Overgrown Aorere goldfields with the boy

Other than riding about on the beach with the kids, one long ride from the bach to the Para Para inlet, a little bit of Milnethorpe walking tracks and back has been about it for the past few days here in Collingwood.  But today, O and me headed out to the Devil's Boots, parked up and headed along to the Aorere Goldfields.  Couldn't drive to the usual parking spot cos of a tree down across the road in.  HOT day, we went up the 4wd track, with O struggling on the climbs, tho managing many of them really really well.  I pushed both bikes at times, but in the second half he seemed to rally.  We met people exiting the trail from the Dam but we continued up and then took the fast and majorly rutted out trail into Bedstead Gully.  It all looked unfamiliar, including the camp at the bottom, to the degree I even thought we were in a different location.

I found the trail I used to take towards the main tracks and it was UTTERLY OVERGROWN.  Gorse, manuka, and later cutty grass and lawyer all blocking our way, having to push through them all and just take the scratches.  There were tears.  O really didn't handle it well.  I had to keep going back and wheeling his bike through, and he was wincing at most gorse prickles.  But we persevered and eventually made it to the track the couple we saw had come out of.

Climbing up a quad type trail to the highest point overlooking the valley and the dam below, and then it was all downhill.  O's spirits increased.  Stopped in the shade on the dam and had a snack and then got riding again.  Surprisingly technical around the water-race when you've got an 11 year old behind you.  Eventually made the caves, and then the fun run began, with a swooping and woot filling descent down down down.  Overtook a man and two women half way down and we rocketed on through to the bottom, then back along the road to the car...

Surprisingly only 13kms and just over 300m, sure felt like a lot more with the heat and the bushwhacking