Lake Daniell Walk Review

On the 12th of June Ruma Tahi and Ruma Waru tramped the Lake Daniell walk that is in the Southern Alps. We were learning to manage any type of risk that could happen and how to help or prevent it.

We drove to Reefton in our car groups which took about an hour and we all met there to go to the toilet and stretch our legs. Then we drove past Springs Junction and drove a little bit further, then we took the Marble Hill turn off which led to the start of the track.

Once everyone was there we started the walk. It was a pretty easy walk because it was flat and the track was leaves and gravel. We stopped after the first fifteen minutes and numbered off then we kept going for the next half hour. After the half hour we stopped to have something to eat.

The bush around the track was very dense with trees. We had to do a scavenger hunt and we had to find a long tailed bat. One of the dads who was walking with us told us a little bit about the long tailed bats. He told us that they liked to nest in the beach trees which grew all around us. We tried to find some but we didn’t. There were other things to find on the scavenger hunt like the Blue duck and the Kaka.

Once we got to the lake we had our lunch. There were people working at the hut sight because they had taken down one of the other huts to build a new one. The hut is in memory of Phillip Nicholas, Brian and Sharon Manson who were killed in a landslide. There was a jetty that went out a little bit out onto the lake. We were only allowed seven on at a time. The lake was surrounded by mountains covered with trees. The water of the lake was freezing but it was pretty, shallow and clear. I enjoyed going onto the jetty to look into the lake.

It had started to rain when we got to the lake so we had to put on our rain jackets. I really enjoyed walking with my friends, and we would not have been able to go on walks without the parent help that we had. There were lots of parents that gave up their time to come with us.

Overall I think that the Lake Daniell walk was great. In total it was around 18.6 kms. I think that everyone should give it a try.