Mt Herbert to Packhorse hut

Well we were desperate for at least one day tramping and we did manage to get out of town, but it was a hot day on Banks Peninsula.

Honora had heard some Canterbury Mountain Safety members we knew were planning a social walk up Mt Herbert. That gave us an extra reason.

We drove over Dyers Pass and around Lyttelton harbour to join up with them at the gates of Orton Bradley Park. However we missed them at the start but hoped to catch them up.

We walked through the lower park. The air was heady with the sweet smells of flowering and resinous vegetation, and it was alive with birdsong too.

I walked ahead trying to catch sight of the others. However when the view opened up I could see there was only a solitary person on the whole mountain ahead of us.

It was very hot. The sun blasted into the north facing valley. Now my aim was just to get higher to catch a breeze. That didn't happen until I reached the Mt Herbert Shelter on the ridgeline, 800m above. Skylarks winging into the sky above filled the air with cascades of their silver chain of sound.

I didn't want to start my lunch without Honora so wandered slowly back down the track to meet her. It was magic just taking in the whole of being there. Honora was only ten minutes behind so we were soon relaxing and enjoying the views together.

After lunch we wandered up onto Mt Herbert's flat and uninspiring summit.

That i dotted, we started down the way we'd come. However after our desperate breakout from town, we were in no hurry to get back. We decided to walk the track around the back of Mt Bradley to the Packhorse Hut and back to Orton Bradley Park that way.

The track behind Mt Bradley is one of the best walks in the area. It's been maintained for years by brothers Ben and Colin Faulkner of Governors Bay. They're in their seventies now and they're worried what will happen to their life's work when they can no longer get out and about.

They've got good reason to worry too if people think they can get away with just sitting on their backsides and expecting DoC will take care of it. Don't get me wrong. I'm sure DoC staff really want us to think they have a useful role in outdoor recreation.

Meantime, Ben and Colin could do with some help now in the gorse on top of Mt Bradley.

Our journey continued, sidling through the native bush remnants high on the slopes above Kaituna valley around to Packhorse Hut.

No-one was about when we got there but a family group soon arrived up from Kaituna.

We had our afternoon tea and carried on around the front of Mt Bradley, then turned downwards onto the Tablelands route back to Orton Bradley.

As usual we were the last out of the park at the end of the day.