Leader: Uta Purcell

It was unavoidable that the focus of this tramp became the weather. After a soggy Friday, the weekend forecast promised only slight improvement. We were just a trio and were determined to do it.

On a slippery track, and in mist, we climbed up to Holyoake Clearing. It felt very hot. There were no views for our lunch outside the shelter. I regretted not having a camera ready in the loo, as through the slush holes at floor level the beak, beady eye and whole head of a Weka craned in, repeatedly. By 2pm it looked like nightfall in the beautiful bush on the journey to Castle Rocks Hut.

Rain set in at 3pm; the hut appeared at 4pm.
Sue, the expert fire maker, went to work and we relished the warmth. Rain stopped before midnight. Contrary to our expectations of more mist the next morning, the sun lit up the dim surroundings of our arrival the previous afternoon. Cameras got busy. Rather than doing a loop via the Coast Track, we chose to return to Marahau on the same slippery track, enjoying the views on the downward section. (New DOC signs now give the distance as 15.1km.) We took seven hours and saw just two other trampers on each day.

Participants were: Sue Davies, Marielena Margraf (visitor), and Uta Purcell (scribe).