Well, here I am. On the
Well – when I last left you I had dropped mom off at the airport. She arrived safe and sound back home – Dad met her with flowers (like I thought he would, and probably not JUST because it was Valentine’s day!). I stayed the next week with Dave in Thames, where I got my blogs written/posted, applied for my Aussie visa, uploaded pics to FB (sorry, not to my online photoalbum and I never even think to check myspace), and basically just relaxed with kitties for a good while.
A little over a week later, Dave took me to the
Once I was back on the ground, physically and sensationally, I called the shuttle from my hotel and waited in the cool air – which felt really good after the warm plane (or maybe it was the wine?). Mom and I had stayed at the Sudima Hotel the night before our flight to Auckland. We had arranged for me to have a room on my way back – giving me free car storage while I was gone. The place was definitely somewhere I would never stay, but mom said it was the last thing I could put on her card – so I didn’t decline. :-) I must admit, I was a little disappointed when I found out that I was going to be staying in the same room as I had with mom. While at first it was cool, as soon as I opened the door I knew it wasn’t. I missed mom as soon as I set my bag down :-( I sucked up my lonliness and went to check on my car. No windows broken, no tires flat, and it even started with no complaints. I moved it a tad closer to the exit I would be using in the morning and found that there were no car stains on the ground below it – mint! When I went back to my room I knew what I needed – alcohol. There’s nothing like drinking alone to make a person less lonely ;-) I saw that the room service list didn’t mention wine prices by the glass, and they also didn’t sell it be the $10 bottle! So, I picked up a few beers from the bar – Speight’s Old Dark. I turned on the tellie for some company, thinking I would relax a bit before I wrote a quick blog and some e-mails. However, I never got around to paying for internet. Dave called and we chatted for a bit and then I started watching a movie – Wild Hogs. I didn’t go to bed until 12. I didn’t get to sleep until 1.
Tuesday (24 February)
After a rough night of poor sleep, I was awake before either of my 2 alarms went off (I had discovered that my ipod had an alarm! I could wake up to music!). I was checked out of the hotel and on my way into Christchurch by 10. I stopped in town to find some car insurance quotes and mailed a couple letters. I didn’t stick around long, as I didn’t want to bother with parking and I didn’t want to hang out in the rain. I had decided that I might as well take a quick look around the Banks Peninsula before heading to the west coast. I’d heard Arthur’s Pass (between Christchurch and the west coast) was beautiful, and I wanted to have a decent day to see the sights – rainy and cloudy didn’t seem the day. S
o, I started driving. I won’t catalogue my detours, but I eventually ended up in Lyttelton. A cute little town settled at the base of some rugged mountains and on the edge of blue/green Lyttelton Harbour. I talked to a very enthusiastic man at the information center, who told me a bit about the area (it was an old volcano) and about the Time Ball – a ball on top of a castle like building that is dropped everyday at 1pm. The time ball was used to synchronize all the ships chronometers that were in the harbour – so they’re navigation would be accurate. The castle-like building was also used for signaling (via flags) with Adderley head - the bit of land at the other end of the harbour. Since the open ocean can’t be seen from Lyttelton, the ships signaled a post at Adderley head, who then signaled to the Time Ball tower. Anyway – long story short, I went and checked that out and watched the ball drop. Quite anticlimactic really ;-)
Next, I headed around the harbour, with the vague idea of walking the Adderley head track marked on the map. I found Camp Bay but was not sure how long the trail was or if we could camp at the car park. I asked a lady staying nearby, but she was just the tenant – she sent me elsewhere. When I visited elsewhere, I was sent to a lower house. The lower house was empty, but the only other occupant of the land in the area said he should be back eventually and that yes, he did own the track and yes, the council owned the carpark so one night camping should be fine. So, I set up my first night of free camp on a beautiful little bay. The rain had stopped before I arrived and didn’t make an appearance again until I was tucked in my sleeping bag. I did eventually get hold of the track owner, he did verify that it was closed. Hmmm, he really should post a notice on the track itself, as the German couple in their van wasn’t fazed about climbing over his fences.
