Monday Mar 6, 2023 - Banks Trak Day 1

 

We are hiking what is called the Banks Track or Banks Peninsula Track. The local folks got together to see what they could  do to augment their income after a period of drought and poor economics, and in 1989 they offered a hiking adventure to 300 people or so. They had land and a beautiful spot to hike so why not? They still offer the hike and now get between 1800-2600 hikers per year. We signed up for the three day trip, which means you hike 12 km the first day, 8 km the second day, and 11 km the third day. It’s a loop so you end up near where you started and where your car is parked. Today was day 1, and we climbed the highest peak (699 meters) on the track.  

The bunk house last night was fun with everybody getting to know everyone. There’s a large shared kitchen so we all cook our own meals and bring our own food. This morning we made oatmeal, yogurt and fruit with coffee & tea. Two of the men were doing the whole track in 2 days so they left early. Andrew and Ali left early as well but most everyone else left around 8:30 or so. Deb and I bumped into the local property owner and got his whole story. Multi generations here on this land but no more farming (sheep I suppose). He now does “pest control” which  means trapping and poisoning possums. Possums were brought here from Australia and they have no predators so the population exploded. The main damage they do

is climbing trees and eating the tender new growth, along with eating bird eggs. The bird population drops and after a few years the trees die. So the government pays people to reduce the possum population. They trap and bait them and we passed dozens of traps on the ground or in trees.

He advised us not to go too fast on the first part of the track since it’s straight up the mountain. And it was. But the views were spectacular in every direction. We crisscrossed with another threesome all day and we made it to the high summit by 11:30 through slow and steady plodding. There are lots of fences to cross between sheep pastures and the sheep just look us over as we walk through. No cows today, but they do

raise them here. We stopped for lunch part way down the other side and then descended almost as rapidly as we climbed in the morning. My knees are happy campers going up hill, but downhill just kills my right knee so it was slow going. The hiking poles were a godsend. The descent was not through open pastures with ocean views, but rather followed the stream bed through the gully that goes all the way to Flea Bay. Although it was lushly beautiful terrain, it had rained the two previous days so the trail was very muddy with a sticky clay like soil. It took from 11:30 until 2:30 to get all the way down, so not too bad. We were treated to a few waterfalls and swimming holes and a lot of slippery muddy rocks to navigate through. We got cleaned up and then all hung out in various groups

getting to know each other tonight. Another common cooking/eating night with 11 people total. Tomorrow is a shorter day (I hope).