9 of us met in County Lane, Silverstream on a rather cool morning to walk the Keith George Memorial Track. Just prior to moving off onto the Hutt River Trail, the sun came out and a number of people were removing additional clothing that would not be needed. We made our way south so
we could get onto the Silverstream Bridge, walk across to access the path to take us to the other side of the Hutt River Trail. We travelled south for a short while until we came across the path to take us to the underground tunnel (under River Road) that would lead us onto to the track. At the beginning of the tract you are walking along SH2, shielded by light bush. There has been some work done on the track with clearing and bush been cut back. We continued on and soon we were starting to climb and going further in the Western Hills. There were views from the track overlooking the Golf Club, Silverstream Retreat and parts of Stokes Valley. Also noticed that all track signs were well marked and updated. Soon we were going downhill to come to our first stream crossing. There was a little more water in the stream than normal, owing to the rain we have had over the last number of weeks. We crossed without any incident. From there for a short time, we climbed then came onto the flat part of the track to take us over the next stream. No issue crossing here. We then came out of the bush onto the Hayward's service track. Here we stopped briefly for a drink. We continued up the track and found a place to have lunch and further refreshments. From there were made our way down in behind the Hayward's Sub Station to come out onto the road to takes us down onto the overhead bridge on SH2. The bridge took us over onto the area of Manor Park. We made our way onto the walking/cycle track that runs parallel to the Manor Park Golf and the rail tracks on the opposite side of the track. A lot of cleaning and planting has been done to make the track look very attractive in time. Once off the track, we made our way back to the cars. From there we went to the Silverstream Bakery for hot drinks and treats. A good day.

Lead – Denise Arcus

Walkers – Andrea, Delphine, Lynn, Nichole, Shirley, Suz, Mark, and Helen Bassett