catch a bus to Maia to meet up with the hiking team who were assembling by the parking area at the Maia bus stop on SH88. Continue Reading »
Sep 06 2022
Oh what a beautiful day Caption and photo Ady
Morning tea in Ralph Hotere Garden
Caption and photo Helen
Boat shed on Back Beach Caption and photo Michael
Stone boat – how many just walked by? Caption and photos Phil
Neil will give anything a go – once. Caption and photo Phil
Yet another climb took us to Scott Memorial before crossing the road for our last uphill leg before descending through some bush and a track past the old cemetery back to Port Chalmers.
The town Caption and photo Helen
Refreshments were taken at The Galley where one unnamed lady ordered a Bloody Mary. Due to the many steep tracks and hills in Port Chalmers this could possibly be a Grade 3. The hike was 8km. Michael Webb
Jun 06 2001
Nov 13 1996
Nov 12 2023
Map of area
13. 8/11/2023. Hikers. Varleys Hill-Hereweka Track. Grade 2.5. $9. 32km. Leaders: Jan Butcher/Jenny Finnerty
22 hikers set off on a cloudy morning for the Portobello Community carpark. Continue Reading »
May 15 2022
It was different to be one of the only 2 for refreshments after a pleasant walk on Hatchery Road at Portobello. It was at the Aquarium’s marine studies centre that our group of 15 were afforded a very interesting presentation by Tamlyn Somerford on their ongoing research that is currently being carried out.
Gathering around the Aquarium ’Touch Tanks”
Caption and photo Raewyn
Jay with a starfish Caption and photo Raewyn
View from the Peninsula track back to the Aquarium Caption and photo Raewyn
Our trip by bus from the Edgar Centre was a change of outlook from traveling by car. It was a very pleasant day for what was a short walk to a laid-back lunch stop looking out to Taiaroa Heads.
Below is a photo of 4 hikers (plus me – I took the photo) who did the extra hill today beyond Portobello at lunchtime Caption and photo Margreet
Back in Portobello waiting for the return bus seemed the perfect time to fuel up on ice cream.
Leaders were Lester & Jim
Mar 15 1987
P N Johnson, Botany Division, DSIR, Dunedin March 1987
Quarantine Island has a fenced 1.4 ha of low Halls totara – broadleaved forest in excellent condition, plus other native scrub and coastal communities. …
Quarantine and Goat Islands owe their origin to former spurs drowned with the sinking of valleys now occupied by Otago Harbour. Both were used for quarantine purposes in early days of European settlement, and are Crown Land, formerly managed by Health Department. Goat Island has now largely reverted to native low forest and scrub. … Quarantine Island is leased to the St Martins Island community, who maintain a house and other buildings on the eastern headland, and graze sheep over most of the island, except in a fenced-off portion of bush, facing south at the western end. Historical remnants persist in the form of one of the old quarantine buildings, a small graveyard, chimney and flagpole remnants and old wrecks at the boat landing. The island is c. 17 ha in area, and reaches 58 m at its summit. There are two pylons on the crest, carrying electricity from Port Chalmers to Portobello.
Broadleaved – totara forest. This comprises most of the c. 1.4 ha fenced-off area to which sheep do not have access. The canopy, mostly about 4m tall, comprises Halls totara, broadleaf, ngaio, kohuhu, lancewood, peppertree and divaricating shrubs. These last two become more common in the understorey, especially Melicope simplex and Coprosma areolata. Traces remain of shrubs which would previously have been more common: Corokia cotoneaster and Helichrysum aggregatum, while the abundance of mahoe saplings 1m tall indicates that this species will become more common in future. Ground cover is dense, despite the dry stony soil, with Asplenium lyallii, shield fern, Carex forsteri and Libertia ixioides. Creepers are also abundant below and upon the shrubs, especially Scandia, Calystegia, climbing rata, Parsonsia and Clematis paniculata. Condition of this forest is very much better than adjacent grazed forest, or any similar forest remnants on mainland sites on Otago Peninsula.
