Friday, July 23, 2004
Trekkin 'Round Nelson
Work has been nice, but a greatly needed bit of touring was in order last weekend. Too bad that it takes so long to get back up to where we are on all of our adventures, but that's the nature of the beast.
Our trip Saturday took us Northward from our quaint little abode. Carefully we nosed our little MG north over Takaka Hill, which brings to mind the horrible pass outside of Aspen, Independence Pass, I believe but don't hold me too it, I have way too much kiwi on the brain. And even if you haven't been to the great state of CO to drive up their crazy little pass, just imagine driving up a the Matterhorn in an old beat up car that has an unknown history and an equally uncertain track record on a two lane road (which should really only be one lane) which makes a thousand switchbacks in the span of a mile and has absolutely guard rails and you pass a sign bearing the ominous warning that slips lie ahead (which could mean anything from a rock on the road to half the road has fallen away) and you should be right there with us. Needless to say I fancied myself as Mario Andretti and this was the autoban!
Nearing the top we stopped at the little overlook to catch a glimpse of the Tasman Bay we were leaving beind for the Golden Bay ahead. The overlook took us on a short little walk through some interesting geology which one might expect somewhere at the bottom of a glacial field not at the pass of a mountain with nothing to do such erosion. So for those geologists out there, let us know how this was formed!
The overlook afforded quite the view. And funny enough this is one overlook which, unlike most other kiwi overlooks, had a wonderfully open view! The downhill was mostly uneventful since we took the fast track straight down. I decided that was much faster than all that back and forth nonsense.
The first berg we passed was the bustling Takaka on a nice Saturday morning. So to our mistake we figured we would tour around and come back to check it all out. Little did we now that we actually WERE in New Zealand of course and that all hustle and bustle is staged for the benefit of people who drive by once. After that, they pack up, close down, and vanish from sight. We didn't end up checking out Takaka on the return...
Once past town we veered left to a place many mentioned to visit Taktupuipsertugorotupupu Springs. Commonly referred to as Pupu Springs. Claiming to be one of the largest freshwater springs in Australasia, it boasts an average flow rate of 14,000 liters per second. There were a number of springs in the area this is the largest.
If one is so inclined, you can enter these waters to see just how incredibly clear the waters are. Did I mention that it also claims to be the cleanest in the world. Just make sure that you read the Diving and Swimming board. Rule 1 no swimming... Yeah... Kiwi Land...
So we continued on to Collingwood which has burned to the ground at least 3 times and was, at one time, the site for the capital. I wonder why they didn't make it the capital... We buzzed outta the little nothing of a town and out to Farewell Spit.
Farewell Spit is a narrow peninsula jutting out 13 -15 miles separating the Tasman Sea from Tasman Bay. Upon arrival in the little information center/café we discovered that one, it was closed, but we didn't care and parked there anyway, and two they have cool things open for people to play with...
Not knowing where we were headed, as usual, we walked down the path down the hill. The trailhead, if you want to call it that had a number of options, and few were posted. We could stay on the Tasman Bay side, south, or tramp over the hills to the other side. Naturally we opted for the latter since it was that continual stab into the unknown and that seems to be the theme for this entire journey... and life for that matter. To our astonishment, and particularly Meghan's, we discovered the overland route took us through a number of sheep paddocks and a series of marshes reminiscent of Dagobah. Somehow I managed to avoid all the mud and sheep poo while someone else in our party, to remain unnamed, seemed to do the exact opposite. heh heh.
Our path was marked with little white posts dotting the landscape and taking into the account that we both have expert trailblazing skills it was fairly easy follow, it was just more fun to play with the livestock.
Somewhere along the way we ran across this real gem of a sign and after a bit of pondering its cryptic message we deduced that it was for people of higher cranial capacity than us. Of course we went left.
Our first glimpse of the deserted beach... I guess we didn't have to trek through the sheep poo, but what fun would that have been! Besides the Farewell Spit Safari, we saw only two other people on the beach, which could have been because it was not the greatest weather and was in the middle of winter. To us it was yet another slice of heaven and we had a good time exploring Fossil Bay and checking out what the beach had to offer.
We hiked down the beach a bit and returned via the road cutting across the spit avoiding the paddocks. Once a day was enough... and obviously we aren't through with that as you will soon see... We ended up driving all the way home again, since as I mentioned Takaka was a ghost town and no one likes to make a living in Kiwiland (how they manage to turn a profit by only maintaining trading hours 9-5 M-F the same as everyone else is clearly beyond me).
Sunday... After forcing Meghan to drive 50 km through town and country we arrived at Cable Bay. She soon forgot that she hated me and all that I stood for. I guess give a girl a nice little picnic at the beach and she will love again! Little did she know that in a few minutes she was going to be hiking up that mountain in the background. It truly is a wonder that she loves me at all!
This too was a referral for a nice little hike and naturally we assumed that meant around sealevel as one would assume for a hike by the sea. The information booth informed us otherwise and we discovered that we again had a white post trail that we could follow through yet more farmland. At least this time it was a combination of sheep, goat, and cattle. All the more exciting when you are huffing straight up the mountain looking solely at your feet and the ground immediately around you. We discovered that some truly kindred spirit must have placed the markers to make the hike as difficult as possible for anyone so inclined to make the journey.
After a bit of huffing and puffing, not to mention being passed by a group of four, some goats, and oddly a street sweeper, we summited.
The view was great! We hung out for a while one some of the only places not to be pooped on and admired the view. We decided to head back the way we came and not continue the trek to the other end (5-6 hrs). Can't do it all in one day!
On the way down I tried my hand at a revolutionary method of herding sheep.
They weren't impressed.
