| Group | Leader | Mentor | Understudy | Tailender |
| Stds | Jan B | Dave R | Kay | Kate |
| Alternates | Leonie | Marg S | Ali | Eric |
Stats: distance 14km
The Mt Vulcan tramp always seems to throw up some drama and this one was no exception.
As we cruised up into North Canterbury on a crisp and bright sunny day, newly anointed President, Bev, announced the leaders list for the tramp. We had a full bus of 50 with no visitors and Dave B told us there were 3 waitlisters who didn’t make it, so we need to book early in future.
From the turn off into Reeces Road at Omihi, we enjoyed the verdant green of those undulating hills that provide protection from that beastly easterly and allow the vineyards of Waipara to flourish.
At the Mt Vulcan woolshed, 29 Standards were counted off the grid by our tailender Kate and strode up the limestone farm track leaving 21 Alternates in the capable hands of Leonie.
Somehow, the course of the Mt Vulcan tramp is one that many people seem unable to retain in their memories. Many have done it (sometimes several times) but expressions of “I don’t remember this bit” were quite common as we passed the limestone quarry and continued the undulations towards the sea.
Even the morning tea site was greeted with “I don’t think we’ve stopped here before” but so beautiful was the day and so expansive the view, no one was complaining.
Soon the azure blue Pacific came into view and was our constant companion for most of the day along with the tiny (3ha) Motunau Island, just off the coast. The Island is administered by DOC and is a refuge for many seabirds including many little blue penguins.
The farm tracks were muddy in places, crossed some small streams and necessitated the opening and closing of many gates, although there appeared to be few animals. Small areas of regenerating bush, mainly manuka are providing valuable nectar for the bees in the hives sighted along the way.
As we were looking forward to our lunch spot, we were confidently sidling along a contour, knowing that we needed to head uphill to our left, but there was no obvious opening. Eventually we reached a fence and we had to go up. It was tough going……long grass (that brought back memories of that lost African tribe!), gorse, thistles and more. The front people trod a track which others followed. Fortunately, Dave R had his GPS and confirmed that we were going in the right direction. At some point, one of our group decided to take a different course through the jungle and for 15 minutes or so we had a ‘lost tramper’. He eventually emerged, chastened and scoured by the gorse.
The lunch spot on a grassy knoll in the sunshine was very welcome.
The post lunch tramp was less dramatic, following more farm tracks and passing beneath Mt Vulcan, which most of the group clambered up, to be rewarded with a magnificent 360-degree view, including Pegasus Bay and Banks Peninsula in the distance to the south.
The rest of the tramp across the farmland to meet the bus on Motunau Beach Road was uneventful, but the constancy of the sea views kept our spirits high. The Alternate group had a shorter and more leisurely tramp and had patiently waited for nearly an hour for our arrival.
Text courtesy Selwyn
