This article was first published in Tararua Tramper in May 2025
Patuna Chasm
Wednesday 19 March
Twenty-two TTC members availed themselves of a walk through the Patuna Chasm near Martinborough. Nobody was disappointed with the experience. We were fortunate with the weather which surprisingly was drier than in Wellington. The chasm experience is a commercially run operation on private land. Seven people loaded into the Landcruiser and another 14 hopped on the trailer. Upon being dropped off we walked upstream for 45 minutes then descended into the chasm. On the way through we saw waterfalls and ‘the Cathedral’ and had morning tea under a huge overhanging limestone rock. We marvelled at the preserved shells in the limestone from two million years ago and the stalactites in overhung areas. A different experience for members, taking about four hours in total. Having no injuries just topped off a great day. Thank you, Peter Smith, for opening and closing six gates.
- Party members
- Chris Ward (leader and scribe), Joan Basher, Alan Benge, Joanne Gapes, Trish Gardiner-Smith, Susan Guscott, Leonore Hoke, Carolyn Jenkins, Mary Kane, Cheryl McDonald, Ann McIlroy, Iona McNaughton, Jeanette Martin, Jane-Pyar Mautner, Pip Newton, Louise Slocombe, Peter Smith, Angela Vanderpoel, Rob Vanderpoel, Helena Weller-Chew, Lynne White, Warren White.