Escarpment Track – Sunday 27th February 2022

Only 3 of us on this walk (the weather forecast and rain the night before may have been a factor!) However, it was a fantastic day to do the walk, light breeze to keep the temperature down and clear blue sky most of the time which made for great photos.

The plan was to park at Pukerua Bay station and catch the train. However, there was a hiccup as the trains were replaced with buses and we did not know quite where the bus stop was! It wasn’t at the station. But we walked very quickly up to the main road and found the right stop – the bus was running late so we had plenty of time – and the best part we all used our Gold Cards for free travel!

We got to Paekakariki and set off at 10.15am. There were not many people on the track so had it to ourselves most of the time. It took us 1h 30m to reach the top where we enjoyed lunch in the sunshine. The descent to Pukerua Bay took a little longer and involved crossing 2 suspension bridges, and we were back at our cars at Pukerua Bay station at 2pm. Mark did a count of the steps – there were 435 up steps and 769 down steps (proper steps with a timber frame).

Sharon Dunstan