It was only about two thirds of our family but as someone who passed on us the track was heard to say, "There's a lot of people coming." And several granddaughters pronounced the trip "fun" and I would have to agree.
Labour Day weekend was a chance to do a small tramp - my first really since my ankle injury almost a year ago. With it looking swollen again the night before, I was a little concerned about how I would go, but am happy to report no problems at all.
The walk chosen was the two-hour return Te Apiti Loop track that is part of the Manawatu Gorge. The Gorge has an interesting history - for what is (or was) a major link road between the west and east coasts of the lower North Island. Originally completed in 1872, it has a history of being closed due to slips. The road is only 6km long and is a series of connecting bridges that follow the Manawatu River (which is the only river in New Zealand that starts its journey on one side of the main divide and finishes it on the other).
The Gorge was closed in 2011 following massive landslips and did not reopen until a year later. It was temporarily closed soon after reopening due to threats posed by large rocks and opened a few months after that. In 2017 it was again closed due to a large slip. Several months later another slip that left an additional 10 000 cubic metres of rock on the road led to the road being closed permanently. Work is now underway for an alternative route.
However, the walk that used to go under the road and up into bush is still open (except the part under the road - we had to walk on the old road) and the views are still as magnificent as I remember from when we did this walk approximately seventeen years ago. And while I remembered that the walk started with an uphill climb, I had forgotten how long that climb was.
But it was worth it, and for some lucky ones, a chance to cool off their feet in the river afterwards was their reward.
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