| Leader | Mentor | Tail ender | |
| Standards | Brent | Wendy A | Kate W |
| Alternates | Moira | Ray | Linley |
Duration 4 hrs 20 mins
We had a fine, clear, frosty morning with little wind for our tramp. Bus driver Peter transported 41 trampers (including 3 visitors) to the township of Little River on Banks Peninsula for the walk from there to Birdlings Flat some 16 km away.
The walk began (for the Standard group) at the entrance gate to Kinloch Homestead about 2km up Kinloch Rd from the Akaroa Highway. From there it’s a 6km climb with a 560 m height gain up a well-graded and sealed road to the intersection with Bossu Rd. The weather was fine and sunny as we climbed, and layers of warm clothing were soon removed. The views back down to Lake Forsyth, Little River and the hills beyond were a suitable reward for the hard work.
Directly opposite us across the valley, and above Little River township, we identified High Bare Peak where new owners are de-stocking, removing exotic trees, planting native trees and encouraging the land to revert to its original bush covering. The owners also plan to develop walking tracks and to open the area for recreational walking.
Kinloch Rd was a bit busier than usual owing to recent logging activity and on the way up we encountered several trucks transporting logs from an area that once contained a pine plantation. At the Bossu Rd intersection (the starting point for the Alternates group) we also had a chance encounter with a group of trampers from the Over Forties Tramping Club.
Bossu Road is so named because it leads to Mount Bossu, a rocky peak overlooking Akaroa Harbour some 10km away to the east. French settlers named it Mt Bossu, presumably after the 18th century French explorer Jean Bernard Bossu. Maori call this mountain Tuhiraki. According to legend, Tuhiraki was formed when the ancestor Rakaihautu used his digging stick to create the great lakes of the South Island. After completing his task, he planted his stick in the ground, where it eventually grew into the mountain.
The second part of the walk took us eastwards along Bossu Road and with a slow descent to sea level again at Birdlings Flat – a distance of about 10 km. The views from this road include the eastern bays of Banks Peninsula (Oashore, Tokoroa, Tumbledown etc) to the left, the Kaitorete Spit ahead and in the distance, the snow-capped mountains of the Southern Alps.
Following a tiring few hundred metres over the soft shingle, the walk finished at Birdlings Flat settlement where Peter and his bus were waiting to transport us back to Christchurch after a very pleasant day out.
Text by Warren
