Saturday 8 March 2025

Leader: Rodney Hopkirk

This trip was shaping up to be another long day as some of the other day trips have been.

We parked the ute down the road from Blue Bluff and headed for the slip and encountered the first setback: they were working on the slip with quite a large digger. We made the wise decision to drop down to the river and up the other side of the slip; this took only half an hour, and I figured it would have taken at least ten minutes to walk across the slip, so only fifteen to twenty minutes loss.

We made good time going up the Waiotauru Valley, with favourable walking conditions, i.e. overcast but warm. There are three main slips to negotiate, one just before the boiler, one mid-way between the camp ground and the Waiotauru Forks, and one just before the Waiotauru Forks. The only major slip to negotiate is the middle slip, which on the way up, we climbed quite high to get over, but on the way back we decided to traverse, which I have to admit was a little risky, probably not recommended.

Once at the Waiotauru Forks, it’s onto the four-wheel drive track, and straight to the hut. We did overshoot the hut by about 100 m, but quickly made our way back to the hut for lunch. The return trip was pleasant enough, with some light rain falling, and apart from negotiating the middle slip, was uneventful. The total distance travelled was 31.4 km and the time taken was just under 10 hours. Thankfully when we arrived out, around 7.00 pm, the digger working on the Blue Bluff had finished for the day and we were able to safely cross the slip.

Those on the trip were:

Graeme Richardson, Paula Richardson, Rodney Hopkirk

Currently there is no photo album for this trip.