The last weekend trip of 2003
was designed as a wind-down trip after a busy year. It succeeded,
and was very enjoyable. Most of us met at the railway station and
headed up to the Bullring, while Allan and Dave decided to head in
via Powder and Long Ridges. Ten of us (plus David Barnes, who was
day-tripping and the rest of the Pettinger family) headed up the
tourist like Pineapple Track to the Flagstaff summit for that
fabulous view of the city. I felt that coming this way would give a
real sense of leaving civilization behind and heading into the hills
- at least for the weekend. The weather was clear and sunny, quite
warm but with a stiff breeze, which was actually quite refreshing.
After a quick
drink it was onto the next section, the climb up to Swampy Summit.
Dropping out of the wind, we quickly encountered some very hot spots
on the uphill section. Another break on Swampy to have a breather
and enjoy the view. We continued along the road, heading for the
track to Sleepy Hollow. The track down Swampy Ridge is in good
condition with little mud due to the current spell of dry weather.
Approaching
the start of the Green Ridge Track, Greg sat down for lunch while
the rest of us battled onto the Green Hut site to enjoy lunch in
cool overcast conditions. David left us here, heading back to the
Bullring. The rest of us (Greg had caught up by now) climbed up
through mist and a strong breeze towards Pulpit Rock. By the time
were at Pulpit Rock we were back in glorious sunshine, but with the
ever present breeze to keep the heat down. Shortly afterwards Allan
and Dave arrived, cursing the person high bush on Powder Ridge. The
walk along to the top of the Devils Staircase was marred by two
groups of trail bikes. Once we started down the Devils Staircase the
heat really came on, we just needed to look at Gary's legs to see
how much. Cave Stream at the foot of the staircase was magic. We
spent the night in the trees another 100m or so down Cave Stream. A
few drinks and a pleasant night was spent here. Greg reckons it
rained, but it seems it only rained on him.
The next
morning great discussion took place about which route we should
follow to Mt. Allan (the railway station). The original trip in 2000
went down to Christmas Creek, then up and over Mt. John. Some of us
were there last time and decided we wanted to do something
different. We decided upon the hill opposite Jubilee Hut, so of we
headed. Arriving at the hut we had a good look at the hill opposite,
and decided there should be a way around the bluffs. Just as we were
about to head of again, a fantastic thunderstorm arrived, with some
quite torrential rain. OK, what now. No one fancied going of track
thru scrub and tussock in this storm. 6 of the party decided to
follow the original route via Mt. John, while the rest of us opted
to climb the staircase and circle around the Painted Forest and out
that way. Upon reaching the foot of the staircase, the rain stopped,
and the skies cleared. By the time we reached the top we were dry
again.
Now it was
just a case of following the various roads around the Painted Forest
and into the Wenita Forest. I actually enjoyed this route as I
hadn't seen Silver Peak and Pulpit Rock from this angle before. A
leisurely lunch, followed by a road plod saw us arriving at a
stifling hot Poplar Hut to find the Mt. John party crashed around
the hut. It proved too hot to spend much time at Poplar, so it was a
direct climb behind the hut to regain the forestry road. This we
followed out to Mt. Allan, where we had two and a half hours wait
for the train, and after that it was late!. Two trains travelling
thru beforehand had some worried that we had missed the train, but
sure enough, it turned up, and it stopped! A cruisey trip into town,
a nice cool beer, and some great scenery completed this excellent
trip.
Antony Pettinger for Greg Powell, Gary Dawe, Pete Stevenson, Allan
Perry, Dave Chambers, Jill McAliece, Roy Ward, Deirdre Pim, Meg
Pollock and Ken Marsden.
P. S, If you want to catch the train anywhere on the Taieri Gorge
line, you need to pre-arrange it with Taieri Gorge staff beforehand.
They seem to be quite happy to pick you up at any of the stations,
although you do wonder if the message has got through to the driver
and if the train will stop. We were charged $10 from Mt. Allan to
Dunedin, which for about 50 minutes on the train is quite
reasonable.