Mt. Alford

Time: 4 hours and 50 minutes (2 hours and 20 minutes to the top)
Distance:  9.5 km

About 1.5 hours drive from Christchurch airport, at the end of the potholey Mt Alford Settlement Road, there is a small car park. This is the start of the track to the summit of Mt. Alford - one of the accessible peaks in the Canterbury foothills.  Be sure to check out the Department of Conservation website before you set out - this track is closed for lambing in September each year. 

We set off across the squelchy paddock - pleased to have a sturdy fence between us and seven ginormous bulls. Their pizzles swinging low, they wallowed in the mud looking like fat hippopotami (or is it hippopotamuses). 

The track entered the beech forest and began to climb very quickly. Beech forest is always so pleasant to walk through - as the day heats up it smells of honey. There have been big storm events this winter and the windfall slowed us down somewhat as we had to occasionly clamber through branches or detour around massive fallen trunks.

We exited the forest and the track steepened as it wound its way through first paddocks and then sub-alpine gardens.  Half way up, the white dome of an observatory could be seen below. This was apparently rented by the Ashburton Astronomical Society from 1988 till 2008 for $500 per annum.  I googled that - but could glean no further information as to its use nowadays. 

We gained the ridge and reached the summit about 2.5 hours from the car park. The summit (1171 m) is marked by a cairn consisting of a large pile of orangey-reddy rocks. Perhaps volcanic we wondered? Well, very likely as Mt. Alford is part of the Mt. Somers Volcanics Group. Interestingly, in 1883 Isaac Jacobsen - a Christchurch architect, thought he found diamonds in the area. While the crystals were sent overseas for testing, a diamond rush ensued - prospecting licenses were purchased and a town was planned (hence Mt. Alford Settlement Road). But the 'diamonds' turned out to be Quartz and the area remains a sleepy backwater. Thank goodness.

We had a leisurely lunch break, admiring the views: A snow-capped range in the distance (Winterslow) and the Mt. Hutt ski field to the north. The latter reminded me of my recently wrenched ski knee and so Nicole kindly lent me Bob's walking pole for the descent (Thank You!!). 

Puawhananga (Native Clematis - Clematis paniculata)

Walking poles are a marvelous invention and I think I will be buying my own very soon. Maybe tomorrow. Admittedly I did manage to entangle myself a couple of times on the way down but by the time we got to the car park I was getting the hang of it. 

We headed to the Primo E Secundo Cafe and second hand shop in Methven which is worth checking out. Pretty quirky and they make a pretty good flat white too boot.