Time: 2 hours and 10 minutes (includes morning tea)
Distance: 3.5 km
Start: Gate with the signage on Lavericks Ridge Road.
Finish: Same place - it's a loop.
Date: Friday 17th May 2024
Today we were off on a jaunt to Banks Peninsular and the Panama Rock Reserve. The reserve is owned by the Josef Langer Charitable Trust and managed by Robin Burleigh. Josef Langer had a penchant for natural history and African big cats. When he died he bequested money towards his two favourite causes. Thus the Josef Langer Charitable Trust was concieved and land was bought for a reserve. I love stories like that. Robin Burleigh is a local Le Bons Bay resident, who also happens to do the Akaroa Eastern Bay's Mail Run.
We turned off summit road onto Cameron's Track, a narrow, gravelley, mostly one-way road with steep drop-offs - typical of Banks Peninsular. On Lavericks Ridge Road, the distinctive Panama Rock soon came into view. We drove just past it and parked in front of the gate with signage on it.
The icy southerly wind hit us as soon as we got out of the car. Yee gads!! It was effing cold and we piled on the layers - puffers, hats, gloves, scarves - as quickly as possible. It was a brisk 20 minute climb up to the top of Panama Rock - also known as Keller's Peak (610 meters). The terrain flattened out and we were soon standing at the "summit" - amidst the gorse and shrubs and the reddish lichen-covered rock, with fabulous views around.
We returned to the junction and onto "The Grunt" - so called because it just gets steeper and steeper as you descend. Not so much of a grunt if you are heading in the downhill direction, nevertheless, we took it slow - stretching our Achilles tendons carefully. At the Dike Loop Track turn-off we flourished our phones to check the map. Our plan was to head for Langer Lodge - which wasn't mentioned on any of the signs. Somehow we figured out that we should keep heading downhill and after a while we were on an old farm track.
Nearby was Langer Lodge, a cute wee hut that can be hired for overnight stays. Bookings are essential and can be made on the Josef Langer Charitable Trust website. I had messaged Robin Burleigh during the week (via the website) and he had kindly arranged for us to have access to the hut. We had brought billy and burner with us which we fired up pronto and soon had piping hot coffees in tin mugs. We hadn't coordinated snacks but somehow they ticked all the boxes with costello cheese, crackers, chocolate and nuts. We checked out the pinned insect collection on the wall.
Leaving the hut locked and tidy, we continued on up Dike Track, climbing steeply through wonderful fuscia forest. The familiar sound of wings beating, and a kereru came crashing through the trees and landed heavily on a branch nearby. From the front, it looked like it was wearing one of those men's white jockey singlets. The track ran along the base of a moss covered dike wall. A dike (or dyke) is formed when molten rock from inside the earth's surface pushes up through fissures of softer surrounding rocks. If the lava breaks through the earth's surface, a dome can form. Panama Rock is such a dome, originating from the Akaroa volcano which erupted 11 - 6 million years ago.