Our trip Saturday took us Northward from our quaint little abode. Carefully we nosed our little MG north over Takaka Hill, which brings to mind the horrible pass outside of Aspen, Independence Pass, I believe but don't hold me too it, I have way too much kiwi on the brain. And even if you haven't been to the great state of CO to drive up their crazy little pass, just imagine driving up a the Matterhorn in an old beat up car that has an unknown history and an equally uncertain track record on a two lane road (which should really only be one lane) which makes a thousand switchbacks in the span of a mile and has absolutely guard rails and you pass a sign bearing the ominous warning that slips lie ahead (which could mean anything from a rock on the road to half the road has fallen away) and you should be right there with us. Needless to say I fancied myself as Mario Andretti and this was the autoban!
Nearing the top we stopped at the little overlook to catch a glimpse of the Tasman Bay we were leaving beind for the Golden Bay ahead. The overlook took us on a short little walk through some interesting geology which one might expect somewhere at the bottom of a glacial field not at the pass of a mountain with nothing to do such erosion. So for those geologists out there, let us know how this was formed!
The overlook afforded quite the view. And funny enough this is one overlook which, unlike most other kiwi overlooks, had a wonderfully open view! The downhill was mostly uneventful since we took the fast track straight down. I decided that was much faster than all that back and forth nonsense.
The first berg we passed was the bustling Takaka on a nice Saturday morning. So to our mistake we figured we would tour around and come back to check it all out. Little did we now that we actually WERE in New Zealand of course and that all hustle and bustle is staged for the benefit of people who drive by once. After that, they pack up, close down, and vanish from sight. We didn't end up checking out Takaka on the return...
Once past town we veered left to a place many mentioned to visit Taktupuipsertugorotupupu Springs. Commonly referred to as Pupu Springs. Claiming to be one of the largest freshwater springs in Australasia, it boasts an average flow rate of 14,000 liters per second. There were a number of springs in the area this is the largest.
If one is so inclined, you can enter these waters to see just how incredibly clear the waters are. Did I mention that it also claims to be the cleanest in the world. Just make sure that you read the Diving and Swimming board. Rule 1 no swimming... Yeah... Kiwi Land...
So we continued on to Collingwood which has burned to the ground at least 3 times and was, at one time, the site for the capital. I wonder why they didn't make it the capital... We buzzed outta the little nothing of a town and out to Farewell Spit.
Farewell Spit is a narrow peninsula jutting out 13 -15 miles separating the Tasman Sea from Tasman Bay. Upon arrival in the little information center/café we discovered that one, it was closed, but we didn't care and parked there anyway, and two they have cool things open for people to play with...
Not knowing where we were headed, as usual, we walked down the path down the hill. The trailhead, if you want to call it that had a number of options, and few were posted. We could stay on the Tasman Bay side, south, or tramp over the hills to the other side. Naturally we opted for the latter since it was that continual stab into the unknown and that seems to be the theme for this entire journey... and life for that matter. To our astonishment, and particularly Meghan's, we discovered the overland route took us through a number of sheep paddocks and a series of marshes reminiscent of Dagobah. Somehow I managed to avoid all the mud and sheep poo while someone else in our party, to remain unnamed, seemed to do the exact opposite. heh heh.
Our path was marked with little white posts dotting the landscape and taking into the account that we both have expert trailblazing skills it was fairly easy follow, it was just more fun to play with the livestock.
Somewhere along the way we ran across this real gem of a sign and after a bit of pondering its cryptic message we deduced that it was for people of higher cranial capacity than us. Of course we went left.
Our first glimpse of the deserted beach... I guess we didn't have to trek through the sheep poo, but what fun would that have been! Besides the Farewell Spit Safari, we saw only two other people on the beach, which could have been because it was not the greatest weather and was in the middle of winter. To us it was yet another slice of heaven and we had a good time exploring Fossil Bay and checking out what the beach had to offer.
We hiked down the beach a bit and returned via the road cutting across the spit avoiding the paddocks. Once a day was enough... and obviously we aren't through with that as you will soon see... We ended up driving all the way home again, since as I mentioned Takaka was a ghost town and no one likes to make a living in Kiwiland (how they manage to turn a profit by only maintaining trading hours 9-5 M-F the same as everyone else is clearly beyond me).
Sunday... After forcing Meghan to drive 50 km through town and country we arrived at Cable Bay. She soon forgot that she hated me and all that I stood for. I guess give a girl a nice little picnic at the beach and she will love again! Little did she know that in a few minutes she was going to be hiking up that mountain in the background. It truly is a wonder that she loves me at all!
This too was a referral for a nice little hike and naturally we assumed that meant around sealevel as one would assume for a hike by the sea. The information booth informed us otherwise and we discovered that we again had a white post trail that we could follow through yet more farmland. At least this time it was a combination of sheep, goat, and cattle. All the more exciting when you are huffing straight up the mountain looking solely at your feet and the ground immediately around you. We discovered that some truly kindred spirit must have placed the markers to make the hike as difficult as possible for anyone so inclined to make the journey.
After a bit of huffing and puffing, not to mention being passed by a group of four, some goats, and oddly a street sweeper, we summited.
The view was great! We hung out for a while one some of the only places not to be pooped on and admired the view. We decided to head back the way we came and not continue the trek to the other end (5-6 hrs). Can't do it all in one day!
On the way down I tried my hand at a revolutionary method of herding sheep.
They weren't impressed.
Comments:
We see that all the hiking we did in the Sierra Nevadas has really paid off! We are enjoying reading about your adventures - great pics, too. John and Nancy
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# posted by 
: July 30, 2004 at 12:57 PM
: July 30, 2004 at 12:57 PM