Hazel, Dorothy, Catherine and Owen, Justine and Don, Joan and Grahame, John, Wayne attended the Mid Winter Christmas at Camp Iona near Herbert in North Otago. The weather was cool and overcast, but no rain was expected.
On Friday we all arrived at Camp Iona at 10am – we had the lodge all to ourselves. After a brief lunch we went for a short, quick walk down the hill from the camp to the Glencoe Campsite on the Waianakarua River just below the camp. Next we went for a short drive to the start of the Herbert Forest Walking Tracks for a good afternoon’s walk along the Swallow’s Track which lead on to the Podocarp Track which lead onto the Glenburnie Loop. The tracks lead through a mixture of man made pine forest and native bush with plenty of black fantails and the call of bellbirds with at least one wood pidgon being seen. There were a few rocky creek crossings, but we never got our feet wet. After the recent rains the track was a bit slippery, but it wasn’t a problem – we made good time. We arrived back out the cars about 5pm and drove back to the lodge – where Owen, John and Don had started preparing dinner for us. John had done the shopping for the evening meals and chose well – home made pumpkin soup followed by roast chicken and vegies. We ate a good three course mid winter feast prepared by the team topped off by a desert made by Justine while sitting in front of a warm logfire.
Start of the Herbert Forest Walk
Bushwalking along the track
On Saturday Hazel, Dorothy, Catherine and Owen, Justine, Joan and Grahame went out for a day walk up near Mt Miserable to visit the new Deer Stalkers Association Kahakatika Lodge. We drove up the Mount Misery Road to Glencoe Reserve and parked and started walking along a very muddy 4WD track. This day the weather was good – blue skies with a few white clouds. We saw the Red Hut beside the road, but didn’t call in. We then came to another DOC carpark that gave access to the large Waianakaru Scenic Reserve. We were now on a poled route and crossed fences via styles and walked in some very muddy cow paddocks. Then we came upon a DOC sign marking the tracks to Mt Miserable and down to the Lodge (1.5km away). We could see the hut in an open tussock saddle long before we got there [see the hut in the grassy saddle in the centre of a following photo]. We had a steep drop throught manuka, bush and ferns down to the creek, then a steep climb up the tussock clearing where the new hut was sited. There were two hunters at the Kahakatika Lodge. We then left the hut and climbed up throught a patch of scrub above the hut towards Mt Miserable – a flat top mountain in the distance, but time constraints meant having to turn back before reaching the top. The walk up here was all open tussock with some rock outcrops. We could see the trig on top of Mt Miserable. There were really good views from up high – we could see along the coast up to the north and down to the south. We turned around and followed a fence line with DOC markers. There were more gates and styles which led us down to the 4WD track that took us to the Waianakaru Scenic Reserve carpark.
Kahakatika Lodge in the clearing in the middle of the photo
Climbing up to the Lodge
Hazel at the Lodge
On the Ridge Route
On the 4WD Track
Carpark in View
That night John and Justine put on another excellent three course meal. Wayne baked a camp oven bread.
On Sunday we left Camp Iona and drive back through the historic Kuriheka Estate where we viewed the historic farm buildings reminiscent of old England and visited the First World War War Memorial on the property. Lastly was a lunch and coffee break down at the Oamaru wharf on the last stage of the weekend.
Kuriheka Estate
Graham at Kuriheka
Thanks to Hazel, John and Justine for making this a very enjoyable weekend.