Dianne’s big adventure
You might have heard of the Mt Lowry Challenge on the Eastbourne hills on the east side of Wellington harbour. My husband Gordon and I invented our own version: “The Bus Barn Challenge,“ traversing the Eastbourne ridge to the big bus parking shed.
We set out on a Sunday a couple of weeks ago. It was a toasty 25 degrees so I took plenty of extra clothes in case I got a little damp with the climb up Lowry.
Dianne’s big adventure
We met people coming down towards us, capturing the sites and listening to the tuis. It was nice to see their happy smiles and chat, a chance to cool down every so often. One was elderly, he must have been in his 80s. He had a wealth of information about the trek ahead but he thought we should have made it a round trip, not one way. He did have a little sparkle in his eye though, so I didn’t feel too lazy.
The abundant flora was regenerative manuka, kanuka, mahoe, mamaku, ponga, kawkawa, fivefinger, cabbage trees, rangiroa and numerous ground ferns. There was also the odd gorse bush until the track gave way to beech and the odd rimu and rata, as noted by the elderly gentleman earlier on.
We made the summit of Mt Lowey, thankfully before lunch, knowing that it was a slow decline to the bus barn a few hours ahead, with its ups and downs along the way. We’d planned our lunch seat as on our previous visits it had always been deserted but, alas, it was nicked by another couple who were having second thoughts about continuing in the heat. So we trundled on down into the bush for some cooling shade. Gordon found a wide, comfy seat in a twisted tree trunk and we happily waved the other trampers off.
Next, the lovely main ridge walk in open beach forest to Day’s Bay. We met a man with three identical dogs. He’d found them as pups on the roadside in the Wairarapa. He didn’t know the breed but he adopted them. By chance, a year later, he met a woman with identical dogs and asked her, “Do you know the breed?” She didn’t, she said, because she’d found them on the roadside Wairarapa at around the same time as he had. Well how’s that for a coincidence. Gordon and I got covered in big sloppy kisses from each one of them incidentally.
We reached the Days Bay turn off and arrived at the old bait trap track (which has now been blessed, according to the old gentleman we met earlier). It took me back to my old tramping trips: twisted roots, narrow paths, thick, tangled semi rainforest and tree orchids. The hair do definitely took a turn for the worse in that section.
Once again we had our seat planned and, yes, you can guess, it was a busy day in those hills, so we sat in a cutting on the side of the track and fed on pre-cut and sunwarmed oranges.
We went down next into Butterfly Creek, a humid valley that gave way to rain forest with nikau, tree ferns the odd beech, rata and rimu and numerous vines. Just like the West Coast.
The next planned stop was vacant, shared only with biting mosquitoes and as we set out again I could hear younger, fitter people coming up the rear, laughing and jabbering as they trotted up the hill. My ego got into first gear and we tore off ahead to be first to the top, puffing. We left the seat to the younger ones and headed along the last part and there was our destination: the bus barns.
Our adventure was graced with glimpses of Wellington Harbour through the beech trees and beautiful views of distant, bush-covered hills. We seemed to be in the middle of nowhere and wondered who needed to cross the straight to the Malborough Sounds when we have it all here. But we will soon, to collect a few more stories and pictures on the way.
It took us 5 ½ hours so we were thrilled and we thought of that elderly gentleman with a sparkle in his eye. Another day, we thought, we might do the return trip, with a sparkle in our eyes. We had a wonderful time!