There was a good turnout for our trip to the stunning Karangahake Gorge, which meant a reasonably full bus and three groups.
    My group had a great day. We headed up through the historic windows walk, and having promised glow worms, I think we saw a whole five!!! Oops! Glow worms on strike?!
    Along to the base of the Dubbo 96 Track, which is where the other two groups started the climb to the summit, which, incidentally, is fairly progressive once you hit the main drag up the mountain.
    But the summit wasn’t my group’s mission, so we made a beeline for our lunch spot near the gushing tunnel, and had an invigorating swim beforehand. We timed it nicely, as the bulk of people then started to invade our peace.
    Thoroughly enjoying the different light as the sun moved across the sky, we crossed to the other side of the river over one of the quintessential Kiwi swing bridges.
    There was so much history to take in along the way: the signage, historic equipment, old mining tunnels—some more obvious than others, and some  collapsed inwards. Similar to the old Pump House, which is now closed due to a slip.
    Our last slice of the past was the walk through the 1.1-kilometre rail tunnel, built in 1905, that has small seeping streamlets between some of the bricks. We made the most of the cooler tunnel before emerging into daylight, with the lure of swim number two in the main river near the carpark.
    Another amazing day out with the club.