| Group | Leader | Mentor | Understudy | Tailender |
| Stds | Warren | Chris | Shirley | Margaret E |
| Alternates | Leonie | Norma | Margaret S | Bruce |
Stats: distance 13km, ascent 560m, time 4hrs 40mins
We set off from Bishopdale with Viktor as our bus driver. It was a dull grey day and the forecast was for rain to arrive about 4pm. Once we had stopped at Halswell to pick up the rest of our trampers, we had a total of 44 enthusiastic trampers including five visitors. Jan our President passed a bag of goodies around the bus as it was her birthday (and her partner Alan’s the week before!). This was much appreciated by all.
The bus travelled through Tai Tapu and round the hills arriving at the top of Gebbies Pass at 9.30am. Departing the bus, we were met with a cold wind and more grey skies. With 22 trampers in each of the Standard and Alternate groups, we set off with the Standards leading off first on the forest track.
The landscape was rather desolate for the first part of the tramp as with the cloud cover there were no amazing views to take one’s eyes off the felled pine plantation debris which seemed to stretch over much of the hillsides. We did get glimpses of Lake Ellesmere and Lyttelton Harbour when the low-lying cloud temporarily cleared. All the logging had changed the landscape so much that the Alternates took a wrong turn at a forest track crossroads and had to walk quite an extra distance to get back on the right track once they realised. Once off the forest tracks, we followed a fairly narrow, well-worn track which meandered through tall pine forest, grassy hillsides and pockets of native bush. We stopped for morning tea at about 10.15am on a grassy hillside.
Continuing on, our Leader Warren paused beneath what is known as the Remarkable Dykes. These are a pair of rock walls that form the boundaries of a crack in the side of the Lyttelton Volcano. We noted it would not be a good place to be beneath in the event of an earthquake as the rocks looked rather large, weathered and crumbly in places. We carried on to the Packhorse Hut which was built in 1916 by Harry Ell as one of four rest houses for a proposed route from Christchurch to Akaroa. The Hut sits on a low open saddle between Mt Bradley and the Remarkable Dykes.
From the Packhorse Hut we followed the track through the beautiful Packhorse Hut Reserve, noting the amazing lancewoods in particular, coming out into the open to the zig zag track which makes its way up the base of Mt Bradley. We made our way up the zig zag still surrounded by low cloud and at 12 noon on the dot we found a spot in the tussocks to have our lunch. If we had wanted to climb to the top of Mt Bradley it would have taken at least another two hours to go up and down from where we stopped for lunch so that was not an option due to time constraints. It would also be a lot of effort for no view at the top due to the cloud cover.
At 12.20 pm we started back down the track the way we had come up, arriving back at the Packhorse Hut where we met up with the Alternates who were having their lunch there. We could see down into Kaituna Valley where the bus was waiting for us in the distance. Climbing a style, we headed down the hill following a farm track through the trees arriving at the bus at 2pm. The Alternates joined us, and the bus set off for home at 2.30pm.
Although we missed out on what would have been wonderful views on a sunny day, it was still a great day out on an excellent track, and we were lucky that the rain held off until we were back in Christchurch. Txt by Judy R
