Te Oka Loop

Saturday 1st November

Seven of us met at Princess Margaret Hospital 8.30am and travelled to Little River, to pick two others up, with the intention of exploring the new Oashore Reginal Park. At the top of the Bossu Road, the leader realized there was an access challenge to the walk (not yet developed so not yet opened to the public - ed.) so Plan B came into action and we drove down to Te Oka Bay to tramp the Te Oka Loop instead.

The drive to the bay was down a very narrow road, with not much room for passing traffic going the other direction.  Lots of surfers were parked at the bay with a dozen or more already in the water by the time we arrived. Initially the weather was a bit cold and windy, but the sun had warmed things up by the time we started walking at around 10.00am. We had morning tea in a wee glade just off the track shortly afterwards, then lunch around 12.30pm in a sheltered spot, with a great view of the bay, at the top of the saddle.  From there we walked along the rim, before dropping down a track, back to the cars.

From our start point to the Saddle was a gain of 700+ metres, with good views all round. Total kms for the day was around 11 km. Due to the narrow road down to the bay and a lot of surfers traffic, I do recommend parking at the top (Bossu Road) and starting walking from there.

Thank you to the participants, for the good company, and looking forward to seeing more club members out tramping. We were Murray Hight (Leader), John Robinson, Ian Beale, Mary McKeown, Eileen Mackie, Joy Schroeder, Tanya Jacobson, Darcy Mawson and Karen Fincham. MH