#13 of 100 trips for 100 years - Complete Northern Skyline, Bull Ring to Organ Pipes 27 November 2022

The day was warm when eight energetic trampers took on the challenge of walking the Complete Northern Skyline which links Flagstaff, Swampy Summit, Mt Cargill and Buttar's Peak over seven tracks from the Bull Ring to the Organ Pipes. Starting with a steep up hill climb up the well graveled track to the first 'summit' of the day, Flagstaff was a good way to get the lungs working and also a taste of things to come. Taking about half an hour to reach Flagstaff, we stopped for a chance to catch our breath and take in one of the views of the city.  

It was only a brief stop before we continued on our way along the graveled Pineapple Track before taking the shortcut in the dip to the Fire Break Track and then turning right to head towards Swampy Summit.  From a distance, looking at the skyline, this part of the track appears reasonably flat but in reality is anything but flat.  There is about 100m drop along the ridge before the slope steepens and  gains 160m of height to Swampy Summit.  While the walking is easy along an old, overgrown four wheel track, the last 1.5km of track is a relentless climb up  to Swampy for a well deserved morning tea break.

At 739m Swampy Summit is our second summit of the trip and is also the highest point on our journey.  It offers stunning views of Blueskin Bay, Warrington and up the coast to Karitane and Huriawa Peninsula.  Our ultimate destination of Mt. Cargill, which still looked to be quite a distance to go, attracted our attention and after refueling with a drink and snacks, we headed down the Leith Saddle Track which we had walked down two weeks ago on #9/100 trips.  This track is steep in places and drops around 300m through tussock before entering native forest and eventually emerging on the side of the Northern Motorway. 

We regrouped to safely cross the Northern Motorway and enter the Cloud Forest of Leith Track.  The track winds it's way through native bush for 600m to a large outcrop of boulders with a good look out over the Northern Motorway and Swampy Summit.  Here was a good lunch spot where we were entertained with jokes from Emilie, who at 8 years was the youngest member of our group. 

Lunch was over too soon and we headed back into the native bush to follow the track through remnants of a cedar forest and over a small creek continually making our way up hill until we reached the power lines. From the power lines we entered another track, the Escarpment Track and this is the most challenging of all the tracks.  The Escarpment Track is a basic track with tree roots, fallen logs and small creek crossings.  It is barely maintained with a lot of regrowth obscuring the track and ankle deep mud.  The condition of the track made for slow going with most of us having some blood drawn from encounters with bush lawyer and scrapes with branches hidden amongst the ferns that hid the track. After a climbing 150m from the power lines we reached the obstacle of Pigeon Rock which required a scramble and well placed tree to reach  great views looking towards Swampy Summit and around to the northern Silver Peaks, Mt Watkin and the Kakanuis being visible in the distance.  This was another perfect place to stop, rest and have a drink.

From the top of Pigeon Rock we entered the edge of the pine forest and encountered some of the muddiest part of the track yet (and that is saying something!).  It's a short, sharp climb up to Pigeon Hill then across the pine plantation to Cowan Road.  The pine trees have grown quite high since I was last here and it is impossible to see ahead very far so we wandered, what felt like aimless circles, around the pine trees in an easterly direction until we reached Cowan Road.  Now that the hard part was done it was a reasonably fast walk up Cowan Road to the AH Read track which took us to our third summit, Mt Cargill. 

We could see the end was close so down Mt Cargill to the turn off to Buttar's Peak.  Ignoring the 'no exit' sign we clambered up the rocky outcrops of Buttar's Peak for another stunning view, this time of the harbour. Buttar's Peak is often overlooked as most people head to the higher Mt. Cargill or the more famous Organ Pipes but the interesting rock formations of Buttar's Peak are well worth taking the time over.  We continued over the top of Buttar's Peak, effectively making this our forth summit, to rejoin the Mt Cargill track. 

Once onto the well graveled Mt Cargill track we followed the ridge to the Organ Pipes which are jointed columnar basalt.  There are lots of  'pipes' to scramble over, however there are still plenty standing further up the hill, looking very much like the pipes of an organ.  The 'pipes' are scattered throughout the surrounding bush with the uniform dimensions and unusual shape offering the opportunity for some great photography without too much effort.  We didn't have time to explore these unusual rock formations for long and reluctantly turned back onto the graveled track and a short  minutes down hill to the car park.

This trip is one I have always enjoyed as it traverses the city skyline over a variety of terrain from well graveled tracks through to challenging overgrown bush with plenty of mud.  The views are spectacular in all directions and really show what a beautiful city Dunedin is and how lucky we are to have such easy access to the surrounding hills.  Total distance walked was 17.5km taking us 7 hours 5 minutes. 

#12 of 100 trips for 100 years - Tomahawk to Highcliff 26 November 2022

This day trip is one that was first completed by the Otago Tramping Club on 6 October 1923. 99 years later, a group of 8 OTMC members met to recreate this early OTC trip, which is predominately a road walking trip over what would have been gravel roads and is now sealed. Starting at the old tram terminus (junction of Silverton, Highcliff and Tomahawk Road), we followed Tomahawk Road around to the Andersons Bay Cemetery where we took a detour through the cemetery before rejoining Tomahawk Road to cross the bridge and then take another detour onto Tomahawk Beach.

