Pre-Christmas Party Walk - Sun 11 Dec 2016 - Leader Carolee Thomson Report and photos courtesy of Keith Ashton [CLICK ON PHOTOS TO VIEW FULLSIZE] Our Chairman Alistair had asked Carolee and myself to lead our traditional pre-party hike, however the forecast for the day was rain and it was raining early on Sunday morning, but Margaret and I do not normally let chances of rain put us off so we arrived early at Eagle Ridge ready for any keen hikers to join us but no one else was around. We did not need to wait too long as three more hardy souls arrived ready to walk, these being Carolee, Kevin and Linda. It was still drizzling with rain when the 5 of us (plus Carolee's faithful dog) set off from Eagle Ridge up Curry's Post Road towards the Sappi Forest mountain bike and hiking trails. Luckily by the time we reached the forest the rain had stopped and we were feeling hot in our rain-gear so we stripped off and did a lovely walk in the forest, although it was quite wet under-foot. We decided to give Beacon Hill a miss this year as our boots and lower legs were already quite muddy and the long grass on Beacon Hill would have been sodden, so we made our way back to Eagle Ridge for a clean-up ready for the festivities. The few photos here illustrate part of our walk. Thanks to Carolee for leading this enjoyable and refreshing walk and to Kevin and Linda for your friendly company. Keith and Margaret 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1. On our way up Curry's Post road from Eagle Ridge 2. Entering Sappi Land 3. Stripping off as we start our forest walk 4. Carolee with her faithful dog and Linda ready to roll 5. A bit wet underfoot 6. Picking Cape Gooseberries 7. Margaret getting into the party spirit before we head back to Eagle Ridge ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~