Big turn-out for a Gold-standard day

Gold Creek Hut, Ruahine FP, Saturday 4 July 2026
Banner Photo: The group photo, taken at the woolshed

Once again, this tramp proved very popular with a good turn-out – 15 trampers in total, so a full van and car load.

There had been a hard frost so it was pretty chilly when we met at Park Island. The paddocks on the drive down looked very picturesque.  There was a good deal of trepidation regarding the road condition – would we encounter black ice?  Thankfully not, but everyone was grateful for Campbell’s driving skills and felt we were in safe hands – although strangely the chatter stopped and it was eerily silent every time we came to a spot where the dreaded black ice might be lurking!

At the fence-line boundary, the Makaroro River below

Once at the farm at the end of Glenny Road, it was a quick change into boots and gaiters and a comfort stop at the loo in one of farmer’s outbuildings before setting off at 8.36am.

We went across several paddocks – it was evident the livestock were extremely well fed judging by the huge amounts of cows–t and sheeps–t we had to dodge. It wasn’t long before we reached the fence-line gate where it intersects with the DoC track, from where we had good views of the Makaroro River.

The turn to head downhill to Gold Creek Hut

Then it was off up the track, winding our way onto the ridge and pausing to look across the valley to the main ranges. It was actually quite warm in the sun, so we were soon shedding layers. The track was undulating and had a large number of crown ferns, as well as beech, rimu, miro and so on.  I particularly liked seeing the kidney ferns climbing up a large tree.

At 10.30 we reached the cairn that marks the part of the track where you veer right and start the steep descent down to the hut. The track just prior to the creek bank has been eroded so there is a reasonably big drop down to Gold Creek (head upstream on the bank until you see the orange tape).

Gold Creek Hut gets little sun

The stream was fairly shallow and easy to cross, so no worries about cold, wet boots – especially as Campbell and his crew had tossed in some larger rocks to use as stepping stones; we had heard the splashing and laughing as we were descending. We were at the hut by 11am so tucked into an early lunch, especially since we hadn’t stopped for morning tea. Some of us opted to lunch inside the hut, whilst others chose to cross over the stream and have their lunch in the sunshine.

The regrouping point on our return

Gold Creek, the hut just visible on the left

Soon it was time to make the trek back up the hill. We stopped and re-grouped in a sunny spot shortly before the fence-line gate, then wandered across the paddocks and reached the van at 2pm. With such an early finish, it was a no-brainer to stop at the Sawyers Arms at Tikokino for beverages and bowls of hot chips – purely medicinal of course, to replace any salt sweated out during the tramp.

An easy track

Another delightful tramp – it was a gorgeous sunny day, with great company and lovely scenery.  And we had a couple of newcomers to the club, both of whom impressed with the way they flew up those hills.

Thank you to Campbell for organising and driving, and to Alison who was the other driver.

Trampers: Fiona Bryant, Campbell Living, Linda Parker, Elly Govers, Selina Chilton, Juliet Gillick, Michele Ericksen, Alison Greer, Keith Gore, Mary Campbell, Julia Mackie, Georgia Van De Loo, Babu Chinnasamy, John Dobbs and reporter Shona Tupe