Time: 1 hour and 20 minutes
Distance: 4 km
Start: Bossu Road
Finish: Same Place
Date: Friday 19th March 2022
Kim put her foot down and the Nissan Tiida rose to the ocassion. We hooned up steep Kinlock and then narrow Bossu Road, adroitly evading an Australasian Harrier and an inquisitive cow, and were soon parked at the Saddle Hill/Puaitahi Scenic Reserve Department of Conservation sign ready to start our meander.
This is a short and sweet walk along a pleasant ridge up to a non-descript high point with a Trig and fabulous views in all directions. To the north, Mt Herbert; to the east Akaroa Harbour, to the west Kaitorete Spit. Today the harbour was glassy, the air perfectly still, the sky slightly overcast. After an easy 40 minutes we were standing at the Trig and taking photos.
I had a vague plan to continue further along the ridge in an off-piste fashion but we were soon thwarted by a "private property sign". Coffee was beckoning so we pottered back down the hill, admiring the rocky outcrops called Devil's Gap and Dragon Crags in the distance. Once frequented by local climbers, who gave the routes fabulous names like "Deceitful Doris Does the Dirty", "The Hollow Man" and "Bobo Wall", the landowner got pissed off with people who left the gates open and shut up shop.
Reynolds Road was closed for logging so we drove back down narrow Bossu and steep Kinlock Roads to Little River. The cow had disappeared but the Australasian Harrier was still there - standing on top of a squashed possum in the middle of the road. These birds (a.k.a the Swamp Harrier/Kōhu/Kōrako/Kērangi/Hawk or Circus approximans) are native to New Zealand (I only just found that out today). They differ from our other big bird of prey, the New Zealand Falcon, by having a larger wingspan and spend more time swooping and eating road kill. Yum.
We had a slight hiccup at the Little River Cafe when some of us (won't mention any names here) were temporarily evicted for failing the vaccine pass scan. A glitch in the matrix. Luckily, a high tech fix, involving a patchy internet connection and a mobile hotspot solved the issue. Crisis averted.
We sat outside drinking our flat whites and eating salmon bagels. Then we went and checked out the gallery and shop, before buying books and lemons and heading home.
Further documentation: https://roddonaldtrust.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/akaroa_wairewa-summit-and-bays_printable_rev2.pdf