Mar 29 2024
Sandymount – Sandfly Bay
No. 24 on old hardcopy list of 113 club tramps. “Lovers Leap – The Chasm – Sandfly Bay. N Strang. Farm. Year Round.”
Mar 29 2024
No. 24 on old hardcopy list of 113 club tramps. “Lovers Leap – The Chasm – Sandfly Bay. N Strang. Farm. Year Round.”
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 »
Jan 27 2024
It was 10am before we set off walking, the group happily forgoing morning tea until we arrived 45 minutes later at the Chinese Diggings situated on the east bank of Deep Stream which was up a little following rain the prior day.
Mmm NZ Topo 50 is telling us we have to go west and will have to cross. The thought of this seemed to necessitate a continuous stream of walkers, single file, into the bushes. Thankfully they all came back and with a little help from our friends we all crossed, with wet feet and knees to the other side.
Thus began a steep ascent with a new pathway selected every few steps, not to mention the need for a breather at fairly short intervals!
The ascent was followed by steady to steep ridge-line walk keeping to the true left of a stream, before crossing over nearly at the head, and finally over the last brow of a hill to arrive after 2 hours from morning tea, of fairly serious tramping, at the Ship at Anchor;
thankfully we had not missed the boat and it provided good shelter along with the snow tussock from the fresh westerly that had been present all morning.
Our departure was not too long with those who had not previously been here circumnavigating the Ship and we all followed a course on the true right of the stream down another ridge-line, initially made ‘easy’ by a water course shaped I think by ancient shovels?
With the possibility of a precipice emerging in front our leader tacked left just in time onto another ridge that steeply descended towards a man made watercourse, scout Graham finding the appropriate gang plank onto the other side. It would be fair to say knees were now creaking as we traversed parallel with the contours dropping every now and then towards the crossing of Deep Stream. According to the leaders timepiece we took longer down than up, just like the Grand Olde Duke of York……oh dear!
If feet and knees were by now warm and dry they were wetted again and with all crossing safely we re-grouped and took off up the prairie back to the cars, this being quite a steady upland walk!
We departed paradise at 4.30pm arriving back in Mosgiel at 5.30pm. Rumour has it that the hydrotherapy pool has been busy since the trip, no wonder. The expansive and varied landscapes are so much more rewarding when set in such a remote and wild environment. Because of the access restrictions at the Weir this was the first time travel to the Ship at Anchor had been done this way. Distance 10.47km, elevation gain 661m, moving time 3:25;59, calories 1,016. And I’m sticking with grade 4.5.
Thanks to everyone for supporting each other so well.
Phil K
Dec 02 2023
No. 96 on old hardcopy list of 113 club tramps. “Parera Taioma Transrail & Wenita Year Round”. 10km from PJP. Wenita permit. Require 6 weeks notice, but less from us. Taieri Gorge Railway. Phone 477 4449 for details.
18. 29 November 2023. Trampers. Mullocky Stream, Mt Allan Grade 3.5 Leaders: Sylvie/ Lyn/ Lynley
25 lovely persons followed Sylvie up the Mt Allan Road parking near Mullocky stream. Continue Reading »
Nov 22 2023
18. 22/11/2023.Hikers. Millennium Track from Henley Ferry Bridge. Grade 3. 27km. Leaders: Ady Whitson/Bruce Wright.
We had a great day on the track. Weather was great with 20 Hikers enjoying the day. We parked about 2/3 the way down the road from the stile. 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 »
Nov 08 2023
Oct 17 2023
17 km from car park.
Oct 15 2023
No. 47 on old hardcopy list of 113 club tramps. “Toko Beach. M Young”; also No. 65 on old hardcopy list of 113 club tramps. “Chrystalls Beach Farm”. Location: 59 km from the car park. Best in Summer. The stock winter over.
Directions: On SH1, before Milton, at Helensbrook intersection, left onto Forsyth Road, right onto Back Road, left onto Glenledi Road.
Sep 30 2023
19. Welsh’s Road, Old Farm, Deep Stream Weir. Grade 3 Leaders: Lyn and Di
13 of us set off for the Pipeline, which is just off the old Dunstan trail on Rocklands Station.
