With my first bush bash adventure, I wanted to dabble rather than indulge.
I decided on walking, climbing, and crawling up the hill behind the odd numbered properties on Sunny Grove. I was familiar with this area as I use to play here as a kid.
Over half a century ago, a group of kids including myself frequented the firebreaks situated behind our homes. Sometimes we would engage in the activity of trampling over the bracken bushes growing on the hillside to create flattened patches that we would carve out of the regenerating bush, transforming them into makeshift forts. However, the most fun aspect of this activity was undoubtedly the leaping onto the bracken, causing it to flatten beneath our weight. Our adventures often led us down slopes, occasionally propelling us farther than we had initially intended.
Anyhow, 50 or so years later, I thought the area would be a good idea to start my first bush bash adventure. I started at the Sinclair Cemetery and walked along the fire break which by the way, Google Maps calls the Whakanui Track, despite that track starting at the top of the grove. Perhaps it has two starting points? Regardless, I walked along and turned left at a random point and headed up the hill for about an hour. It was tough going. Lots of crawling under low regenerating trees and navigating around gorse and other low lying plants that were almost impassable. I kept going up and when I had enough, I headed back down but in a slightly different direction.
I eventually ended up in a tight gully with a small creek running through. It was easy going from there because the bush around the creek was more open. The creek led me back to the same firebreak / track, but further up the valley. All up I think I spent about 2.5 hours, but I felt like I had done a half day trek. I was happy with the experience and keen to do something bigger next time.
