Kaituna – Herbert Peak Circuit

Sunday, 10 Nov 2019

We placed one of the cars at the Packhorse Track car-park on Parkinsons Road, and set off with a cool breeze at our tails. At the ridge, we were on part of Te Ara Pataka track and the south wind was sending us a cold mist, forcing us to rug-up urgently. At Herbert Peak (junior) the valley cloud seemed to be dispersing and at Herbert Peak (senior) we had good views all around, yet our lunch shelter was in the mist. The vast expanse of gorse was flowering, bright yellow and aromatic.

Half the team took the short side-track to Mt Bradley while the others stayed on the TAP track. At Packhorse Hut we had a 30 minute stay before heading down the Kaituna Valley Track. Soon the predicted 4pm rain arrived and was quite steady as we reached Parkinsons Road.

Many thanks to Geoff, our leader on this pleasant Sunday walk.

We were: Geoff & Mary Korver, John Robinson, Joy Schroeder, Penny Coffey, Peter Umbers, Sophie Toutain, Mike Dunn, and Kerry Moore (KM)

Mt Bradley ablaze with gorse flower. Photo courtesy of Kerry Moore