Bus Trip: Trotters Gorge – Taieri Recreational Tramping Club

Trotters Gorge – Information and Trips Library

4. 09/03/2022. Trampers. Trotters Gorge. Leaders: Arthur and Pam

The skies were overcast when leaving Mosgiel at 8.45am but once over the Northern motorway it became brighter and remained like that for the rest of the day.
We met the city trampers at the Waitati store and 5 cars with16 trampers were on their way to Trotters Gorge picking up a hitch hiker ( Heather) at Palmerston before continuing on SH1 past Shag Point with spectacular vistas of Katiki beach. At Hillgrove we turned left into Horse Range Road, arriving at Trotters Gorge Scenic Reserve 10:15.
Day packs on, poles, gloves at the ready we started off by walking through the first of six stream crossings – no stepping stones here, so straight through. The small stones were quite slippery under foot.

One of the 6 river crossings Pam — *One of 6 river crossings Caption and photo Pam*

The wide formed track, which was muddy in parts, wove its way through native bush of kanuka, ribbonwood, wineberry and kowhai.
The birds were very vocal around this area- great to hear.
1km on we arrived at the University owned hut for morning tea on the veranda while John, ( a big kid at heart) enjoyed the rope swing.

Morning tea PAm — *Morning tea at University Hut- John enjoying a rope swing ( a big kid at heart) Caption and picture Pam*

10:55, leaving the hut and the Trotters Creek area we were straight onto the un-maintained single track into the Trotters Gorge area.
The landscape changed dramatically to sheer rock bluffs which looked like limestone but are greywacke breccia conglomerate formed about 80 million years ago.

Trampers dwarfed by these amazing cliffs — *Trampers dwarfed by these amazing bluffs Caption and photo Pam*

Here we saw the NZ Falcon (Karearea) flying high above the cliff and could hear the nestling’s whining sounds.

Continuing on through the eucalyptus trees we noticed the distinctive smell of its leaves- a camphoraceous smell, slightly medicinal.
Further on along the flats the track became quite swampy and after crossing a small stream we started our climb up hill.
With gloves on and walking poles ready, we made our way up the track through the overgrown gorse to arrive at the top (11:50) for lunch.
From here we could see over to Moeraki and the sea but the Pine Forests obscured better views.

Out of the gorse John — *Out of the gorse Caption and photo John*

After lunch we headed back down the same track with ever changing views and were fortunate to get another glimpse of the falcons.

Back at the reserve we embarked on the 700m walk to the Cave.

Almost a group photo John — *Almost a group photo Caption and photo John*

This maintained track follows a tributary of the Trotters Creek through beautiful native broadleaf forest.
On the track we came across a very large NZ Silver fern and as we approached the Cave we were greeted by a Black Fantail (Piwakawaka).

impressive siler fern dwarfs Mike John — *Impressive silver fern dwarfs Mike Caption and photo John*

The caves had been sculptured by the river many years ago.

First glimpse of the cave John — *First glimpse of the cave Caption and photo John*

Returning the same way back to the cars it was on to Palmerston -continuing on the Horse Range Road, passing through forestry and then rolling farm land to the “Coffee cup” cafe .
Here we enjoyed great coffee, cake and ice cream in the cafe court yard.
Another great day with the TRTC. Pam

3. 7/6/2017. All. Bus Trip. Trotters Gorge. Leaders; Keith, Dave and Arthur.

Hike app route map, courtesy Ian. (About a km short, due to slowness to engage the app.

It was cold waiting for the bus to arrive at the car park, which it did at 8.30 a.m. It only took a few minutes for all to embark, with their accoutrements, and we were away. The Brighton group meet the bus at Green Island, to bring the total for our day out to 41, which included 2 guests/potential members.

The sun was shining in the driver’s eyes as he gave us a smooth ride up S.H.1 before turning off. The bus stopped a short distance before the Trotters Gorge picnic ground, at the beginning of a forestry road, where the Hikers and Trampers would begin their combined tramp. The Ramblers stayed with the bus. It was just after 10 a.m.

The combined group walked a couple of hundred yards to have a brief morning tea in the sunshine. The day was sunny and cool after the morning frost, but later the cloud built up to overcast. It was ideal conditions for the tramp, which followed a main forestry road. These were pine trees, which had been planted after the area had been harvested just a few years ago. The young trees did not obscure our views of the surrounding terrain, which was good.