Cabbage tree – coprosma – totara forest. An eastern portion of the fenced-off bush, probably more open at the time stock were excluded, has cabbage trees above a mixture of windswept totara and Coprosma propinqua scrub. Former grassy openings illustrate the process of regrowth of scrub and forest. The grasses browntop and cocksfoot of the former pasture are being invaded by bidibid, Coprosma propinqua shrubs, and the tall palatable grass Hierochloe redolens.
Flax, some of it possibly planted, is establishing vigorously from seedlings, even among long rank grass, and there are healthy saplings 1m tall of Olearia avicenniaefolia, lancewood, kohuhu and Hebe elliptica.
Coprosma – mixed scrub. Shady faces of the southernmost headland have dense 2-3m scrub of Coprosma propinqua, Halls totara, Melicope, kowhai, ngaio and creepers (mostly Muehlenbeckia australis).
Flax – Hebe scrub. Above the sea shore, in a zone below forest or in patches below pasture, flax grows densely with Hebe elliptica shrubs, and scattered ngaio trees. Patches of bracken are present on some small spurs.
Pasture. On the island crest the main components are browntop, crested dogstail and white clover. Patches of rushes (Juncus gregiflorus, J distegus) occur on moist gentle slopes. Dry crests encourage infestations of barley grass and Scotch thistle (especially common at the south-east end). On sunny faces, Rytidosperma unarede and sweet vernal are common grasses and there are a few patches of silver tussock on upper parts of northern faces. Western faces hold thin, dry, erodible soils between rock outcrops and ledges. Grazing here is heavy, so that the native coastal tussock Poa astonii is reduced to a stubble.
Carex sedgeland. A few small seeps have tussocks of Carex appressa and in one place the tall blue coastal sedge Carex trifida which is of very local occurrence on Otago coasts.
Coastal rocky banks. Some of these are draped with native ice plant, though trampling and grazing prevent this moving up-slope onto ground accessible to sheep. Poa astonii tussock and Linum monogynum are characteristic of rocky outcrops, with other native herbs such as Wahlenbergia gracilis. Easter orchid (Earina autumnalis) surives as a clump atop one northern coastal detached boulder. Crumbling loess banks near the houses have become covered with garde escapes – wallflower, shrubby stonecrop, marguerite daisies and periwinkle.
Coastal herb field in wave-splashed zones. There are small areas of turfy coastal herbs such as Toula dioica, Puccinellia stricta, Crassula moschata, native celery and glsswort. Beach heads become colonised by Atriplex hastata growing among drift and flotsam.
Island at NW corner. Being inaccessible to sheep, this little island illustrates the density and diversity of native plants which would otherwise occupy all opens sites close to the coast. Above a fringe of coastal herb-field is a terrace sward of knobby club-rush, holy-grass, Elymus, Dichelachne and Linum. The rocky sides have dense low Hebe elliptica, tussocks of Poa astonii, mats of native ice plant and the coastal fern Asplenium obtusatum. On the crest, compact shrubs of Coprosma propinqua shelter an infestation of ivy and periwinkle.
Planted trees. As well as the usual macrocarpas typically planted for shelter, there are groups of pines (Scots pine round the graveyard, bishop pine and radiata on the SW grassy promontory). There is a line of Arizona cypress here too. Along the north side are a few trees of Lawsons Cupress, at least two trees of brush wattle on one spur, and a few kowhais which have survived despite the crude netting fences which one protected them. One red beech has been planted near the summit. None of these tree species appear to be spreading naturally.
Apr 10 2024
Link to Trip Organisation Guidelines for leaders and trip participants.
Link to Track Grading information.
Link to Copy of Trip Programme for printing.
Gradings are provisional and may change following recce. Distances are for road travel from Mosgiel car park. Costs may change with fuel price fluctuations and distance changes. This page has all current updates.
Last updated 7/04/2024.
Wednesday 17 April.
