29/05/2011

So after not getting to Mt Grey the weekend prior….Mt Grey was still on the list of missions to be completed. A perfect day on Sunday meant the opportunity was there for the taking.

Looking towards Mt Grey from the Radio transmission tower

Getting to Mt Grey itself turned into a bit of a mission in itself! Andy was running low on petrol and drove right through and forgot to fill up in Rangiora. As Michael and Katie went up there last week we thought that to get there you must go to Rangiora first. Eventually after travelling through Banjo country we ended up at the end of a forestry road and a locked gate with no track in sight… With no map showing in detail our exact location we headed back towards Rangiora and also got some more petrol too to be on the safe side! Then we attacked Mt Grey once again from the Rangiora side….and once again we were foiled! Back to Rangiora it was then finally on the third attempt we made it by going via Amberley…
About 2 hours later than anticipated we started running at about 3pm, only enough time in the daylight for about a 2 hour run. Tim and I headed to the top and along the ridge into the bush. The track followed a really cool spur and we ended up in the bottom of a creek with a 3km gradually sloping uphill finish which took about 20mins and making us 15mins late back at the car. However once we were back there was no sign of Andy and Emily! They turned up at the car about 20mins after us after also running up the same hill we had just done! They took a wrong turn in the bush and ended up a lot further down the hill than expected.

Sunset Back at the Car