kindly taken by Tony of ATC - they
were parked in the same spot and three of their group
started out with us.
We were surprised to find a couple of
people who had ventured into the Kaimais on a day trip on the Saturday, carrying a diagrammatic picture of the area and insufficient food for an emergency. They had got lost and spent a very uncomfortable night. It must have been pretty cold and
they had wandered round by torch light until 1 am – along a stream bed at times it seems. Somehow they ended up on the Kauri Grove route and were extremely lucky that our party came along this little-used route on the Sunday. One of the ATC people took them back to the car park, where the police were just preparing to go in for a SAR. My first inkling of their presence was when I heard a whistling sound – nice fan tails I thought but no it was a lost lady!
The Kauri grove route was interesting. A few slips and tree falls and we had to keep our eyes peeled for markers – some steep scrambles up and down hills – but otherwise easy!! Superb bush – in parts quite dense.
The area had some excellent mining relics – and an impressive incline – Butlers incline. Most of us returned via a middle track – Roger, Lynda and Carol from ATC went to the top – the rest of us felt we had done our dash.
A great day out – thanks so much Campbell
PS What can we learn from this? Are you carrying the following on day trips – especially day trips South of Auckland? Whistle, overtrousers, gloves, hat, torch and batteries, means to light a fire, compass and extra food make sense for a start. A reliable
map is vital – Campbell had downloaded his from www.nztopomaps.com DoC has information online and it pays to search their site and print off any maps provided.