|
Porika Track - Maud Valley Trip |
|
|
Date: 08/10/2006
Trip Leader: Eric Sullivan
Trip Report: Stephanie Rowse
9.45 meeting at Kawatiri Junction – 6 trucks. 10.05 take off with Harald catching up with us about 10 minutes later on the way to Lake Rotoroa where we stopped for a morning tea break. It was supposed to be a boys’ day out, Harald had his neighbour with grandson. I don’t know whom Lex was bringing because he didn’t arrive. Something broke and/or blew smoke in his Jeep so he went home. (Fortunately we had Kyle along and maybe Ron S. also.)
The Porika was a lot smoother, less rutted than the last time I’d been up there so it didn’t take much time to bump to the top where we all had a bit of a play. Son Cameron was driving me, wasn’t going far in muddy & slippery clay conditions but he was having fun. Kyle’s friend Abe roared up one of the slippery tracks. It seems he has fitted an old tractor turbo to his SWB Nissan with intercooler. He was keen to lift the bonnet when I asked him what sort of engine he had in there that made it so “growley”. To my very untrained eye the fit out he’d done himself looked very tidy. He said he was looking forward to fitting un-bald mud tyres to it (not the engine). Time to move on toward Maud Valley. We’d reached the gate when all came to a standstill. What’s going on? We should be moved onward thru the gate but all are heading back to the end of the line, oh no, Harald’s bonnet’s up and there are three men inside it. So I wander back to listen. Soon only Kyle is in there. Something about sheared nuts and pulleys and fan belts etc. This all takes about 40 minutes and the decision was made to park this Jeep, distribute the bodies and head off. I had not been up this valley before and Eric had mentioned it was quite bouldery, I thought he was exaggerating, he wasn’t. We had lunch at an old but still operational sawmill. I suppose it could have been interesting. We carried on up the valley to a memorial to the gold miners, surprisingly mining finished as recently as the mid nineties.
Generally this valley has lots of interesting bits of machinery rusting away and huts. At the end of the valley is a large hut with outside shower, 2 baths, 1 long drop, midden (beer cans) and many other manly mod cons. It seems DOC wants these huts etc completely removed. To my way of thinking they add a bit of interest and history when wandering out in the bush and they’re used and maintained by someone.
After a good look around we drove non-stop back to where Harald left his Jeep. Here he went to ask the farmer if he could leave it until he could collect it on a trailer. Several of us left at this stage as Harald was well taken care of. As Harald is now editor I shall pass the ending of this story on to him...
Thank you to Eric and Ron for organising this trip. An enjoyable day out.
…well…there’s not much to be told:
I went back up there the next day (again), put the Jeep on a trailer (again), got it fixed (again), and drove it home (again).
End of story! – ed.
|
Past club trips 