I headed up the hill behind Top Pool, reached a ridge, then dropped down to Nikau Creek Valley.
Today, I decided to head back toward Nikau Creek Valley to look at what might have been an old firebreak to the east of Nikau Creek. Why? I wanted to complete exploration of this area and perhaps to see if there was anything interesting within the regenerated bush. And of course, done in the name of exercise. Before reaching Hine Road Recreation Area, I was once again sidetracked by the autumn hues of Hine Road, so I stopped for a few pics. Then onward to the recreation area, where I headed for Gums Loop Walk. Once behind Top Pool, I noticed what looked like a track up the hill behind, so I thought, why not venture up there for a bit, to see if it is worth exploring on a later trip. Well a bit turned into a lot. It was steep, but the vegetation sparse enough for it to a be an easy walk / climb. Further up however, the bush got quite thick and there was a little crawling under some bushes in order to press on. Yes, I continued. Might as well make this the mission today.
When I was high enough up the hill, I could see a nice view of Nikau Creek Valley, but the thick vegetation partially obscured most views to even bother with a photo, but I pressed on. Eventually there was a little clearing and with my feet positioned exactly right, I was able to get a shot of the valley through the branches of surrounding trees. From there, I decided to head down the valley to Nikau Creek and found it was pretty steep, but that there were enough trees to use as anchors as I walked, climbed, and slid down.
When I had nearly reached the bottom, I crossed a smaller feeder creek to Nikau Creek, and realised had I gone a bit further along the ridge above, I could have descended down what would have been an easier and more scenic path. Regardless, I then continued to the bottom following this unnamed creek. I came out at Nikau Creek Track almost exactly where a group of kahikatea trees exist. Weird I thought, because my previous bush bash saw me come out at the exact same location, but coming down from the opposing slope. Just a coincidence. Thinking about it now, I should have bought a lotto ticket at the Homedale Village Store.
Once on the track, I thought about heading over to the area where an old firebreak may have existed on the eastern side of the creek (my original mission), but it was getting a bit dark due to the time of the year. I snapped a shot of the riverbank I had gone up during another trip in that area, then returned to the track and headed to the recreation area. Once there, with a little bit of light left, I visited Secret Pool again and snapped a couple of autumn pics similar to the last adventure, but with a cloudy sky this time as opposed to the perfect blue sky I got last time. The photos were just as good IMO, just less contrasty.
I completed the journey by taking the customary photo atop Wainuiomata Hill to document the weather conditions. All up, it was a nice excursion, shorter than usual, but challenging nevertheless, as there was a lot of steep climbs and descents. The next trip will be soon and it will be the firebreak area. That way I can move onto a completely different area after that. Time to sign off.
