Time: 2 hours and 20 minutes
Distance: 8 km
Start: Small car park and information sign at the end of Kaituna Valley Road
End: Same place (it's there and back)
Date: Friday 16th September 2022
A last minute weather change for the worse saw us belatedly ditch our lofty plans (to climb a lofty maunga) and instead, drive to Te Ara Pātiki Reserve at the end of Kaituna Valley Road and head up the Monument Track South to the Summit Walkway/Te Ara Pātaka. Plan B.
The track starts virtually in the front yard of a quaint farmhouse. The property owner's: Chris and Vicky Parr have retired their land (347 ha) from grazing and, in conjunction with the Bank's Peninsular Trust, Environment Canterbury and WWF, are converting it to bush - covenanted for long term recreational use. The is Te Ara Pātiki Reserve. How wonderful! I gleaned all this from the information board at the car park and the Tree's for Canterbury Facebook page (here). And I also found a good online map (pdf) of the valley with tracks. Ara means "path" and Pātiki means "flounder" in Te Reo Māori. The latter is a reference to the nearby Mt Herbert/Te Ahu Pātiki ("shaped like a flounder").
In a semi-weird twist of fate, the surname "Parr" of the owners is almost identical to today's Wordle: "Parer" which we happened to be discussing as we arrived (I didn't believe it was actually a word - but it is - we Googled it). In front of the quaint farmhouse, a large bellied, woolly sheep with two cute lambs came forward to greet us. I guess after 100 years of sheep and beef farming you have to keep a few to mow the lawns.
We crossed the Kaituna River and headed up the hill, putting on layers and then discarding them again a short time later. The track is a farm track that is quite steep initially and a wee bit muddy in places, but very pleasant because it pops in and out of forest remnants - tōtara, matai, mingimingi - which will hopefully seed the regenerating surrounding land now that (most) of the sheep have gone.
After about 60 minutes we were at the junction with the Summit Walkway/Te Ara Pātaka (pātaka means "pantry") where the snow from a few days before, dotted the ground. The wind picked up. It was fucking freezing! We donned hats, gloves, puffers and jackets and sidled (direction Mt Herbert/Te Ahu Pātiki) around a small knob to a saddle. We were tempted to head on up to the summit (one hour according to the signage) but it was now howling and the track ahead was in cloud so (slightly) reluctantly we decided to loop back to the junction.
We could now finally see down the valley on the north/eastern side and out across to Port Levy/Koukourārata. This was once a route for the Ngāi Tahu to the mahinga kai (food gathering area) of Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere. The sun was shining on the water like shimmering silver/gold: a magical effect that uplifted the soul. Horomaka Island was the eye of a tuna. We looped back along the snowy track over the knob and returned to the junction. A large black beetle was lying on its back in a snow drift (I was going to say "turtled" but decided against it because I Googled it) and we paused for a rescue.
The descent was fast and we were soon back at the car and driving down Kaituna Valley Road. We had a quick look at the cute (but semi-weird) church and graveyard. The church was locked.
The we checked out a new cafe: General Post in Tai Tapu. Fab coffee, and I had a bear paw which was yummy but sounds semi-weird.
And that's it.