Trampers. Rosella Ridge. Yellow Ridge – Gap. Grade 5.5. $12. 42 km. Leaders: Ross Davies/Neil Hodgkins. *** Meet time for Rosella Ridge tramp is 7.45 am. at carpark for 8 am. departure. ***
Hikers. Bullring/Ben Rudd/Flagstaff. Grade 2.5. $5. 15 km. Leaders: Max Wilson/Mike Webb. (Meet usual time.)
Wednesday 24 April.
Trampers. Frasers Road/Southern Resevoir. Grade 2.5. $5. 16 km. Leaders: Gwenda Farqharson/Graeme Souter.
Hikers. Graham’s Bush. Grade 3. $8. 27 km. Leaders: Maria MacNee/Theresa White.
Beginning of Next Programme
Wednesday 1 May.
Combined. Pyramids/Victory Beach. Grade 2.5. $10. 38 km. Leaders: Jenny Wilton, Alison Kim, Janette Abbot, Adrienne Ensor. Alex Griffin
Mar 24 2024
20. 20/03/2024. Hikers. Broad Bay Future Forest (New Hike), Grade 2.5. 30 km. Leaders: Jenny Flack, Vivienne Manning.
Twenty hikers gathered at the end of Bacon St for this new walk. Continue Reading »
Feb 24 2024
29 km from car park.
4. 21/02/2024. Hikers. Waihola/Milburn Area. Grade 2 Leaders: Bill and Jill
22 hikers assembled at a car park in Limeworks Road, Milburn on a rather grey morning with a cold head on sou’wester blowing into our faces. After traversing a farm track, we joined the Clutha Gold Trail in Circle Hill Road and began what Jill quite accurately described as a day of quirky bridges and old fossils!
Feb 10 2024
No. 86 on old hardcopy list of 113 club tramps. “Heyward Point – Melville’s Farm Farm”. 40 km from car park.
Hikers: Leaders Heather and Val Cayford‘Pathway to the Sea” – 7th February 2024 at 8.45am on a grey overcast morning with slight drizzle 15 hikers left Peter Johnstone Park and arrived at the small coastal settlement of Aramoana at approx. 9.45am – a peaceful place with 260 permanent residences as of 27th January 2024. Continue Reading »
Feb 03 2024
30 km from car-park. No permission needed to reservoir. Cedar Farm: Seek Permission DCC Forestry.
11 trampers left PJ Park at 8.45 and meet up with 5 Dunedin trampers on Borlases’s Road, Port Chalmers. We continued onto Blueskin road in misty weather which got thicker as we drove up to park 1km north from Cedar Farm Forest carpark (CFF) A car was left at CFF carpark to ferry drivers back to their cars at the end of tramp. Continue Reading »
Nov 22 2023
Cars park off motorway at Leith Saddle yard (alternatively down side road at bridge (restricted space). 25 km from car park.
Walk across side road to track.
Gravelled track 1.5 km. (morning tea on lookout seats a little further on)
Transmitter Tower 2 hours.
Going further: along road past doppler radar to DoC sign.
Right along Rustlers Ridge track to junction with Burns Track.
Through junction and up and round hill on Rustlers Ridge Track. (Lunch on hill)
Down ridge to pipeline. (Alternatively turn right at junction for Burns and down to pipeline)
Turn right along pipeline.
5.5 hours in all.
Burns – Rustlers circuit Maintained by Green Hut Track Group. DCC land.
35. 22/11/2023. Trampers. Burns/Rustlers Ridge. Grade 4. 25km. Leaders: Phil Morris/Carolyn Pridham.
On an overcast muggy day, 20 Trampers headed to Leith Saddle. We set off down Leith Valley road, and left up Burns Track entrance onto Pipeline Track Continue Reading »
Nov 17 2023
19. 15/11/2023. Hikers. Cleghorn Street to Signal Hill. Leaders Pam Clough and Jay Devlin
23 keen hikers gathered on a beautiful day at the Bottom of Cleghorn St where we made our way up the gravel road to the beginning of our walk which was firstly over farmland. Continue Reading »
Oct 05 2023
*Click this Wikipedia entry on Quarantine Island, if you wish.
