#66 of 100 trips for 100 years - Taieri River Track 25 June 2023

 

The Taieri River Track was opened in 2001 with the first OTMC trip to the track in 2002 and since then the track has been  a regular feature on theOTMC trip card.  Starting today's walk at sea level from Taieri Mouth were 16 people who wandered past some cute holiday cottages in the Taieri Mouth township before following the track alongside the wide, slow moving Taieri River.  With a near high tide, the water lapped at the edge of the track in places and in other parts there was some silty sand flats showing.

In the early stages of the trip, there was some jockeying for position as people found their walking rhythm and started to chat to the people in front and behind them.  The track initially winds it's way in and out of a number of small bays and with the native bush right down to the edge of the river, we enjoyed stopping to admire the wonderful views when able to get views of the river through the trees.    In places, the tidal nature of the river has created some lovely wetlands and boardwalks have been built to protect this fragile environment while also allowing us to get a closer view of the salt marsh.

After the first half hour of this easy walking, the track starts to climb, weaving in and out of a number of gully's as it steadily rises, eventually reaching a height of almost 200m.  At the highest point we are rewarded with a seat placed to make the most of the stunning views of the river, coastline and inland to the Silver Peaks. It was here that the unanimous decision was made to stop for morning tea to give us time to take in these wonderful views.

After all the effort of climbing to 200m from sea level, the track then drops steeply via zig zags over the next kilometre back to sea level.  John Bull Gully is a peaceful grassy cove in a bay on the edge of the Taieri River with a couple of picnic benches and is the perfect place for lunch while watching the river lazily flows past.  With the native bush coming all the way down to the rivers edge and reflecting in the dark waters of the Taieri River, it truly is a magical place to be. 

I can see that during the summer months, this would be a safe place for swimming and despite the sunny skies, the winter temperatures meant that no one wanted to take the plunge. There are some interesting headlands easily accessible from John Bull Gully and most of the group took the opportunity to explore as far as possible, taking care on the slippery rocks. 

There was some reluctance to leave after lunch as the track immediately heads steeply 200m up hill back to the lookout.  Everyone took the hill at their own pace and the climb did not take as long as first thought.  It helps that the native bush is so pretty, particularly with the sun shining through the canopy and highlight all the different greens, from lime through to the almost black.  Before we realised it we were back at the seated lookout.

An unspoken decision was made to stop here again to give us more time to enjoy the beautiful views set out in front of us. Despite the fact we had only had lunch not long ago, it was time to get the drink bottles and snacks out in order to delay our leaving as long as possible.

All good things must come to an end and eventually it was time to move on with a steady descent down the track as it winds its way in and out of the gully's.  The benched track is in surprisingly good condition for winter with very little mud and a number of steps making it easy to negotiate before reaching the rivers edge. 

Once at the rivers edge, it was a fast walk back to the start of the track at Taieri Mouth township.  All up we had walked 10.5km with a total of 400m ascent over 4.5 hours.