Wednesday (25 February)
I packed up and headed out of camp bay after a sound night of sleep (thanks in part to the PM ingredient in the Advil I took). I was disappointed to not get a morning walk on the track, but since it looked like rain was coming again, I wasn’t that worried. I had planned on meandering around the peninsula in the hopes of finding another secluded bay in which to free camp again. However, I got a text from Dave that day that made me think I should be getting on with my South Island tour….. My Australian working holiday visa was granted! I was shocked to find out so soon after my application – I expected many more informational requests than the one I got and at least a few weeks processing. My mind started running at all the implications – I had to find a job, I had to get plane tickets, I had to have some money left after my south island adventure to do this with, and, most importantly, I need internet!!!!
I decided to forego my Banks peninsula explorations. From the roads I had been driving, it looked like most bays would be on private land or in the middle of town (not so good for camping – free at least). I vaguely wanted to see Akaroa, as it’s supposed to still hold some of its French heritage, but I knew that the only thing to do there would be to spend money. I was all of the sudden really, really worried about money! So – I booked it off the peninsula and back to Christchurch. I bypassed the town itself, following the signs for the West Coast via Arthur’s Pass. I worried a bit more when I topped up my gas tank again with $40 (having just done it the previous day near the hotel). Don’t worry – I hadn’t even gone through a whole tank of gas (almost ½), I just figured gas might be cheaper on the east coast side of the pass. The reason the $40 worried me was that I had figured out a budge the night before. My actual calculations allowed for $38 a day, my ideal calculations (to allow a bit more money for travel) was $28 a day. Both of those budgets were blown by gas each day!!!
I sucked up my panic attack and kept driving….. after all, I have credit cards I can live on, right? ;-) Pretty soon the boredom of the Canterbury Plains was alleviated by hills and then mountains. I made a quick stop at a trail, but didn’t make it far before I turned back – not wanting to get my feet wet in the swollen stream. I am really glad I didn’t spend more than 15 minutes on that track – it gave me more time to explore the crazy limestone rocks at Castle Hill. 
The rocks were EVERYWHERE and most of them were MASSIVE. People were bouldering, climbing, and rappelling on many of them. From the top of one small rock, I could look down the valley (away from the road) and see the tops of rocks for what seemed to be a kilometer! It literally looked like a sea of rocks. Really amazing.
My next stop towards Arthur’s pass was Cave Stream. I took my headlamp and cell phone flashlight (as a backup) expecting to hop in and see some glow worms. Well, there may have been glow worms, but I’m not a caver – especially alone. This cave appears to be perfect for those that are into caving though. Quite long (a kilometer or more – I don’t remember), full of water (typically waist deep), and requiring actual crawling and climbing techniques (though they do have a chain as a guide and provide ladder like handles). Yeah – I definitely wasn’t doing that. But I did do the lookout loop and check out the cave exit. The scenery was stunning, with more limestone rock outcroppings and huge, bare mountains.
I had seen a couple signs mentioning camping when I was at Castle Hill. I didn’t know what it would cost, but figured I should check one of them out. It wasn’t getting late, but I had enjoyed setting up camp early at Camp Bay – it had given me time to organize my car and so some stretches. So, I stopped at Lake Pearson, it was marked as a wildlife refuge too. The sign said camping allowed, though didn’t have a pay station – sweet! I found myself a nice little spot next to the lake and wondered back to the picnic area. I saw quite a few campers and a couple tents. I was glad that Jim was reliable enough to get me down the rutted dirt/mud road and to my secluded spot (expect for the camper van a ways behind me). I read the signs near the lake. This lake was one of the breeding areas for the rare crested grebe. I spotted a black bird on the water, took a picture, but didn’t expect it to be a grebe. I haven’t looked yet, but it quite possibly is! As I was setting up my tent I heard honking similar to that of a swan. I looked over and two birds that looked much like the grebe were swimming right past my site!!! Of course, I didn’t have my camera! They were a bit into the lake by the time I got their pictures. I put on my gum boots (rubber boots) and walked slowly around the lake edge, to see if I could find them. 
