Wednesday 12 February 2020

Leader: Tony Quayle

With no one on the list for this trip I was on the verge of cancelling it when I got a call from prospective new member, Moshe Rapaport, who is also very new to the Kapiti Coast. In discussion with Moshe I quickly decided that a Maunganui circuit would be a good option for introducing him to the local hills.

Since he didn’t know the local back roads, we rendezvoused at the Valley Road/Maungakotukutuku Road junction and drove up from there in my wagon.

Leaving the parking spot and walking towards the stream I was surprised to find 2 deer carcasses dumped in the long grass. Maybe some hunters had had a very good day? The steady climb up the ‘main’ Maunganui track was pleasant and, with little rain in recent weeks, the mud near the summit was a non-event. We lunched at my favourite spot on Maunganui – a pleasant clearing with expansive views out over the Akatarawas to the Tararuas - then continued north, taking the game farm track back down to the valley. Reaching the offroaders paradise/mess just before the stream we found more carcasses, along with a number of fish skeletons, including some from nice-sized tarakihi; clearly the fish weren’t caught there so my earlier thoughts of successful hunters were replaced by disgust at how this area has become a dumping ground. This was confirmed when we met and chatted to a farmer by the car park who was aware of the dumping taking place. Pretty sad, really, and an unfortunate cloud on an otherwise enjoyable trip.

Those on the trip were:

Moshe Rapaport, Tony Quayle

Currently there is no photo album for this trip.