Bell Rock and Boundary Stream, Wednesday 11 October 2023
Banner Photo: The five who went for a walk
Just five of us left Park Island at 7.30 for the first trip into the Tutira area since the cyclone in February. Simon carefully negotiated all the road cones and traffic lights along the way. There has been much work on the roads – but still so much to be done!
So we made it up to the Bell Rock car park and were off up the hill by 8.55. Ted walked up the road with the intention of completing the circuit up along the ridge and then back down via the bush track. The rest of us went straight up the track.
We had been expecting some showers, but the weather was not bad at all. On the way, we saw fresh deer tracks almost up to the top. There was a bit of a cool breeze when we made it to Bell Rock at 10am, but we managed to shelter out of it and had a leisurely morning tea of about 40 minutes, enjoying the sun.
We made our way back down, enjoying the lovely birdsong and freshness of the bush. The only other person we saw on the whole track was a DoC staffer going to check seabirds hopefully nesting in the predator-fenced area up by the ridge. We got down to the car park about 11.30 to find Ted already there. He pointed out some clematis flowering in the paddocks across the road and down the hill, which was lovely to see.
As it was still early, we decided to go to the Boundary Stream car park, have some lunch at the shelter there and do the top circuit (Tumanako Loop Walk). At the shelter, we opted to eat in the sunshine nearby, as that was much warmer.
After another longish break, we walked across the road and up the track. Ted and Simon stopped occasionally to pick up seeds to propagate some more native trees for the plantings they do. During the circuit, I especially enjoyed listening to Ted’s extensive knowledge of the plants and telling us more about the history of the club’s tramping in the area.
Along the way, we found two wetas sharing their ‘house’ with a couple of cockroaches, also spotting plenty of kereru and a bush robin. There are some amazing-looking trees in the area, with twisted trunks encircling each other.
We were back to the car for an early trip home, leaving about 1.30pm. There were more stops going back to Napier with all the road works but we were home by 3pm. Thanks to Simon for driving us there and back.
Trampers: Ted Angove, Simon Hill, Cherie Le Lievre, Lynette Morgan and reporter Juliet Gillick
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