With the tide out there was a large strip of exposed sand and very few people which made for very pleasant walking. All too soon the beach came to an end and we headed up through the soft sand dunes to the Ocean Grove playground, where we again rejoined Tomahawk Road and then onto Centre Road. Now the fun part began as we started the steady climb up Centre Road. There was much to see on Centre Road, from admiring the old stone cottage, marvelling at the windswept trees, checking out the sections for sale, patting the horses and looking behind at the vast ocean. 

It's a climb of about 200m over nearly 3km and with very little traffic we were able to walk and chat in pairs and in small groups which made the climb pass very quickly. Once we reached the top of Centre Road and onto Highcliff Road we were rewarded with our first views of the Otago Harbour. We spent a few minutes looking across the harbour to Signal Hill and the Burns Reserve which is where we'd been nearly a month ago for trip #4/100 trips. 

A short walk along Highcliff Road and we took another short detour up the hill to the Soldiers Monument with panoramic views of the harbour, Mt Cargill, Dunedin City and Saddle Hill. It is not often that there is no/very little wind at the monument and we made the most of this rare opportunity by having a break and refueling with snacks and a drink. From the Soldiers Monument it is all down hill, following Highcliff Road back to the junction with Silverton Street and Tomahawk Road, where we had started 11 km and 3 hours earlier. 

Despite being a road walking trip, it ticked all the boxes 

• great social trip by being able to walk and talk with others more easily on a sealed road 
• wonderful views of our harbour that are often only glimpsed when traveling by car 
• exercise with a 200+m climb and time to notice things we'd not seen before 
  

 

Day Five Shiel Hill

Today the start of my walk took me back towards Andersons Bay where I walked the streets of Shiel Hill.  Today I walked another 14 streets.

34. Every Street
35. Somerville Street
36. Silverton Street
37. Cranston Street
38.  Cawdor Place
39. Aytoun Street
40. Brugh Place
41. Portland Place
42. Gowan Close
43. Highcliff Road
44. Calvert Place
45. Albion Street
46. Eliffe Place
47. Bone Street

I felt that today's streets were harder than any of the previous days mainly because after the immediate downhill of Every Street, it was mostly uphill for the rest of my journey but with the hills comes the reward of good views over the city.  

Somerville Street is a street of 'two halves' with the bottom of the street have a view of Bayfield Park looking towards the inlet.  Bayfield Park is a poplar sports field as well as a place for children to play and exercise area for dogs. 

 

In direct contrast to the bottom is the top of Somerville Street which has great views over the city looking towards St Clair.  Somerville Street is a long street, starting at sea level and climbing 130m to join Highcliff Road.

One of the interesting things that I noticed today on my walk was the street lights in Portland Street.  These street lights are also in a number of other streets leading off Somerville Street. 

As I mentioned earlier, one of the benefits of walking the hill  is the views and the residents of Eliffe Place have a particularly good view looking over the inlet and South Dunedin.  

Highcliff Road was next on my list of streets to complete and it also has some great views, but in contrast to the other streets I walked today where the views look towards the city, Highcliff Road looks more towards Ocean Grove and the Tomahawk Lagoon whose streets I have already walked. 

Distance walked: 8.9km     Walking time 1hr  46mins    

Total distance: 33.1km       Total walking 6 hr 30 mins  

Day Three Andersons Bay

For today's effort I decided to start where I finished yesterday which meant starting in Tomahawk Road in Andersons Bay.  It also meant that today that there would be a lot more climbing as I was now walking streets on the hill.  Today I walked 14 streets.

10. Gloucester Street
11. Spencer Street
12. Stirling Street
13. Oakland Street
14. Hunt Street
15. Duckworth Street
16. Puketai Street
17. Darnell Street
18. Jeffery Street
19. Kinvig Street
20. Heath Street
21. Sunbury Street
22. Woodside Terrace

23. Merchiston Street

I also walked part of Silverton Street and part of Highcliff Road but I'm not counting these streets until I have completed them. 

It was good to walk along Glochester Street first as it overlooks Ocean Grove and gave me good views of where I had walked yesterday.  

 

 

From Glochester Street it was easy to 'tick' off  a number of streets as Spencer, Stirling, Oakland, Hunt and Duckworth Streets are horizontal to each other and it was reasonably quick to walk up one and down the other.  

 

As I mentioned yesterday, walking the streets means that you notice things that you would otherwise miss and today I noticed this letterbox which was a miniature of the house it belonged to.  

The second half of my walk was a little harder as I was walking down then up the hill.  First I followed Jeffery, then Kinvig and Heath Street down the hill before working my way back up via Sunbury Street.  

One of the benefits of walking the streets on the hill, is that it gives me a chance to see Dunedin from different angles and today I had another good view over the city, this time from Merchiston Street. 

Distance walked: 8.2km     Walking time 1hr  33mins    

Total distance: 18.1km       Total walking 3 hr 22 mins