Sunday 11 August 2024

Leader: Brandon D Holman

Five of us and one dog (Dora) were up for the Sledge Track walk, and four of us we set off at 8:00 am from the school, whilst David drove directly from Waikanae.

Unfortunately, he had to wait an extra hour at the carpark, as we four got lost en route. We had mistakenly taken the Scotts Road turnoff from the highway and were most surprised some 20 minutes later when looking at the Arapuke Road carpark map to not see the usual ‘You are here’ marker at the beginning of the Sledge track, only to discover we were not at the right carpark! It looked like we might be able to get to the Kahuterawa Road carpark by taking the Zigzag road for maybe 10 minutes, but Google Maps suggested otherwise – 46 minutes the long way via the highway. The Zigzag Road was gated and didn’t look car friendly, so we went the long way!

Eventually we all set off up the track at about 10:15. This track could be delightful in high summer with swimming spots in the river, but we found it somewhat damp, overgrown and increasingly muddy. Unfortunately, Maryann had left her boots in her car and so had to make do with trainers lent by Pam, not the best for angle deep mud. We stopped for lunch at Hardings Park where the track joins the toe-toe loop, where there was a good picnic bench, but it was also quite a windy spot.

After lunch we planned to go to the platinum mines and complete the toe-toe loop but because of slow progress we just walked some of the toe-toe loop and did the 30-minute platinum mines loop, returning the same way. Some of us descended the ladders of a few of the mine shafts but there was not much to see, except the odd glow-worm.

The noise of the nearby windmills was quite oppressive, and Dora was somewhat concerned. On the return from our lunch spot, we walked back to the cars in groups, with the last group returning about 17:15, making the whole walk about 7 hours, including stops.

Our navigation misadventure did show us that the mountain-biking tracks are very extensive there, and I suggest that this could be a good location for a bike trip, especially in summer. Reminder to myself, always check the route to the road end with Google Maps and don’t take any advice from passengers however well-meaning!

Those on the trip were:

Brandon Holman, David Williams, John Glover, Maryann Bugg, Pam Glover

Currently there is no photo album for this trip.