| Leader | Mentor | Tail Ender | |
| Standards | Warren | Glenys | Frank W |
| Alternates | Bev | Ali | Marg |
Statistics: distance 12.5/10km, elevation gain 595m/360m, time 4hrs 20mins
After experiencing vast amounts of mud during and after our tree planting session on the Port Hills last week, what could be more pleasant than… traipsing through more mud on the Peninsula? It was particularly muddy and slippery as the 33 of us set off from the top of Gebbies Pass, but we were lucky to be experiencing a burst of glorious wintry weather – no wind and plenty of sunshine.
Within half an hour many had discarded jackets, beanies and gloves as we warmed up nicely. Though our uphill trek wasn’t particularly steep, a lot of energy was expended dodging the deepest, gluggiest mud puddles. Once we reached the pine forest it was hard to believe that only a few years ago the area we were walking through had been felled and littered with slash, as now we were sheltered by a plantation of fine-looking young trees. That was until we got to several places where there had been huge slips recently and many of those trees were nowhere near where they had been planted. One couldn’t help idly wondering if these slips had occurred in the middle of torrential rain, or if later, the ground had slowly and spontaneously slipped away from the hillside … and if so, might more saturated land suddenly fall away as we trod our way past?
Morning tea for the 20 Standards was enjoyed on top of a sunny hillside, with handy gorse bushes nearby to fill in for the lack of a toilet stop on the bus journey. After our little break we had the indignity of being hassled by the 13 Alternates who were waiting impatiently at the stile for us to head off ahead of them.
One of the highlights of this tramp is the stunning view of lush farmland and Lyttelton Harbour below. Another is an intriguing geological feature we encounter along the way. Remarkably, the distinctive volcanic twin walls known as the Remarkable Dykes were passed by virtually unremarked.
The pine forest opened up to farmland, so we were able to enjoy the view and the easier going. Not everyone was enjoying this part of the tramp so much, as one of our number hung back, unwell. He then resolutely continued on to the Packhorse Hut, fortunately not far away. Kindly Kate, having seen this man sitting down on the track for a while, rushed up and started massaging his leg… before being gently informed that his problem was very much gastric rather than a matter of cramp!
Usually, the Standards set off from the Packhorse Hut to have lunch at a spot half an hour further along to the right up on the flank of Mt Bradley. However, this time we followed leader Warren up a sunnier though steeper hillside for a mere quarter of an hour before stopping for lunch. Meanwhile the Alternates were enjoying their lunch down at the Packhorse Hut, along with our poorly Standard (though I suspect he wasn’t enjoying his lunch at all). Those motivated Alternates really showed us up again as they finished their lunch and set off ahead of us down to Kaituna Valley before we even made it back down to the hut.
There were a few highlights or perhaps lowlights along the way: an impressive matai right by the track, more mud (one of our most experienced trampers did a rather impressive, unintentional wallow) and someone was heard to ask, “So where is Neil Armstrong these days, we haven’t seen him tramping for a while” (we have had a couple of Neils in the club, but strangely enough, no astronauts). There was a construction that looked like it had been made by industrious beavers and many of us used it to cross over the stream to keep our boots as dry as possible. Which was silly really, because soon after, most of us opted to splash through at the last ‘stream crossing’ to wash the mud off our gluggy boots.
It’s always a good day when the two groups make it to the bus at pretty much the same time. In fact, everything about the day had been pleasant (for 32 of us anyway) – from the Les’s generous chocolate shout on the bus in the morning, the weather, stopping off at Tai Tapu for refreshments and having driver Alan negotiate the traffic and road works to bring us safely back to Bishopdale nice and early at 4pm.
Text by Shirls