We had morning tea under the pine trees where we parked the vehicles. It was a tad cold but we soon warmed up with the walk over the farmland to the pipeline.
It was stunning scenery walking to the Weir and back.
We had lunch in the sun out of the gorge with more room to spread out.
Then took the road back to the cars. It was 8.84ks according to my phone.
Some finished the day with a cuppa at the Wobbly Goat. Another great day out.
Sep 30 2023
14 kms PJP to cnr South Rd and Eastbourne St.
5. 27/09/2023 Hikers. Grade 2 Leaders: Jan and Jan
20 hikers set off from the old Carisbrook Hotel through the very run-down Caversham shopping area. We had a couple of stops to look at a bit of the history of the area. There were other points of interest, but with so much chatter going on, decided to give it a miss! We headed up South Road for a morning tea stop at a house belonging to Jan Y’s brother. It is a large property extending right down to just above the main trunk railway line. He has a stall at the Farmers Market every Saturday and has grown and propagated an extensive number of plants. Also has numerous tunnel houses, a couple of fruiting tamarillo trees and an avocado tree. He is a rockhound and there was a very large collection of rocks, crystals etc. on display.
Because there was so much to look at, the morning tea break was a bit longer than normal. We carried on up South Road to the Carlton Hill area, then cut across a couple of streets and back down to Sidey Street where you got a good view of Corstorphine House. From there we headed up a track which took us into the Kew area, with great views of Dunedin.
Down through a steep set of steps (Killikrankie Pass – a cool name) and we ended up in a park at Forbury Corner for lunch.
Returned to the cars by crossing over the motorway on an overhead bridge, then walked down a path on the north side back to the cars.
It was a pleasant day with no wind, and we covered approx 8 kms, at quite a leisurely pace. Several members of the group had lived in the vicinity of area covered so it was a bit of a trip down memory lane for them. Thanks to Jan and Pam who did a very enjoyable recce with me. The Two Jans.
Sep 17 2023
Distance from car-park: 24 km.
11. 13/09/2023. Hikers. Delights of Macandrew Bay. Grade 2, $6, 24km, Leaders: Jenny Flack, Avis Williamson.
It was a reasonably pleasant September Spring Morning when 25 keen hikers gathered at Ralph Ham Park (The Muddy ) ready to tackle the ups & downs of the hidden pathways of Macandrew Bay.
We headed up Marine Parade to the first shortcut which took us rather steeply up to Marion St.
We stopped to breathe & admire the harbour views, daffodils, magnolias, kowhai trees & tuis which only got better as we walked along Howard St & Barling St . The descent to the harbourside was quite steep but in no time we were at Glenfalloch enjoying morning tea.
No long rest allowed tho & we were soon returning along Marine Parade, admiring more gardens , taking a hidden path between the school & Portobello road. We snuck down the Pharmacy’s driveway & took the side entrance to the Macandrew Bay cemetery where we were soon checking out James Macandrew’s headstone in a hidden corner.
Up Wharfdale St thro the shortcut to Mclelland St, a quick look at the windblown harbour then up Porterfield & the very steep Kellas St until everyone happily collapsed on the Flacks deck & enjoyed their lunch. After lunch we all safely descended the Track of Terror and then were treated to a garden tour at Judy & Greg Hawkers complete with chocolate chippie biscuits served by lovely 4 year old Georgie Hawker.
The day was disappearing & afternoon tea at Glenfalloch was calling so while some paused at the Company Bay bus shelter the rest of us did a quick walk around the back of Company Bay & then all returned along the cycleway/ walkway to the cars.
This was my first trip as leader & I’d really like to thank my co-leader Avis for her help , also Jenni W & all the other walkers for their support & positive comments & my husband Trevor for woodchipping the paths to improve their safety .
Total distance covered 8km.
P.S. We all enjoyed a debrief at Glenfalloch. I did notice that it wasn’t only coffee & tea being consumed & somehow Alex managed to enjoy a free dessert !!
