The Tors Tour

Sunday 23 March 2019

Stan Wilder agreed to lead this trip many months before the event, but damaged his heel a week before the Sunday. A sympathetic Trish Falkner agreed to stand in for Stan, and by 0900, 14 of us turned up at the Mt Vernon car-park to do “Stan’s” circuit.

The loop goes part-way up the Mt Vernon Valley Track, climbs off- track to cross the Rapaki Track, then crosses Avoca Valley to reach the spur between Avoca and Horatane valleys. Climbing to the road we walked east along the Crater Rim Track to The Tors for lunch at Point 453. We had a fine view of Cass Bay and Lyttelton Harbour. Some took the official Crater Rim Track west to the Terry McCashin Memorial seat and others took a higher rocky route. Above the Mt Vernon Valley Track, we could watch rock climbers on the vertical columnar basalts of Witch Hill.

A little climb on the flanks of 462m then a descent to the Mt Vernon Farm Track, and we were on our way back to the cars with fewer than 14 people. Some had taken a short-cut back to the start-point and we even had two join us (Mike and Sue) for lunch so could almost say we had sixteen trampers on the walk. Helen had been telling us about a small band of women she’s walked with in the past who’d been labelled ‘The Spice Girls’ because they always tramped in their Sunday-best outfits. On the Summit Road, we met them and indeed they were dressed to the nines and well coiffured.

Many thanks to Trish for leading and telling us about the local history. We hope Stan makes a rapid recovery.

We were: Trish Faulkner (leader), Pat McIntosh, Wendy McCaughan, Helen Harkness, Dan Pryce, Ian and Diane Roxburgh, Hank Boer, Carolyn Catt, John Robinson, Jeff Chandler, Joy Schroeder, SP Wang, Sue Britain,Mike Bourke,Kerry Moore. (KM)