Walking New Zealand

My Favourite Walk: Walking along Dracophyll­um Flat Track

- By Yvonne van Eerden

The Tower Trampers headed off at a reasonable hour of 8.30am to the Cragieburn area to walk the Dracophyll­um Flat Track. It was a great day with the sun shining and we had 12 members which was a large turn out.

It had been at least eight years since we did this tramp and some of us had never been here before. We had done Hogs Back Track and some other surroundin­g tracks.

After organising ourselves when we arrived, off we went through the beech forest (of course I had warned everyone that there would be heaps of photo stops).

It was so different walking through the beech forest which we had not done for some time. The sun was strong and the sky a clear blue and we were all keen to see what was beyond.

We soon crossed the river over the bridge which was swift and as clear as anything. The views were spectacula­r, 360 degree views. We could see the gap from a different angle, we usually saw the gap from the other side.

We found a clearing where we had a chat and a cuppa, why not, we were in no hurry and it was daylight saving.

The mountains were still capped with snow but there was a lot less snow than last week.

We proceeded through Dracophyll­um which is a red/brown colour with native tussock and lots of ground cover plants. Everything was quite dry.

We came across the small man-made pond which ices over in the winter and it looked like a curling rink. Then we had lunch on the verandah of the lodge. The views were stunning and how lucky we were with our seating area, this was a luxury.

After lunch we headed to the roadway which takes you up to Cheesman ski field,

 ??  ?? Above: the Tower Trampers walking through the dracophyll­um.
Above: the Tower Trampers walking through the dracophyll­um.
 ??  ?? Below: The group at the start of the walk, beside the DOC sign.
Below: The group at the start of the walk, beside the DOC sign.
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