*Click here for a PDF fact sheet of the original Quarantine Island
*And here is the St Martin Island Community web page. Click the photo at the bottom to see original buildings!
*Click a quarantine-island-botanical-report for a (bit dated) 1987 report on the island’s vegetation, if you like.
30 kms PJP to Back Beach.
5. 4/10/2023. Combined. Quarantine Island. Grade 2, Leaders: Ross and Wyn Davies, Maria MacNee, Jenny Finnerty.
Twenty-eight trampers and hikers enjoyed a great day out with calm and temperate weather, a little cloudy, not the blue skies and sun the forecast promised. Perfect weather though for the crossing to Quarantine Island. Our day had started with a little confusion regarding numbers and meeting places but we all managed to get ourselves to Back Beach carpark safely (Julie and Viv might tell a few tales about their driver though, lol).
We walked off for morning tea in Lady Thorn Dell…
Morning Tea at Lady Thorn Rhododendron Dell. (photo and caption John)
… where we enjoyed fabulous views of the busy Port Chalmers.
Panorama – Port Chalmers on a quiet day. (photo and caption John)
Great photos and history on display at the lookout platform. Little remains of the dry dock and ship building industry that once provided for a vibrant community in the 19th and 20th centuries.
From Lady Thorn Dell we enjoy a leisurely meander through the town cemetery which it has to be said seems to hold an unhealthy interest for those of us still in the land of the living? Indicative of the average age of our enclave perhaps…? Nonetheless, interesting history to be gleaned from those old stones and bones.
Touring the Port Chalmers Cemetery. (photo and caption John)
Lovely view from Port Chalmers Cemetery (photo and caption Marijke)
Coming back down to the Port we get a stunning glimpse of Carey’s Bay…
First glimpse of Careys Bay. (photo and caption John)
… before heading back to the wharf and Boiler Point where Captain John welcomes us aboard the island ferry the “Vivienne J”. After John treats us to a grand jaunt around the harbour basin (greatly appreciated by all on board)…
Beautiful Deborah Bay (photo and caption Ady)
“Touring” Carey’s Bay. (photo and caption John)
…we “set sail” for the island, not bad value at $20 return! One wag commented that “It was very nice of Bruce to organise a cruise for Jenny on her birthday….”
Birthday Girl and her “guests” arrive at Quarantine Island (photo and caption Marijke)
Arriving at the jetty on the island, the skeletons of the Waikana…
“Touring” Carey’s Bay. (photo and caption Pam)
… and the Oreti form a kind of decaying guard of honour as we head up to the Lodge for lunch.
Lunch (photo and caption Helen)
After lunch we explore the island starting with the restored Married Quarters building in which is housed a beautifully modelled miniature of the Waikana as she was when in service as a harbour ferry.
Harbour Ferry “Waikana” as she once was. (photo and caption John)
Regenerating native bush rang with the sound of native bird life as we enjoyed an easy 30-minute walk around the island.
The “Sail” Shaped Chapel. (photo and caption by Pam)
Inside the Chapel. (photo and caption John)
Just the same as it was during a previous visit when I did a quick sketch (photo and caption Marijke)
This drawing was from the same viewpoint (drawing and caption Marijke)
Remnants from the old Hospital (photo and caption Marijke)
Panorama – Looking back to Goat Island and Port Chalmers. (photo and caption John)
Our walks included visiting the sad sight of the island’s cemetery where the remains of 72 immigrants lay, half of them children, in unmarked graves. The small mounds are especially evocative. A sobering reminder of the fate of many immigrants who survived the arduous journey from the other side of the world in search of a better future, only to perish of scarletina and other deadly diseases in quarantine before they even set foot on the mainland.
Waiting on the jetty. (photo and caption Pam)
Heading back across the harbour our day is nicely rounded off by afternoon tea at the Santosha Cafe in the Port.
Coffee (photo and caption Helen)
A wonderful day out enjoyed by all.
Maria Continue Reading »