Tutira Walkway, 12 December 2018
The day started out murky and damp with low cloud, and it wasn’t going to improve until much later. That indicated great weather for a lake stroll (views not guaranteed).
We left Park Island at 07.30, picking up Denise Bavidge on the way, and arriving at the Lake Tutira camp site at 8.30. The weather still didn’t look promising but, with our high spirits, it didn’t really matter.
Colin, Kelvin, Rosemary, Dorothy, Paul and Murray took the low road around part of the Galbraith track, enjoying the beautiful views across the lake. Afterwards, they would drive the van and Kelvin’s car around to the Ridgemount Road shelter to pick the rest of the group up.
The rest of us (Tony, Geoff, Denise, Lynette, Pauline and the two Johns) decided to climb up to the Table Mountain trig. In between gaps in the low cloud, we were able to catch glimpses of the mirrored reflections in the lake below and the very quaint Lake Tutira Memorial Church on the other side of State Highway 2.
It was an easy climb, mostly over grassy paddocks or farm tracks, with occasional unpleasantness due to slipping on the muddy, slushy ground, at times grabbing hold of anything or anyone to stop sliding to the bottom of a steep slope. It didn’t take us longto reach the trig, after much sweating because of the high humidity. By this stage, the low cloud had cleared enough for us to see parts of the Maungaharuru Range out west and Ridgemount Road, where we were headed to meet the others.
On our steep descent from the trig, we could see our two vehicles in the distance, driving along Ridgemount Road. By the time we reached the shelter, the low cloud had lifted and we could see it was going to be a glorious day. That’s ‘Murphy’s Law’.
After a chat and gear change at the shelter, we all hopped in the vehicles and headed back to the Snapper Park café at Bay View for our much-anticipated lunch, arriving at 12 o’clock. We were pleasantly surprised to see that Ted Angove, Ray Slavin and Denise Payne were joining us for lunch.
What a great day out. A short, easy tramp, ending with a very pleasant lunch with a happy, chatty group of trampers.
It was fantastic to have Rosemary join us on this tramp.
Thanks to the two co-drivers of the van, John Burrell and Colin McNatty – and to Kelvin for providing his vehicle.
Trampers: Colin McNatty, JohnBurrell, Denise Bavidge, Paul Exeter, Tony Pluymers, John Bennett, Geoff Donkin, Pauline Loughran, Kelvin Shaw, Rosemary Jeffery, Dorothy Sole, Murray White and reporter Lynette Morgan
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