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Published: October 18th 2008
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Day 543 (22.09.08)
We were glad to wake to finer weather this morning and used it to wander down Gibson's Wharf in Hokitika where the old ships used to dock when this was a big trading town. On the end of the wharf we watched a group of local whitebaiters making the days catch as the tide turned and then we stopped briefly at the shipwreck memorial.
We left town and began to make our way to Arthur's Pass, one of the major coast to coast routes across the South Island, where we planned to spend a couple of days doing some walking. We stopped for lunch at Londonderry Rock a large boulder carried down to it's position by a long ago glacial advance.
Back on the road we wound our way through some great scenery along the valley and made a stop at the viaduct viewpoint to view the incredible bridge which has helped ensure that the pass is kept open on all but the most snowy of days. Waiting for us at this stop were four keas - mountain parrots. They are dark green in colour and red underneath when the fly but on no account
should they be fed! They have grown very accustomed to humans and apparently are very fast learners. Before we left they were behaving in quite a threatening manner and were on the car trying to use their sharp beaks to pick it apart - little buggers! We left swiftly and were glad not to find more keas at our next stop at the Dobson's Nature Walk.
This was a short boardwalk through the alpine vegetation giving great views of the mountains down the valley and terminated at the memorial to Arthur Dobson the first European to cross the pass and the person it is named for.
We arrived in Arthur's Pass Village and after a quick stop at the i-site we headed out to walk to the devil's punchbowl waterfall. The track wound steeply up through the mountain beech forest and deposited us on a viewing platform which gave us a great perspective on the 131m falls cascading down not far from our vantage point. The spray made little rainbows in the last sun of the day and the walk was well worth it.
We braved the colder weather and piled on the clothes to camp at
Klondyke Corner a free site just down the road from the village and chased away another kea so that we could enjoy our pre-prepared pasta dinner in peace!
Day 544 (23.09.08)
The forecast rain had hit with a vengenace over night and we stayed in the comfort of the van for longer than usual to read and see if the rain abated. It didn't so we threw on our wet weather gear and headed back to town to find out if there were any walks worthwhile in this type of weather.
Why is it that when the rain is pouring, you know that your shoes have little to no waterproof-ness and the path you are treading is more of a stream than a walking track that you attempt to delay the inevitable by leaping from stone to stone trying to keep to the 'dry parts'? And why is it that when, despite this stone jumping, within a couple of minutes your shoes are now like baths and your feet are as wet as they can possibly get that you continue this hopping about behaviour? These are some of the questions that we were pondering as we walked
(or hopped) along the Bridal Veil Track in the afternoon.
Once you got over the wet foot scenario the walk was excellent, weaving through the forest and crossing small wooden bridges across water thundering down the mountain. The trees provided some shelter from the wind that out in the valley beyond was pushing the rain in horizontal sheets. The steps along the way had turned into miniature waterfalls and we got a sight from the viewing point of a much larger one up the mountain. We had the track entirely to ourselves, no-one else was walking in this weather (does that say something about them or us?) and we were glad we'd made the effort as we returned to town pleased that we'd had the foresight to book a hostel for the night.
After a hot shower and with prune feet now a thing of the past we chilled out for the rest of the afternoon watching the weather still raging outside.
Day 545 (25.09.08)
Getting up in time to ring home we found that our brand new niece Lauren had eventually been brought into the world - a massive congratulations to Cath and Pete. Able
to quickly chat to Pete and the folks, who had made the journey north to see them, we passed on our hearty congratulations and vowed to find our nearest (or only in this part of the world) ale house to celebrate.
Now officially Auntie Chrissie and Uncle Mark we finished our packing and headed out for our planned tramp for the day. The weather had really brightened up and we had picked a 4-6 hour walk called the Bealey Spur Hut Tramp which was supposed to have amazing panoramic views of the mountains and glacial valleys. We were not to be disappointed with some of the most stunning views yet. Climbing (pretty gradually for our old 'Auntie and Uncle' legs, it was not long before we broke out of the woodland for our first views - and they only got better from there! In a record time including hundreds of pic stops we made it up to the little Bealey Spur Hut, nestled into the snow where you can stay the night. We settled in for our packed lunch and a rest taking the opportunity to get a quick photo to say Happy Birthday to Lauren. Coming back down
the same route the views were equally as stunning the second time around.
Back in the valley we got ourselves ready and treated ourselves to a fantastic bottle of vino at the 'Wobbly Kea' - the only real boozer in Arthur's Pass.
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