Potential newbies seemed to be put off by the thundery forecast, with not even one enquiry, but we still had a group of hardy trampers keen to do the club favourite, the Okura Walkway!

    Plenty of showers passed through, but most seemed to pass either side of us, at one point providing a spectacular double rainbow, which we all stood in complete ore of, madly taking photos.

    We moved to the other side of the swamp for a different angle of the rainbow. The gorgeous cloud reflections in the swamp and the gnarled old trees had us all clicking away again.

    There was plenty of mud and trapped water, which created some nice deep puddles to work our way through around the Stillwater end of the track.

    On our way back, the tide was almost fully out so we enjoyed the low-tide walk, spotting a pair of foraging dotteralls on our way around to the shell bank, and scrambling back into the tropical-looking, lush, completely sodden bush.

    An absolutely fantastic tramp for photos: the subtle light glinting on the water with a backdrop of heavy, dark thunderclouds was quite magical.

    We hope the photos will console you—or make you a little envious that you missed out.

    For those new to the club, it only rained on us once, very briefly, so please don’t ever let a bit of rain deter you from tramping. It’s a different experience, and it can be just as rewarding as when the weather is fine.

    PS We’ll try another open day in spring.