Twelve G1.5 Wanderers left a fresh but fine Hamilton and headed towards our destination near Katikati, with a pit stop in Waihi before arriving at our starting point on Hot Springs Road.

We ate our morning tea while the Grade 3’s headed off on their tramp at a brisk pace.  The views were lovely bush covered hills and we could see across to the sea at our far right.

The track to the saddle was a gentle climb on a well-formed track.  There were a couple of hairy bits where the track had deteriorated and started to slip away but mostly it was pretty good.  We had one small river crossing that wasn’t too technical, most of us got across with dry feet.

After about 2.5 hours of walking we made it to the top of the ridge where we ate our lunch with stunning views across the Waikato Basin.  The weather was fine and there was no fog to be seen.

We returned on the same track we had gone up on, watching our feet on the slippery bits.

On the way back down, some of us took a short detour up a side track to view two giant kauri trees.  They were huge, healthy specimens at around 2m in diameter.  Very impressive!

It started to rain very gently as we descended so we quickly organised ourselves and set off in the van to return back to Hamilton.

The Grade 3 van arrived back at the Wintec carpark just as we were unpacking our belongings at around 5pm.  This was very enjoyable day out and a lovely way to spend a winters day. Thanks to our leaders Keith, Pam and Dianne.           

Brenda