I think this may have been the 4th time for Elliot at Packhorse Hut. It’s hard to tell if he remembers the previous times. This time we had the company of another toddler: Adrian, the son of Nico and Ira who came over too. We all met after lunch at the Kaituna Valley carpark and started off on our slow journey up. The boys were pretty good for maybe 1-2 km before they gradually lost their excitement to walk, so we partly carried them on our shoulders. Of course, we stopped at every body of water for necessary play with rocks and mud.
Once at Packhorse, we set up tents. It was truly stunning, long sunset. The boys climbed rocks around and did silly things, as toddlers do. I told Elliot that Adrian is a small boy and he’s a big boy (they are 1 year apart), so Elliot needs to keep an eye on Adrian. Elliot took this new, unusual role very responsibly. We usually go out with older kids, but this time Elliot was the big one, and he tried to help Adrian many times. It’s fair to say that Adrian didn’t really need help; he’s an extremely capable kid for a 2-year-old.
We slept well, though it was a wee bit windy. The morning after, Elliot ran around the hut with other kids who had slept in the hut as if there was no tomorrow. He even managed to convince them to hold their kite, which I think was the peak of his day. On the way back, the boys had fun in a local creek, caught a fish, and found many cicadas.
Participants: Michal Klajban (leader, scribe, GPX, photos), Elliot, Ira, Nico, Adrian (2y)
Rough stats: 4km each way. In: 4h 30 min, out 2h 45 min
Tramped on 27-28th January 2023.
Photos
Maps
Max elevation: 458 m
Min elevation: 40 m
Max elevation: 458 m
Min elevation: 40 m
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