Our group of 9 met at Pukerua Bay Station to catch the train to Paekakariki. Although it was a cloudy day, once we set off it became quite warm as it was a humid and still day.

The walk started off with a reasonably flat walk through bush.  After about 50 minutes we encountered our first steps which we took at a slower pace, because of the heat and the fact that a few of our group had not done this walk before. After nearly 2 hours we reaches the lookout where we had a lunch break. On the descent to Pukerua Bay we went down 800+ steps (my count), crossed 2 suspension bridges, and a few kilometres of narrow track. Although it was mostly a descent there were still some uphill sections and steps to keep our heart rates up! We arrived back at Pukerua Bay station about 2.30pm, 4 and a half hours after we started.  Well done to the first-timers!

A couple of our group decided to head off for a swim, but most of us enjoyed a well-deserved coffee at Palmers Garden Centre.

Lead: Sharon

Walkers: Trish Taylor (with her sister Jill), Sue Barton, Suz Best, Gordon Smith, Annemarie Wood, Delphine Jackman, Jeannine Muir