#61 of 100 trips for 100 years - Hoopers Inlet & Nyhon Track 5 June 2023

 

About 30 years ago, in the early 1990's I had helped put a sign in at both ends of the Nyhon Track but I had never actually walked the track so I was keen for today's walk. There hadn't been a trip to the Nyhon Track for a while which is maybe why there was a large group of 17 leaving from Hoopers Inlet to walk across a land bridge over the salt marsh. 

At the end of the land bridge, we crossed a style and the gentle slope turned abruptly into a very steep 200m climb straight up Dicks Hill.  The track follows the fence line and is a slippery climb up through paddocks with care needing to be taken to ensure we stayed upright.  The slope was unrelenting and as we climbed higher the view began to unfold behind us with a panoramic view of Hoopers Inlet, Allans Beach  with the bulk of Mt Charles/Poatiri dominating the skyline.

Reaching the false summit  just below Dicks Hill was a welcome place to rest, catch our breath and take a few photos before continuing on to the top where we crossed another style and followed the track down to Sandymount Road where memories were retold and photo's taken as we took the stairs down the bank to the road that I had helped dig 30 years ago.

The next section of the trip was a short road walk up Sandymount Road to the historic lime kilns where we took the 5 minute detour to see the kiln which had been built in the 1860's and was in use until the early 1900's.  As the weather was nice and it was a warm, sheltered spot so we took the opportunity for a morning tea break. 

After our short break and a team photo or two we headed back to the Sandymount Road which we followed it uphill to Highcliff Road and then another 20 minutes to the Harbour Cone track. It was along this stretch of road that a light misty rain started to fall and then the cold wind picked up so the possibility of climbing Harbour Cone was dismissed and instead we plunged down the hill, threading our way through some ancient marcrocarpa trees to the stone ruins of an historic house where we each found a sheltered spot amongst the stone walls to eat lunch.  

Thankfully the light rain had stopped but the temperature remained cold so lunch was a rather hurried affair with  everyone keen to move on before becoming too cold.  After lunch we back tracked for a short distance before following the fence line down into a gully which had us scratching our heads a little as the track seemed to lead into a patch of native bush with no obvious way out.  In the end we took the path of least resistance that headed in the direction we wanted to go i.e. downhill.  It took more time than expected to get down through the bush with 17 people clambering over roots and through vines while slipping and sliding down the hill.  Eventually we all emerged from the bush at the bottom of the hill where we regrouped before wandering through the paddocks, around the boggy bits, crossing a couple of fences and over a small hill or two.  

The track took us back onto flat land and by following the markers we completed a loop by reaching the path that we had followed on the way in, just where it reached the steep climb up Dicks Hill.  The temperature down in the gully, out of the wind was much warmer than higher on the hill and we were able to take our time and enjoy the scenery around us. 

From here it was only a short walk back down the gentle slope, across the land bridge and back to the cars four hours and 8.4km after starting.  This is a part of the peninsula that I had not spent much time on or  tracks that I had walked before and I had enjoyed the day with wonderful views of the surrounding landscape, particularly of areas that we have recently visited during the #100 trips

#35 of 100 trips for 100 years - Mt Charles 4 March 2023 (by Jade Pettinger)

Today’s trip to Mt Charles/Poatiri had been highly anticipated and I was thrilled to see the weather forecast improve over the week. Mt Charles is the highest point on the Otago Peninsula at 408m but can only be accessed by crossing private land. Thankfully a friendly landowner granted access to the OTMC for this trip so 10 of us gathered at the club rooms ready to “knock the bastard off”!

Arriving at Papanui Inlet we were all exclaiming that despite being the highest point on the peninsula, it really didn’t look too steep… boy were we wrong! We started heading up a gravel farm road which started out as a gentle climb but somehow kept getting steeper and steeper. Barely 15 minutes in and we had already gained 100 metres in height! The lungs were certainly feeling it but the view provided us with plenty of reason to stop and catch our breath.

Before long we were crossing the halfway point, which also signalled a change from gravel farm roads to paddocks. Mt Charles towered above us as we had a quick drink and stripped off layers, however we were pleased to see there was a zig-zag track to the top so we didn’t have to scramble straight up the side. While we still had another 200m to climb, the terrain wasn’t as steep and we made good time towards the top.We reached a small flat area just below the summit just as the cloud was beginning to roll in.

The views were fantastic, especially looking down over Victory Beach which we visited on trip #024 to Victory Beach and the Pyramids in January. A quick break to snap a few pictures and devour a square or two of chocolate was taken. Hastily we set off in an attempt to beat the worst of the weather to the summit to avoid a repeat of the 2020 trip to Mt Charles, where the only view they saw was of the inside of a cloud.

Waterproof layers were quickly donned by most of the party as we picked our way up to the rocky outcrop and trig that marked the summit of Mt Charles. The rain and cloud had well and truly arrived so after a quick team photo we retreated to a small cluster of trees which reminded us of a fairy grotto. It was fairly sheltered here so we enjoyed an early lunch break whilst keeping our fingers crossed that the weather would clear before we headed back down.

Emerging from our fairy grotto we were delighted to see the clouds had rolled away and the view had opened up again. The panoramic views in all directions were breath-taking - from the inlets and sandy beaches of the peninsula to the distant hills of the northern skyline. The wind was fierce and a little chilly as we began our descent back down to sea level.  A mixture of the recent rain and the steepness of the terrain made the descent a little slippery in places. We were pretty chuffed to arrive back at the cars in just under 3 hours, having successfully summited the highest point on the Otago Peninsula. 

by Jade Pettinger