We met at Maidstone Park and commenced our Park St and then climbed a 4-wheel drive track up to the water tanks. This brought us out onto King Charles Drive and we followed this to the end. The track looked remarkably clear at the entrance and I thought ‘Oh Goody, someone has cleared the track’. This euphoria lasted about 5 seconds and we were soon pushing our way through overgrown blackberry. My pole came in handy to hold some of the worst branches at bay. Someone, remarked that this felt like real tramping! It took us about 30 minutes to reach the old abandoned tunnel. No-one wanted to explore as it was extremely muddy inside. So after some group photos, we retraced our steps back to the road end. We went back up King Charles Drive and then turned left up Seymour Grove. It was getting to be an extremely hot day (temperatures were forecast for 28 degrees), and this climb was all in the open. We opted to have our break at the top on the grass looking towards the Akatarawa Valley as we felt this view was far better than the lookout which just looked down to the city. Only problem was this grass was full of gorse seedlings, so getting up again was a tad tricky. We continued along the ridge and then descended via the walking track back down to the park. A few of us opted for a coffee at Mitre 10.

Trip Leader – Judith O’Leary

Walkers – Peter, Stephanie, Kathy, Christine, Jane, Sheila, Anne-Mette, and Lorraine