Time: Approx 5.5 hours to do the whole thing (it took us 4.5 hours to do most of it)
Distance: 15 km
Start: Thomas Bush car park at the end of Castle Hill Drive, Castle Hill Village
Finish: Same place (it's there and back)
Date: Friday 7th June 2024
Time breakdowns:
Thomas Bush car park to Picnic Lookout 2 hours;
Picnic Lookout to Mt Cheesman Road car park "lookout" 15 mins (would probably be another 15 mins to get to the carpark);
Return times are similar.
A community group from Castle Hill Village have created a fabulous network of walking and biking trails in the Craigiburn area (see the Craigiburn Trails website for the full list) and today, a last minute change of plan due to an A+ weather forecast, saw us heading to Hogs Back Track.
We drove slowly down Castle Hill Drive, gawking at the flash holiday homes of Castle Hill Village. The houses typically have more than their fair share of roof to floor windows, meaning that you can peer into the interiors and marvel at the expensive light fittings which you could probably make yourself for a few dollars, a balloon and some string. But I digress. At the entrance to Thomas Bush, the road became gravel and we ignored the "keep-out" sign because it was off to one side and looked temporary anyway. Some sort of track/road maintenance was going on and, as we parked the car near the Hogs Back Track signage, a digger rumbled past. No worries.
In hindsight we probably could have gone on the Easy Up Track which is the DOC recommended way to access the Hogs Back Track for walkers and cyclists - but instead we headed straight up the Hogs Back Track through the beautiful beech forest then out into the open scrubland. The forest was shady and chilly, but the open scrubland was stunning with bluebird skies and amazing views.
The trail meandered through the grass in the most pleasant of ways. An old gnarly tree with its trunk bent in half, was a great place for a photo shoot (one foot in front, back straight, tits out, relax front hand slightly, hold breath). From here there was a short descent to more beech forest and a slippery stream to cross - which we just managed without getting wet feet. The forest was warming up and the korimako/bellbirds were doing their trilling, chortling, wheezing and clicks - probably with some ultrasonic stuff in there as well. The next stream could be navigated easily via a sturdy bridge.
The track alternated between forest and tussock lands, before finally climbing a small hill to Picnic Rock where the views were panoramic and so stunning that no superlatives will do.
Nicole and I continued on for another 15 mintes to where we could look down the hill and see the end of the track at the car park on Mt. Cheeseman Road. The temptation was to complete the track just for the sake of it. But time was getting on, the winter days are short and I had a 5:30 pm appointment at Evil Genius with a wine glass, and so we turned tail and headed for home. The frozen ground was thawing rapidly and the track was sticky mud and slippery in places. The mud balled up and stuck to our shoes making our feet feel heavy as if we were wearing ski shoes At some point mid-conversation I took a tumble and hit the deck with a thud. No harm done but Carolien reckoned that I looked like I had poohed my pants.
We got to the car park with the diggers still rumbling past. We waved goodbye and headed to Sheffield - chatting about those weird and wacky telly programs like Botched, Hoarders, Married at First Sight, Naked Attraction. All my life I have been wanting to stop at The
The Famous Sheffield Pie Shop because there are always crowds of people queuing for the famous pies. But my Hoa Rangatira, who hails from other climes and does not understand the "Kiwi Pie Kultcha", always puts his foot on the accelerator as we drive through. Today however, the stars aligned and we got to munch on pies and drink coffee. A true kiwi experience. Although to be honest I don't feel the need to repeat it any time soon. Lol! Back in the car, we put on the sounds of the 80's and sang our hearts out all the way back to Ĺtautahi.
