Napier Tramping Club

based in Hawke's Bay, New Zealand

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A view of the Manawatu River from the track

Manawatu Gorge – slipped away from us

December 7, 2011 by Alison Greer Leave a Comment

Manawatu Gorge Track, Wednesday December 7 2011

The last tramp for the year was a more social event – a short tramp along the Manawatu Gorge track, followed by lunch at the café. Driving down through the picturesque Central Hawke’s Bay, we arrived at the Ballance bridge car park at the eastern end of the gorge track. Light drizzle was falling, but not enough to penetrate the thick bush canopy above.

A view of the Manawatu River from the track

With the intention of trying to reach the massive slip which has blocked the gorge for more than four months, a leading group set the pace. It’s a steady ascent up many steps on a well-kept track, through some very nice bush. The first lookout at Windy Point revealed lots of mist covering the windmills on the opposite side of the gorge.

We popped out onto the western side to check out the windmills over the fence, not one moving in the still air. The track seems to still climb gradually until reaching the Te Apati lookout, a platform giving spectacular views over the road and river. There was no sign of the slip; it was still further round, much closer to the Ashhurst end, so as we were on a time restraint, we turned around and headed back.

The point of return for vehicular traffic

Arriving at the upper bridge track, we detoured, dropping down to a car park on the gorge road just by the bridge. It seemed strange with no traffic and to be able to walk on the road and over the bridges back to the van.

We were planning on lunch at the café but found it was closed due to lack of traffic, so we piled into the vehicles and set of back to Dannevirke for a most enjoyable lunch. The gorge track is an easy walk and well worth the stop-off if time allows when travelling to Palmerston North, or a good day out when combined with lunch somewhere.

The Christmas walkers

Trampers: Kelvin Shaw, Murray White, Vic Bullock, John Marshall, Viv Bramley, Jenny Burns, Ron Morison, Keith Moretta, Ken Ross, Peter Slagter, Doug Matheson, Rosemary Jeffery, Les O’Shea, John Burrell, and Alison Greer

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About us

We are a group of like-minded people who love the great outdoors. We tramp mostly in the Hawke’s Bay province, in remote areas such as the Kaweka and Ruahine Ranges; but we also travel longer distances to new places, for longer walks.

The Napier Tramping Club was established in 1974 and has about 70 members. We belong to the Federated Mountain Clubs of NZ Inc (FMC) and run Saturday, full-weekend and Wednesday tramps, every fortnight.

Interested in joining us?

Enjoy the great outdoors, keep fit and get to know others with similar interests.

More information

Latest news

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Useful links

  • Dept of Conservation
  • DoC Huts Use, Kaweka Forest Park
  • Federated Mountain Clubs of NZ (FMC)
  • Heretaunga Tramping Club
  • New Zealand Tramper
  • NZ Walking Access Commission
  • Wanganui Tramping Club

Useful links 2

  • Royal Forest & Bird Protection Society
  • Weather forecast

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