We followed the road in a north to north-west direction, winding around somewhat, and going…

Regroup at top of first rise. (Ian pic and caption.)

…uphill twice before descending again. The distinctive rock formations of the area could be frequently seen.

Eventually we came to a much longer uphill section, but the grade was good.

Heading up one of the long hills. (Helen pic and caption.)

A regroup was necessary at the top as the hill had sorted out the faster people.

At this time we turned onto Fantail Road, to change direction for the return half of our circuit. This was also at the highest elevation of our day, with good views out to Moeraki township and the sea.

There was a light breeze up here, so we found a sheltered spot in Fantail Road at which to stop for our lunch It was nice in the sun.

Lunch time in a sheltered area. (Helen pic and caption.)

Lunchtime over, it was only a few minutes’ walk till we left the road to begin the descent into Trotters Gorge. At first, for a short distance, the 4WD track was bare clay, steep, and a bit slippery. Once past that bit progress was good, and eventually we reached Trotters Creek. We were down in the canyon now, with ever-changing views of the rock cliffs.

beautiful rock formations. Lots and they were all different. (Helen pic and caption.)

Impressive cliff, (Ian pic and caption.)

They look like limestone, but are actually greywacke -breccia conglomerate formed about 80 million years ago. About 12,000 years ago Trotters Creek was a much larger river and carved out the gorge.

Our track followed the bottom of the gorge now, with 6 stream crossings to make,

One of the six water crossings. (Helen pic and caption.)

the water being 3 or 4 inches deep at each. We reached the picnic area and the bus just after 2 pm, after an enjoyable day’s tramp.

There we found that 6 of the Ramblers were missing in action, necessitating a search party being sent out – thanks Alex, Helen and Dave. Happily they were located, on the cave circuit track, coming back out.

So, it was back onto the bus for the return to Mosgiel. The planned coffee stop on the way home had to be forgone due to the time lost finding the Ramblers – but I expect that they will be “shouting” for all next week?

The Combined Group’s circuit had covered 10.7 km, and the Ramblers had done some bush walking from the picnic area.

The day had apparently been enjoyed by all. My thanks go to fellow leaders, Keith and Dave. Also to Shona for collecting the fares, and Bob for co-ordinating the bus. – Art.

?Ramblers report of day at Trotters Gorge.

After the trampers and hikers were dropped off, the 10 of us who had opted for a shorter walk stayed on the bus while the driver drove to the pick-up spot. This took him a bit of manoeuvring. By this time we were really looking forward to a cup of tea, so we walked along the road to a nice sunny spot to sit and enjoy it. We walked back to the bus and got a map from driver which showed a bush track with a shortish loop track not too far along. The 10 of set off on this really lovely track. After a while 4 of our group opted to go back leaving the rest to carry on. We came to the loop track and decided to have a look at it as there was a cave to view not too far a long. Anyway, our loop track proved to be rather more difficult than we had bargained on being very steep up hill and very slippery with mud etc. However, having hauled ourselves up using scrub, roots or a friendly hand, to say nothing of crawling on hands and knees, we decided to carry on as we weren’t keen on returning the way we had come and hoped that the way down would be less challenging! This proved to be marginally right. We decided at about 12.20pm to have lunch sitting in the cave. The way down was slightly better but still required a lot of care. Once again we managed by sliding on backsides, hanging on to trees or whatever else presented its self, and helpful advice and hands of companions. It has to be said here that the one in front with help and advice quite a bit of the time was none other than our 90 yr old and sight impaired Molly!!

Bev and Lesley about to go down a very steep track at Trotters Gorge.

We were at no time lost, and as there were 6 of us, in no danger of not having someone to go for help if needed. We had not been given any time to be back at bus and as, in the past, a bus trip has always meant a whole day out, we didn’t feel any concern about time as it was before 3pm. We actually felt quite proud of ourselves and what we’d achieved by just taking our time and giving each other support and help. – Bev

2. 8/12/2004. Both. Bus Trip. Trotters Gorge. Leaders: Ria, Doug J, Catherine, Joyce.