Potts Hut, located in Hakatere Conservation Park, exudes history from every metal panel and nail. Once upon a time, this hut was part of Hakatere Station and used by the annual musterers. Scan the walls for long enough and you begin to feel the history come alive, the earliest names date back to 1906.

My first attempt at Sebastopol was about 12 years ago as part of a trip with the Methven and Districts Tramping Club. It was winter and at that time I had no winter tramping experience, including the use of ice axe and crampons. This time I have more years of tramping behind me, along with many winter trips including a seven day mountaineering course in Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park.

I've lived in Mid Canterbury now for 14 years, in that time I have been a member of the Methven and Districts Tramping Club for all but one year. Rabbit Hill and Trig M has appeared on the trip scheduled at least once every year, and so far either I have not been available to do the trip or it has been cancelled due to weather or lack of numbers.

Mt Peel stands out along the Canterbury Foothills, driving up and down State Highway 1 between Rakaia and Timaru it’s hard to miss. The three peeks of Peel have caught my attention for years, unfortunately I have never been able to make it on a trip to any of the peaks. So on the bucket list it went.

Kakahu Bush is 15 kilometres from Geraldine, on the way to Fairlie. It's somewhere I have heard of but never been to before, and was glad to have the opportunity to check it out.

The initial part of this track follows a marked walking/mountain biking track that takes you to Lake Emma, but to get to Mt Harper you divert off this track and aim for the clearest spur going up. There is no marked path and the initial climb is significantly steep, but the views are worth the effort.