Tui Mine – Te Aroha Sunday 9 October 2022
Meeting at the carpark as usual and we were ready to set off. After a count of the numbers, it was found too many bodies and not enough seats. Glenys kindly offered to use her own car – problem solved.
Arriving at Te Aroha we had a brief toilet stop before driving through town towards Tui Road carpark. After morning tea Keith gave us a quick rundown about the area and the tramp. Then we all walked up the steep road to the crushing plant ruins. This is the road to drive up to the transmission tower and buildings on top of the mountain for authorized vehicles only. Alongside the concrete structures there is a big drain filled with boulders which was a run-off for the tailings. The government spent about $20 million cleaning up the area, re-planting, and sowing grass. They were concerned about the high lead content in the waste and tailing heading down the mountain towards the golf course.
Walking past the ruins into the bush to the loop track quite was quite steep in places with a few wooden steps to negotiate. A detour off the main track took us to a waterfall – quite high but not much water but worth a look. Coming across a junction to another track took us back to Hamilton Street. This is where we had lunch. A few left us here and went back to the van to drive around to the domain. After crossing a small stream which had a concrete weir and a good swimming place, we walked past a huge Puriri tree which is believed to be about 700 years old. From here on towards the reservoirs we came across stone structures that looked like something you would see in a monastery. Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to build them, stacking stones on top of each other - some looked like birds! The track eventually came out by the geyser in the domain. We had a short walk back to the van in the main street.
After ice creams it was back to Hamilton. A most enjoyable walk. Thanks to the leaders and drivers and to Keith for predicting fine weather again.
Ron Clarke