Overview
Fri. Apr. 18.
Good Friday + weather still fine + warm. At 10.30am Bill Walker arrived in his car + armed with picnic baskets + cameras we all motored to Otaki – thence up valley via Rahui Rd to end of used part of same. Left car here + proceeded via the abandoned part of road to the big bend of Otaki River into foot of picturesque bluffs + cliffs below the Gorge. This is a magnificent spot + my ideal for a holiday camping ground. We lunched at the mouth of the second ravine that opens out through the cliff of gravel covered with patches of vegetation + later walked over flat to river + followed it downstm [downstream] to foot of bush-clad bluffs below old road. 1/4pl.[ate] photo
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(1) of Bill, Maud + Nancy + Clyde walking across flats 1/4pl. (2) Pool at foot of bush-clad bluffs + party. 1/4pl. (3) Another view of this. 1/4pl. (4) Pool + reflections 1/4pl. (5) Bill, Nancy + Clyde. 1/4pl. (6) Cloud reflections in pool. 1/4pl. (7) Party on rocky edge of pool. 1/2pl. (8) General view of river + bluffs from top of bush-clad pinnacle. 1/2pl. (9) + (10) of pool with reflections + Bill sitting on rocks. Later Bill + I had a splendid bathe in this pool which is an offshoot of the river, the latter being very low just now on account of the long spell of fine weather. Returned to picnic place + while billy boiled, Bill + I climbed talus slopes at foot of the sheer gravel cliff to where a detached pinnacle-like block of cemented gravel stands on end. A sub-faced tree with cast of same in the gravel occurs on the inside of this block. Magnificent tree ferns abound here. Lingered over our tea + did not start back to car till almost 5.pm. Home in about ¾ hr + Bill stayed to tea + spent evening with us. An exceptionally pleasant day.