Hanging Out at the Ballroom Overhang

Search The Way thoroughly enjoyed a recent overnight tramp with three of their partipants Micaela, Zena and Joseph, up the beautiful Inland Pack Track, Fox River, located south of Charleston, West Coast.

 This famous track has seen many a gold miner in the 1800's and contains some of Paparoa National Park's finest limestone features.  One in particular is a large limestone overhang, known as the Ballroom Overhang. 

The Ballroom Overhang is large enough to hold a decent ball under it, and its shape would probably result in great acoustics!  It certainly proved its worth in being a fine home for us overnight.

The scenery is spectacular, and the group enjoyed getting better acquainted the amazing array of flora and fauna on display.  A particularly notorious native plant found on the Inland Pack Track, which one is wise to be able to identify in advance, is Ongaonga (Tree Nettle - Urtica ferox).  Someone brushing past the stinging needle-like hairs can soon experience severe pain, numbness, swelling and itchiness, even convulsions, blurriness, and uncoordination for an extended period of time.  Some people may be severely allergic to this plant's toxin (there has been recorded fatalities of a human and many animals in NZ in the past) so it pays to carry at least antihistamine tablets and cream (or even an anaphylaxis kit) with you anywhere this plant may be found.    

We were blessed with absolutely stunning weather.  This helped with the numerous river crossings, which if there has been reasonable rainfall can also prove to be a hazard.

We were very proud of how well the participants supported one another, showed great leadership and group management skills, along with sound campcraft and tramping skills.  

Make sure you take the opportunities available to you to explore the amazing country we have here on our back doorstep in NZ.  With that in mind, we invite our participants to keep an eye on Search The Way Events, for upcoming trips with us.