Sunday 18th June 2023
Seven members joined the day walk to the Inland Pack Track which to date has been the most attended club trip. There were several new faces, with myself included! As well as it being my first club trip, I was also the trip leader. Needless to say, I was a bit apprehensive and didn’t know what to expect! The thing I was most nervous about was the gelling of the group. As we set off on our walk, I decided to take the tail-end Charlie position for the purpose of observing the group and to ensure no one was left “buddy-less”. I quickly came to realise that this approach was not needed as the group mingled exceptionally well.
Over the four hours it took to complete the walk, the make-up of the group procession and the pairs that conversed with each other changed constantly. Never was there a moment where anybody had no-one to talk to, and it seemed that everybody had a chatting session with each and every person in the group. I was stoked about the effortless group cohesion!
So, for some raw trip data; we started at the Pororari River Gorge Track. This section was very easy, flat, and incredibly scenic, following the Pororari River through an amazing nikau palm dominated karst landscape. After about 40 minutes, we joined onto the Inland Pack Track and headed north-east. This section of track was still easy, but there were short, intermittent areas where things became a bit muddy, slippery and uneven underfoot. Nothing to write home about though. After a further hour and half’s walk, we reached the track junction which led to the Cave Creek Resurgence to the east, and to the west, the Bullock Creek road end. Here we had some lunch as the spot was basking in some lovely sunshine. After lunch we embarked on a there-and-back trip to the Cave Creek Resurgence. The track was very well-formed, but there was a significant downhill with several sets of stairs heading down to the resurgence. The return journey obviously meant a considerable uphill slog, but the Cave Creek Resurgence itself was totally worth the effort!
After the steady climb back up to our lunch spot, it was a short 15 minute walk to Bullock Creek road where the second vehicle was dropped before setting off in the morning. We ended the day with a quick beverage at the local pub, Punakaiki Rocks. As a first time trip leader, this day could not have gone any better. The smooth unfolding of the day 100% boiled down to the fact that we were all there for the same reason; our love for the outdoors. And I believe that this common interest allowed for some meaningful interaction between strangers, strangers that likely morphed into friends at the trip’s end. The day absolutely exceeded my expectations, and I look forward to leading and joining many more trips in the future!