Jenny
Sep 10 2023
The trampers continued up Siberia Road…
It was an interesting part of the Akatore Block, thanks Bruce S for sourcing.
Sep 02 2023
Click here for Antony Hamel’s YouTube video showing his exploration of the 5 falls of Nicols Creek.
Booth Road 16.1 km from car park.
Hi Sarah. You were a late incumbent to the leadership of this tramp?
– Yes, Ross was originally down to lead it, but back problems meant he asked me to lead it instead. (Best wishes for a speedy recovery Ross.)
Did you do a recce the Saturday prior?
– That’s right, Craig went mountain biking, and I went exploring on foot, in the area, to finalize the tramp format.
Were the group lucky with the weather on the day?
-The weather was brilliant. Sunshine, little or no wind and temperatures towards the mid-teens. The tracks were reasonably dry.
And did we have a good attendance?
– There were 18 of us – arriving at Tanner Rd/Fulton Rd corner in 7 cars.
What was the tramp route?
-We started on the Pineapple Track, walking up to the Pump House for morning tea.
Then we carried on up the Pineapple Track, turning off at McGouns Track onto the Old Pineapple Track. This led us to the “new” Pineapple Track by Pineapple Point.
From here we followed the lower track, traversing Nicols Creek before arriving at the Mountain Bike picnic table at 11.55am for lunch.
After lunch it was onto the upper track, traversing Nicols Creek.
Then onto the “new” Pineapple Track, and back to the cars via McGouns Track.
Wahl!! I think you lost me somewhere there! Did the tramp take long Sarah?
– The recce only took me 3 hours. On the day the tramp took us much longer at 5 hours. Some technical terrain reduced the tramp down to a crawl pace in parts.
Did you manage to squeeze in coffee afterwards?
– Only just. We were back at the cars by 3.00pm, then headed straight to the Fire Station Cafe’ in Roslyn.
How would you describe the shape of the tramp?
– Roughly a double figure 8.
Sounds lucky, I think? Thanks for the interview, Sarah.
Sep 02 2023
26. 30/08/2023. Hikers. Bethunes Gully to M Cargill. Grade 2 Leaders: Bill and Bruce
32 hikers assembled at Bethunes Gully carpark on a beautiful if slightly brisk morning. We set off just after 10.00am and after negotiating our way over and around a fallen Pine tree stopped in a semi-sunny glade for morning tea amongst the Pines – these trees must be amongst some of the tallest and straightest in the country.
The track was in pretty good order for winter – minimal mud but slippery rocks and bridges further up the track required extra care – apart from a couple of minor slips we managed to complete the day intact.
Not long after morning tree it was decided to split into two groups with Jill Dodd volunteering to lead the second pack – there was still only a 10 minute gap between arrival times at the top of the mountain.
The birdlife along the way was in great voice and Katrina even identified a Kingfisher welcoming us onto the track. The native bush section of the walk is quite beautiful complete with an abundance of ferns, some majestic old Rimus, clear streams and even the odd waterfall.
The steps at the top of the walk are real thigh killers and we were all very relieved to finally arrive at the summit and a well-earned lunch. The 360-degree panorama of Dunedin, the peninsula and surrounding districts is stunning and well worth the effort! The temperature was up around 15 degrees and led to many layers of clothing getting tucked away into packs.
There was a discussion during lunch re the grading of the walk and while officially it is a 2 the majority agreed that it was more like a 3 – Ady told me during coffee that it felt more like a 6!
After a fairly uneventful trip back down we adjourned to the Blacks Road Grocery cafe – this slightly quirky cafe was a lovely place to conclude a very enjoyable day – coffee and treats well deserved!
There was a lot of learning in my first hike as the group leader, particularly around identifying the appropriate pace to set and the timing of breaks. I couldn’t have asked for better support from the more experienced members of the group as I negotiated my way through the various stages and protocols on the day. Special thanks to Bruce, Jill and Jenni but many others chipped in to keep me on the straight and narrow.
All in all a lovely day and living proof that age is no barrier to serious physical achievement.
Cheers Bill