On Saturday Barry, Hazel, Graham and Joan, Owen and Catherine, Tim, Maiki, Vicki, Heather and Wayne walked the Tenahaun Track. The trip was expected to be about 15km return or about 3 hours in and out.
We met at the Aoraki Stadium at 7:30. There had been a good frost and the sky was clear of clouds – it looked like it was going to be a good day.
We drove up to the intake at the start of the Rangitata Diversion Race and got out of our nice warm cars – the cold took our breaths away. The carpark was in the shade, there was frost everywhere, an icy breeze was coming down valley – obviously off snowy mountains not too far away and to make matters worse there was a klag of fog hovering over the Rangitata Gorge – just where we were going. So we got off to a quick and cold start – we did not hang around the cars very long.
We walked along the frozen road to the start of the intake, then turned to the right and started climbing up a well marked track to the top of a flat river terrace. Once over the lip of the terrace we were exposed to the breeze – not too strong a breeze but certainly a cold one. we followed a poled route along a fence line next to matagouri to start with, through a gate, then into open fields and onto an old, long disused track which took us across a tussock, rocky, scrubby face on the south side of Mt Pukanui – a high point on the Moorhouse Range. We were now high above the river and got good views up valley and down into the Gorge itself. We crossed some small, steep creeks with patches of broadleaf growing in them. The breeze eased and the fog quickly evaporated and after about two hours we dropped down onto a flattish tussock bench and were in the sun. By now we had warmed up and being in the sun again really helped. We dropped down closer to the river still following an obvious polled route then we were on flat paddock like terraces and rolling grass country with some rocky outcrops.
Out goal was to reach the Nabob Stream area some distance before the turn-off to Browns Saddle, have lunch then start the walk back. By lunch time the weather was ideal, warm and sunny. We reached our turn-around point at 12 o’clock, having walked for about 3 hours and stopped for lunch, admired the scenery and after a rest Owen and Wayne started off early on the way back with the others expecting to catch up before too long. They caught up as we were starting the climb up out off the terraces. We saw a small mob of goats on the opposite face and were entertained by a steady stream of small, often brightly coloured, light aircraft coming down valley.
The trip back was very pleasant, the day was still warm and sunny, the sky was clear and blue and the views were excellent. We arrived back at the cars at about 3:15. We called onto a cafe in Geraldine on the way home for a quick drink and a snack then we were off home.
In the Rangitata Gorge. The party on the way back out. Looking upstream.
Thanks to Barry for organising this excellent day out.