It was forecast to be a glorious summer's day, and Michele kindly opened the trip numbers up to include all 17 who put their hands up. We met at 8am and divided into four 4WD cars to make the journey.
Once parked at Pearse Road end we faced the first of about 14 chilly river crossings on our way up the Pearse River valley to the Resurgence.
One of the many river crossings
A brief stop at the ‘bus stop’ (a seat tucked in under a rocky overhang overlooking the river) and onward through river crossings galore, the chill of which we started to enjoy as the day's temperature rose. Fortunately the crossings were never much more than knee deep and were very manageable for all. A highlight was spotting several whio (blue duck) on the way in.
At the Resurgence we had a pleasant lunch in the large grassy clearing in the sun and admired the deep pool of chilly clear water emerging from under the rocks. A group went on up to explore the entrance of Nettlebed Cave, which was well worth the scramble over a steep spur and up a dry river bed.
Some of the team at the entrance to Nettlebed Cave
Then it was homeward bound with a couple less crossings on the tramp back due to taking a better route from the lunch spot. A few brave souls had swims in one of the many glorious spots in the river but we were all out at the cars by around 4.30pm. Two of the cars stopped for a real fruit ice-cream at a convenient stall on Neudorf Road on the way home.
A great day was had by all.
Thanks Michele and all the drivers.
Participants: Michele (leader), Paula (scribe), Torsten, Brian, Chris, Graeme, Kath, Peter, Maaike, Linda, Janey, Greg, Susan Isobel and visitors Naomi, Alison, Mary and Luca.