Leader: Graeme Ferrier

Participants: Michele Cunningham, Kate Krawczyk, Leah Parker, Meike, Jun, Astrid Brauksiepe, Arif Mathee, Peter Phipps, Nayla 

Met at the church steps at 8:30

Short drive northeast through the Whangamoas reached the Mt.Duppa turnoff.

The road in is very different since the forestry has been harvested but it is easy to navigate thanks to DOC who has  recently re-marked the road in to the track start. The road is a bit rougher than it used to be and I would recommend 4wd vehicles with a bit of clearance to access this tramp. 

The route to the top is a steep grunt about 600 metres up through some beautiful and interesting native bush and rock formations to reach the summit of Mt.Duppa (1143m). The track is quite rough at times with some tricky bits clambering over roots and rocks. We were lucky as it hadnt rained in a couple of weeks and the track surface was nice and dry and not too slippery. 

We reached the summit just before noon and got great views 360 degrees over Pepin Island and Cable Bay, south to the Richmond ranges, over the Marlborough sounds and east into Nelson. There was a biting chill wind at the top so we quickly had a bite to eat while we enjoyed the views and then bailed off down the mountain to get the blood flowing and warm up again!

A quick descent saw us back at the vehicles by 2pm and into Nelson for a lovely coffee and catch up at River Kitchen