Sixteen hikers assembled in the Brighton Bowling Club rooms and exited following Alex to the right passing the $50,000 new retaining walls, crossing the Brighton-Taieri Mouth road, and proceeding to the playground at the domain for morning tea.
We then crossed the domain, without disturbing any persons who were preferring to live in cars, and descended the steps to the Brighton Beach. The depth of the Otokaia stream was about 2 cm and we all successfully negotiated it without any drownings. We ascended the steps behind the Brighton Surf Club rooms, followed the footpath to the Braids Hill car park and then proceeded north along the beach until about 11.30 am when we reversed direction.
After a brief stop at the freedom camping site, where new posts and chains have been installed to more clearly delineate the freedom camping area, we proceeded along the track through the dunes until turning up a path to the right by some macrocarpa trees passing through Bruce’s property at 727 Brighton Road where Alex spoke of his experience with Black Boy Peach growing.
We continued south on the footpath and turned up Creamery Road, where we arrived at 11.57 and listened to Warren Harris tell us something of the history of the area and had an opportunity to view his museum with its extensive collection of various historical items including toys, tobacco tins and tools.
After accepting Warren’s kind invitation to have lunch on his property we thanked him and walked via Creamery Road, and John St through a grassy area on the left and down some steps through bush to Brighton Road. We crossed the road and turned left at the clothing collection container and followed the path to the beach, and then along the river and through the sandhills to the Braids Hill car park and along the footpath to the Otakaio Creek bridge.
Several photos were taken of a white heron/Kotuku looking for food in the creek. It has been a resident of Brighton and Ocean View for some weeks. Some Royal Spoonbills were also seen near the bridge.
We then subdivided into a group that went directly to the Brighton Café while the others came after driving their cars from the Brighton Bowling Club.
The weather was cool and cloudy but the rain held off. Adi measured the distance on her cell phone at 9.43 km. Alex and Bruce were thanked for being the leaders.
Bruce Spittle
21/11/2018. Hikers. Ocean View. Leaders: Bruce and Jan Y.
Hikers report
Wednesday 21 November 2018
Seventeen hikers set off at 9.30 am from the Brighton Surf Club car park down to the sea alongside the river which had a high flow due to the recent rain and had cut a 0.7 m bank in the sand. We then passed the area of pingao planting and went to the right of the Surf Club building to ascend the steps and continue along the footpath to the sidepath leading on the right to the small beach below. Two blue penguin boxes were at the top of the steps. The far rocky cleft on the beach to the right was empty of penguins and the sea demonstrated how the force and volume of the waves can vary. The remains of a dead penguin were visible in the rocky niche closer to the stairs. As the tide was not out far enough to proceed north along the beach we re-ascended the stairs, continued along the footpath and went to the beach via the car park at the bottom of the hill, Kirkness Hill. We walked north along the beach.
Taylors Creek had a significant flow where it went out to the sea. After considering our options we took the plunge and went across the creek which was ankle deep in parts.
About 250 metres south of the car park/freedom camping site at the entrance to Ocean View we observed how a dead seal was being buried naturally in the sand.
We had morning tea at the car park at 10.45 and at 11 am were joined by George, who had taken the bus to the Presbyterian Church on Brighton Road, and continued north along the beach for 30 minutes,
making another creek crossing with ankle-deep water, to where some plastic debris in the form of a large pink float and a small blue float numbered 63238, attached to 40 metres of rope, were collected as part of a campaign to remove plastic from beaches. We then returned …
… to the car park to lunch there at 12 midday. After lunch we proceeded through 727 Brighton Road, depositing the rope and floats there, and turned to the right on the track which we followed until it came out on Brighton Road beside the clothing collection box. George caught the 10.20 am bus opposite McColl Road back to Brighton.
We turned to the left on the footpath and proceeded to admire the work of the Third Little Pig in the form of two houses. We looked at the view of the sea from the landscaped part of the reserve just south of the row of tree stumps marking the edge of the reserve area near the second house which was the subject of a recent TV programme. Grand Design, shown at Grand Designs. On the website the house is described as being at Oceanside, Little Brighton.
After crossing the bridge over Taylors Creek, we turned to the left and followed a meandering track back to the Kirkness Hill carpark and then, via the footpath, back to the Surf Club carpark, arriving there at 1 pm. Refreshements were consumed at the Brighton Beach café which we left at 2 pm, just before the rain returned with a greater ferocity.
Distance cover 10.29 km. The weather was overcast, with a slight drizzle at times, no wind of note and a bearable temperature. It could have been worse. The participants may have had some cobwebs shaken off and no lasting damage was sustained by anyone. With Marjorie, who assisted with the planning, having to offer her apologies for not being able to attend on the day, my thanks to Jan Yardley and Alec Griffin for leading at the back.
Subsequent enquiries with the Vessels Registrar on FishServe revealed the rope and floats belonged to a Carey’ Bay based fisherman Chris Cooper. I phoned him and he said he would be pleased to receive his floats back at the Fishermans Wharf, Carey’s Bay, but that I could keep the rope. I said I would deliver them at some stage in the forthcoming weeks. He thought the rope may have frayed on rocks near where the crayfish pot had been set in the region of the Nuggets, south of Kaka Point. – Bruce.
Dorothy led a large group on an excellently-planned route around, above and through the Ocean View settlement, with a luncheon excursion to Brighton, returning along the beach, on a lovely calm sunny day. – Ian.
