Up the Tukituki, Wednesday March 16, 2016
Six of us gathered at Church Road Winery car park, unsure of what the day would bring. A soft rain moistened our coats as we packed into the van.
The drive south brought us to the end of Mill Road, where we donned our raincoats and started trekking down the path to the Tukituki River. Five minutes in, we encountered our first obstacle, a large slip, made even more slippery by the rain. After much discussion, we decided we could follow a newish temporary path over the top.
The fun part was at the other end of the slip, where we all used the natural mudslide to slither down. The speed was fun, and the individual grins revealed our glee.
We tramped down to the river and then started following it upstream, looking for the track sign to Rosvalls Track which would take us up to Tarn Bivvy. We found the track sign to the Hinerua Hut, and nearly took that route; but after checking the map, we realised we needed to walk further up the riverbed.
It is getting deeper and deeper
The rain continued and the river crossings appeared to deepen. It kept on pouring and after 1.5 hours we decided to retreat back down-river to the van. We followed the Moorcock Stream back up to the van, to avoid the mudslide.
This was the day that those warm, clean and dry clothes in the van were really appreciated. A quick stop for coffees at Tikokino and then we were home.
Trampers: Kelvin Shaw, Peter Slagter, John Burrell, Sally Woods, Viv Bramley and reporter Hilary Heath-Caldwell.
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