14. 22/06/2022. Hikers. Tunnel Beach/St Clair. M. Leaders: Kathryn and Sue
We all met on a very cold frosty morning at Peter Johnstone Carpark. We then gathered outside St Clair Golf Club where twenty hikers walked along Hillhead Road then onto Blackhead Road in brilliant sunshine.
Morning tea – spot the miscreant walking sticks Caption and photo Barbara
We stopped outside the Cemetery for morning tea then onto Tunnel Beach.
Tail end Charlie Caption and photo BarbaraView down on those who made it Caption and photo Barbara
For those that hadn’t been there before it was a real eye opener and enjoyed by all.
Photo Margreet
We had our lunch in sunshine with great views.
Dispersing for lunch on the little peninsula Caption and photo Barbara
Hikers Lunch Caption and photo Kathryn
We then climbed back up and Ady did comment on the number of stairs she had to climb to get there.
Photo Kathryn
We proceeded back to the cars and went to The Village Green for coffee and a lovely finish to the day. Sue Nichol / Kathryn Fagg.
13. 3/10/2018. Both. Tunnel Beach from Kaikorai Estuary. M. Leader: Keith.
37 members set off on a combined walk from the Kaikoai estuary carpark at Waldronville …
Getting ready to move out, (Gordon pic and caption.)
… on a beautiful day and headed along the beach towards Blackhead.
Heading to Blackhead Quarry. (Gordon pic and caption.)
After smoko on the beach…
Great place to ponder after morning tea. (Gordon pic and caption.)
…we headed up to Blackhead carpark.
Unfortunately some got hit by larger waves with one gentleman
falling over and getting quite wet , while others got wet up to their knees.
At Blackhead, 12 left, walking along the roads back to the estuary to fetch their cars while the rest walked up Blackhead Rd to Tunnel beach car park.
!8 walked down to the tunnel entrance for lunch,
Great spot for lunch. (Gordon pic and caption.)
the rest regrouping in the carpark, much to the interest of a Chinese couple who snapped photos of the group having lunch.
Tunnel beach and carpark were very busy with lots of tourists. There was even a couple in their wedding finery taking selfies.
After the slog back up to the carpark and a breather, and a quick chat to those who had stayed, we set off walking down Green Island Bush Road
Heading back to Waldronville. (Gordon pic and caption.)
through Waldronville to the cars. Distance 15kms.
Hope everyone got home safely as it was impossible to keep an accurate count when there were so many people and several options for walking. – Keith.
12. 16/11/2016. Trampers. Tunnel Beach. E+
Seven trampers decided to just do tunnel beach walk. Weather was not that good. We all decided we had nothing to moan about after being unscathed from the earthquake. We saw a beautiful beach and some stunning rock formations and colours.
Stunning rock formation. (Helen pic and caption.) [Is there an eye, nose and mouth there? – Ed.]Rock stacks off the northern ends of the beach. (Margreet pic.)
Two waterfalls today.
One of the waterfalls. (Helen pic.)The other waterfall. (Helen pic and caption.)
Had morning tea down there in a cave entrance.
Morning tea. (Helen pic and caption.)
Also saw a lot of visiting tourists looking at our hidden attraction. – Helen.
11. 21/9/2016. Hikers. Tunnel Beach from Kaikorai Estuary. M. Leaders: Jan Y and Peter.
Nike app GPS of route. Kaikorai Estuary – Beach – Blackhead Rd – Tunnel Beach Rd – Tunnel Beach – Green Island Bush Rd – Blackhead Rd – Brighton Rd – Kaikorai Estuary.
24 hikers set off on a cool grey morning. Parked at the Waldronville estuary and walked through the dunes to the beach, then along the beach to Blackhead, stopping for morning tea halfway along the beach. 4 hikers walked back to the car park at this stage to drive to Tunnel Beach. The rest walked to the end of the beach, watching a couple of surfers at the end. Then up Blackhead Road which was reasonably busy, but not so many trucks as the day the leaders did the reccie. Headed down the track, which has been widened and upgraded. The sun came out at this stage, and the cliffs round Tunnel Beach looked quite spectacular and jackets came off. A group of hikers elected to just go part of the way down, as it is quite a steep track. The tide was out, and we picked our way across a large number of boulders at the foot of the tunnel …
Tunnel steps exit. (Adrienne pic.)
… to the beach where we had lunch.
Lunch. (Ian pic and caption.)Mouth of a low-tide cave. (Ian pic and caption.)Study in angles. (Ian pic and caption.)
Returned to the car park via Green Island Bush Road which had far less traffic. Great views across to Green Island and Saddle Hill from here. Then on to Brighton Road back to the car park, where the co-leader discovered that we had done around 15 ks, which was a bit of a surprise to her. Calculations had been a bit out. Well done to all those who completed the whole walk – quite good to get pushed out of your comfort zone occasionally. – Jan.
