Here's another entry from my mother.
Last Sunday, the 18th October, 20 of us hardy trampers, took off in the rain, for a day's walk in the Kaimai Ranges. We went up a very muddy Thompson's Track, better known as a 4 wheel off roaders track, than a place for those on foot.
We hadn't gone far when we heard the familiar sound of vehicles heading our way. The message went out - take action QUICK! So we all headed up the bank, and out of the way of the approaching vehicles. Three off roaders rounded the bend and came slip sliding towards us, axle deep in the brown slush.
A round of cheers from us all, saw the first vehicle negotiate the deep holes without any hassle. Unfortunately, the second vehicle was not so lucky. He sat bellied out, with his wheels spinning, going nowhere. At this point the first vehicle had to come to it's aid, and winch it out. All was well! Then came the third vehicle, with more cheers from the sideline, but he was able to get through the bog with very little trouble.
Then it was our turn to climb down off our 'grandstand' and into the mud again. Yuk! The vehicles had certainly churned up the track, so it wasn't long before we all looked like mud bugs!
After about 2 hours on this track, we branched off, and went up a side track, which wasn't quite so muddy, but being steep, it was very slippery.
We all made it safely, after about 30 minutes, then we came out to a grassy area, on the top of the Kaimais. By now it was pouring with rain, and blowing a gale, so we were making slow progress into the teeth of the storm. The only good coming from the rain, was that it washed a bit of the mud off us all.
From here we made our way down into the bush where we were a little more sheltered from the weather, so decided it was time to have lunch. But we didn't sit around for too long, as we were all very wet, and didn't want to get too cold.
The going from here, was fairly straight forward - up and down, and over obstacles, and rather slippery in places. Then came the exciting bit - the down hill section, and believe me, it was down! Very steep, very slippery and very much care was needed to stay upright, which was something that not many of us managed to do. The occasional squeal alerted us to someone hitting the slope on their rear, but with the only damage being done to their pride rather than to their body.
And their was a great sigh of relief, when we all made it to the bottom safely, with a little more mud to show for our efforts. It was then just an hour to walk across paddocks, and back to where we had started out day. The rain had stopped at this stage, so we all got out of our muddy boots and wet clothes, before making the hour long drive back home. A GREAT 6 1/2 hour tramp was had by all!
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