Time: 5 hours and 50 minutes
Distance: 17 km
Start: Hilltop car park (next to the old Tavern)
Finish: Same place - it's there and back
Date: Friday 4th September 2026
Break down of times:
Hilltop to Mount Sinclair - 2 hours
Mount Sinclair to Mount Fitzgerald - 50 minutes
Mount Fitzgerald to Hilltop - 2 hours and 20 minutes
We were five (non-grannies) today, including two people along for the ride - Charlotta (visiting Aotearoa for one week from Sweden), and her kiwi bestie Jacinda (pronounced with a "k"). The car was buffeted as we approach Little River / Wairewa where watery whirling dervishes were spinning up from Lake Forsyth / Te Roto o Wairewa. We pulled in at the shops and all piled out for a communal wee at the public loos.
Onwards and upwards to Hilltop, stepping out of the car was difficult - straight into a roaring nor'westerly gale. This was nuts. Should we abandon the walk altogether? We shouted across to each other, trying to come up with a Plan B. But in the end, everyone was keen to at least check out Plan A. We leapt the stile, following (for the most part) a small path which soon took us across Summit Road to track signage.
Te Ara Pātaka/Summit Walkway is a 35 km trail that follows (more or less) an undulating ridgeline (the crater rim of an old volcano) from Gebbies Pass through to Hilltop. In Te Reo Māori, "ara" means path and "pātaka" means food basket - the latter is an acknowledgement by local iwi that this area was once the food basket of reknowned explorer Rākaihautū. The Department of Conservation/Te Papa Atawhai have an informative brochure (pdf) complete with track descriptions and maps. The trail can be walked in five sections, and today we were walking the last section but in reverse:
1. Gebbies Pass to Sign of the Packhorse Hut (~ 2 hours)
2. Sign of the Packhorse Hut to Mount Herbert/Te Ahu Patiki (~ 3 hours)
3. Mount Herbert/Te Ahu Patiki to Port Levy Saddle (~ 1.5 hours)
4. Port Levy Saddle to Mount Fitzgerald (~ 2-3 hours)
5. Mount Fitzgerald to Hilltop (~ 2-3 hours)
We set to it. The track up through Montgomery Scenic Reserve was a delight. Sheltered from the wind, we walked though ferns and tree fuschias / kōtukutuku to the amazing 2000 year old giant tōtara (which we hugged) and then out to the lookout. Fantails / Piwakawaka were flitting about us, and there was even a glimpse of a South Island robin/kakaruwai. As we climbed steeply upward through rocky steps, an unsettling high pitched wailing could be heard somewhere above us. Fierce drafts through narrow spaces.
At the top, we stepped out onto the ridge with wind howling. Up ahead, patches of sheltered bush could be seen, so we decided to continue. This could be doable. The sun was shining and the views were stunning. We secured ears and sunhats with snoods and beanies, heading up at first towards Montgomery Peak and the cell tower, but then soon dropping down to the saddle where it was windy as fuck. Out of the blue, my nose started gruesomely bleeding, probably because the wind blew up it. Fierce drafts through narrow spaces. I had to walk for a bit simultaneously securing my right nostril with a bloody red hanky, and hanging on to two poles which were flailing dangerously about with the gusts.
All of Banks Peninsular /Te Pātaka o Rākaihautū was once clad in bush. We were now walking through the stumpy remains of a tōtara forest. Sad but beautiful sculptures, a brutal reminder of the arrival of European colonists. These days there is movement to recloak. Native plantings are underway all over the peninsular. Wonderful. Meanwhile, we had reached the windiest place in the world - another saddle. You could hardly walk in a straight line. A tourist stopped long enough to shout us his story (walking the entire walkway in both directions). A favourite sunhat blew off one of our crew and disappeared over the horizon - now awaiting its next fortuitous owner.
We took a more adventurous off-piste route back down to the main path which included a bit of bush crashing. It was time for lunch at a sheltered spot back on the main path. We munched on apples and admired the view down to Port Levy (or was it Pigeon Bay). News came through of 185 km/h winds at Porters Pass. Yikes!
Time for the return. Jane rugged up in her pink balaclava. Hayley checked out the Metservice app which said the wind would drop in five minutes. But it didn't. The walk back felt quicker than expected though, even the last hill flew by as those amongst us who have the metabolism to walk uphill and chat at the same time (that is everyone except me), recounted their marathon running stories. What an inspiring bunch!
