#77of 100 trips for 100 years - Spiers Road & Ross Bush Track 6 August 2023

 

Spiers Road was the start of the old bullock track, also known as the Snowy Mountain Track, and was the first road northwards out of Dunedin until the coastal route was established.  Our mission for the day was to follow the Snowy Mountain Track from Spiers Road, across the tussock to the OTMC's Ben Rudd property before taking the Pineapple Track to Pineapple Point and down the Ross Bush Track.  It must have sounded like a good plan because a group of 16 people wandered up Spiers Road on an overcast Sunday morning.

Once we had crossed over the style and onto the paper road the going became a little rougher as the 'track' threads it's way through a gorse patch.  Navigation of the track was easy  but did involve pushing through some prickly gorse that blocked the way forward along with the occasional slippery muddy section. This slowed us down for a time but thankfully the gorse only covers the lower section of track. 

As we climbed higher the gorse thinned and the track became clearer and we started to get glimpses of the city opening out below us.  After climbing 100m from the start of Spiers Road, the gradient flattens off and the gorse gives way to paddock and we were rewarded with panoramic views of the city.

The wintery sunshine warmed us as we crossed the open and we found a good spot to stop for a break and catch our breath.  We chatted while admiring the views in all directions with the city and harbour spread out in behind us,  the coast towards Taieri Mouth, the distinctive shape of Saddle Hill, the township of Mosgiel and flat of the Taieri Plains to the right - a real feast for the eyes.

We had to drag ourselves away from the view and turn our attention to the next part of the track which involved another small section of gorse before entering the native vegetation of the reserve.  The track through the head high flax and tussock makes navigation reasonably easy which is just as well because the gradient steepens as we gained another 120m in height before reaching the Pineapple Track.

We regrouped before starting our next part of our trip which involved us going 'off track' to follow the old bullock track or Snowy Mountain Track, the first road northwards out of Dunedin.  While this road is no longer used and has mostly been swallowed by the native vegetation, there are still some parts visible and our aim was to follow this indistinct trail through the tussock and flax.  Any one watching from afar might have thought we were wandering aimlessly through the tussock but using a GPS we stayed on the old bullock track.

During our wander through the tussock we were dismayed to notice the dark clouds and a few rain drops falling which resulted in a rush to don rain jackets but thankfully the rain didn't last long. While it would have been much quicker to stick to the Pineapple Track, we all enjoyed our trek along the old bullock track and were a little sad to reach the Firebreak track which felt like a highway after wandering through the tussock. 

We followed the Firebreak track to the seats on Ben Rudds where we stopped for lunch. Some sat at the low seats while others climbed the bank to the higher seat which had a panoramic sign showing all the areas/hills of significance.  A lot of the #100 trips have already been to many of these areas/hills and we were able to sit and reminisce about those trips while eating lunch.  These areas included Swampy Summit, Silver Peaks including Pulpit Rock and The Gap,  Mt Cargill/Kapukataumahaka and Mt Watkin/ Hikaroroa

As much as we would have liked to stay longer, time was getting on so we packed our bags and continued along the Firebreak Track to the Swampy Summit/Pineapple Track turn off where we opted for the right hand track which took us back to the Pineapple Track.  From here it is a steep 100m knee jarring descent to Pineapple Point where we took the short detour to admire the views and newly installed seat.

After a brief stop at the seat we took the Ross Bush Track (also known as the old Pineapple Track) dropping 260m down through the native bush.  The Ross Bush Track is narrow, muddy in places and often overgrown with ferns but also much more interesting as it winds it's way past gnarly, papery fushia, large, straight Miro, ferns and broadleaf, before reaching the car park 4 hours and 8.7km after starting