I didn’t see the birds, but I did find a nest! I took a picture and then retreated back to the car – the sign had said that scaring the birds from the nest could compromise their viability and I certainly didn’t want to be the cause of unhatched eggs! I did quietly go back to the nest later in the evening – when it had cooled and the egg temperature would be dropping – I found a grebe sitting on the nest; whew!
After having a bit of a worry over my budget – specifically gas – I used my map’s distance estimator to figure out about how many kms I would be traveling - including the possibility of taking the ferry and driving back to Thames. I then used my gas milage to figure out how much gas I would use and then how much it would cost (at $2 a liter, which at this moment is an overestimation). I then added a couple hundred more on to the total and set that outside of my budget. I reworked my budget and found that I was no $47 under budget! Whew, that made me feel heaps better! I could actually afford to buy food now! With money worries alleviated I slept really well – even without any Advil PM!
Thursday (26 February)
I woke up to a beautiful sunset! I had left one of my tent flies open, making it a bit chillier in the night, but wow was I glad I did. Without getting out of my sleeping bag I was treated to pink clouds floating in a pink sky next to a majestic mountain. The view was topped off by being framed beneath an overhanging tree limb and the sunset reflection off the lake. I was only slightly disappointed that I had not brought my camera into the tent with me – because you just can’t be unhappy when you see such a view! While the pink sky would have been the perfect time to get up, I enjoyed another hour of sleep – waking up to the sun’s warmth in my tent.
Before packing up my tent, I took a few photos of the scene I saw from my tent – minus the tent screening and the pink coloration. Then I had breakfast in the sun and enjoyed the sound of the grebes honking (which is what probably woke me up at sunset, those things are loud).
I reached Arthur’s Pass around 11. I checked out the visitor center displays, picked up a few brochures on the walks around the park and west coast, and then got myself semi-organized. I spent a couple hours hiking 2 tracks. One led to the base of a lovely waterfall – Devil’s Punchbowl – the other just took you through the bush – 
giving you one lookout from which you could see a waterfall (bridal viel falls) really far away. I talked to a couple from Tennessee on that track, and also found that my fitness has definitely not improved since Christmas. I can’t say I’m surprised – I haven’t been all that active lately, I knew I would need several days of good day hikes to get anywhere near multi-day hiking. Luckily, there appears to be many day walks around here. (I found this bird on the bridal viel falls walk! - Tomtit?)
On my way down from Arthur’s Pass I stopped real quickly at a nature walk and photographed some plants and flowers. Next I found myself next to the Londonderry Rock walk. It wasn’t one I was bothered about seeing, but since I was nearby, and it was only 10 minutes, I figured why not. 
The massive rock is quite impressive in its size. I’m sure the pictures I took, including a couple of myself next to the rock, won’t do it justice , but oh well. It will have been worth the detour if the pictures of the bellbird come out anywhere near as nice as I think they might!
My next stop led me to where I am now – Goldsborough conservation camp. It’s a campsite run by DoC (department of conservation), so while it’s not free it is cheap - $6. Some DoC sites are free, such as Lake Pearson, but they are hard to come by. I arrived here just in time. It was sprinkling a bit, but I wondered around and then sat in my car while it fizzled out. I set up my tent and paid my fees before the rain set in again. Before pulling my laptop out to type this long missive out, I took some film and photographs of all the wekas running around. I think mom wanted to see one when she was here, but we never did any camping :-( I had really wanted to get her camping at least once – since she was so adamant about being able to sleep in a tent if necessary. However, we never went that route.
Wekas – are biggish birds (small hen sized) that wonder around eating whatever they can. They don’t fly, but I did see a little baby one make a jump and catch a bee that was hovering around the flowers. Dang, wish I had caught that on film! Cute as! They are EVERYWHERE here. I can see how they get a bit annoying, as they are quite bold (and not quite as pretty as the pukeko), but they still crack me up. Apparently they have a reputation for being thieves, as my bird book (thanks mom!) says they will take shiny objects……. Shoot, I hope they don’t manage to pull my spare key off from under my car!!!!! I’m pretty sure it’s wired on their securely ;-)
No comments:
Post a Comment