With a car at each end of our walk, six trampers made the short climb to Te Oka Peak and were thrilled with the view of Little River, Lake Forsyth, Lake Ellesmere and the whole length of Kaitorete Spit on this clear, sunny day. Thanks to a wet spring the hills were very green.

With his local knowledge Bruce guided us to the top of Te Oka Bay Road then along an overgrown stock-track in Te Oka Reserve. In one place the going was slow as Bruce did some pruning of wiry vegetation. We used Bossu Road for a short distance to get us to a high point for lunch with views over to French Hill, Western Valley, southern Bays and the very impressive Devils Gap. Descending a spur onto pasture land then going up a farm track took us to the gap itself. The bluffs are popular with rock climbers but we got to the trig the easy way. From there it was down to stock yards where we’d placed a car. An excellent trip, well guided by Bruce.

We were: Bruce Cameron, Sue Britain, Mike Bourke, Vesna & Milomir Mojsilovic, Bill & Wendy Templeton, Kerry Moore (KM)