The Return of the Seven once again gathered together, this time by PMH for our tramp to Mount Bradley, led by our adventurous leader Evelien. Our goal for the day was to locate and climb through The Eye Of The Needle, which we believed to be on the north side of the mountain.Once arrived at Orton Bradley and after paying the entrance fee it was just the question of boots and packs on, and raring to go.

We followed the blue marked poles along the Tableland Track, which would lead us to Mount Bradley. It was much an overcast morning at first, but as time quickly passed us we noticed patches of blue sky breaking through and our body temperatures beginning to rise, so we stopped and reduced our layers and took the opportunity to admire the surroundings and Mt Herbert near by, but still half covered by cloud.

Two hours had passed since the start so Evelien suggested it was time for a break and a catch up. After a brief morning stop we re-grouped minus the cattle and continued up the valley and along the fence line to the top. It was a steady climb through the tussocks and unfavorable Corokia and gorse that slowed the tempo down while Vesna and Dorota marched ahead like soldiers, but still kept close in sight, stopping and looking behind for us. As we got closer to the top it began to get a bit more challenging, juggling oneself over rocks and boulders. We finally reached the face after 3 hours from Orton Bradley.

The groups next step was to find the location of Eye Of The Needle - it was like finding a needle in a haystack at first. Forward and back we went through gorse and over rocks until we found what we thought was The Eye Of The Needle. Hank made his way through the Eye and onto the plateau above and gave a couple of us directions. Norman was the last to go through just behind Diane. The final hurdle, with just a couple of meters to the plateau, was going over a precarious boulder. Diane went over without any help, but Norman who was next, wasn't so adventurous and returned back through the Eye were he joined Evelien and Helen, also not as adventurous as the others. We Three Doves then returned back by the same route, while the others, Diane, Vesna, Dorota, and Hank continued along the top and eventually found a track down the south side to the valley which joined up with the Mt Herbert Walkway. We all met up at the cars within a few minutes of each other to regroup. We all felt it was a team effort that turn out a great day out, despite the obstacles that we encountered along the way

We were the Seven, Evelien Baas Leader, Diane Mellish, Dorota Giejsztowt, Vesna Mojsilovic, Hank Boer, Norman Burden