| Leader | Mentor | Tail Ender | |
| Standards | Alan H | Bev | Ailsa |
| Alternates | Les | Ali | Maureen |
Distance 13.6 km; duration 5 hrs 20 min (walking time with breaks); 788 m elevation gain
A glorious sunny day greeted us at Bishopdale for our tramp from Hoon Hay Reserve to the Sign of the Bellbird. Our driver Callum got us to Princess Margaret Hospital in record time where we picked up a few more members and proceeded up to Dyers Pass and then right on Summit Road to be dropped off at Hoon Hay Reserve at around 9:30.
The trip reports do not show this as a tramp the Club has done before. While it starts the same as the Hoon Hay Reserve to Omahu Bush tramp (which we last did 27 May 2022), the Alternates return after lunch at Coopers Knob to the Sign of the Bellbird; the Standards do not explore the Omahu Bush but rather ascend Gibraltar Rock and then return to the Summit Road/Crater Rim Walkway to the Bellbird.
Hoon Hay Reserve did not have quite the glorious weather we experienced at Bishopdale – clouds hung over Lyttelton Harbour and the breeze was a little cooler than many had expected. The 24 Standards immediately took off while the 6 remaining Alternates proceeded at a somewhat more sedate pace.
It took the Alternates about an hour to get to the Sign of the Bellbird for morning tea. Our leader offered us the option of having tea in the bush as you start up Cass Peak/Ōrongomai or inside the shelter across the road. Shelter from the wind won out quite quickly.
After tea, the Alternates continued on the Crater Rim Walkway, through bush and brush and flax, over hill over dale, and up and down the rocky passages, all in typical BTC tramp fashion. The sun finally broke through about 30 minutes before lunch. The breeze had by this time turned into a steady wind from the East/Northeast making a lunch priority “where can we get out of the wind”.
As we began our return trip to the Bellbird, we could see the Standards across on Gibraltar Rock just below the ridgeline. I am told the group took a circuitous route to get to Gibraltar Rock and that our President had to plead with the Standards’ leader to stop for lunch. And while stop he did, he was the only Standard willing to brave the wind to have lunch at the top of Gibraltar, managing to lose the cheese out of his sandwich to the wind.
Both groups arrived at the Bellbird windblown but in good time, having walked the road part of the way. We were back on the bus to Bishopdale arriving around 3:30. Another good tramp with good friends.
Text by Michele
