Heading to the Wild West

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Painted people:

It is either the case that New Zealand is the most tattooed nation in the world or it is just the un-seemingly fine weather we have had for 5 weeks now leading people to uncover more than they do at home. The Maori have a tradition of some really beautiful tattoos, and because historically they were chiseled into the skin according to the shape and contours of the face (ouch), photographs of really old Maoris show the tattoos in perfect condition - none of the fading you see in ageing modern needle tattoos. So one assumes that the ‘pakeha’ have taken on the tradition - sadly not the beautiful designs - just the usual jumble of oddments, many with completely covered arms, legs and torsos.

Diary:

Well another week has gone by, without any resemblance to the rough plan at the start. We were going to skirt Christchurch and head for lake Taupo. However we were encouraged by our cycling hosts to head back to the West coast as the road is beautiful. So we decided to take on Arthurs pass. We headed out from Waitakari through the Weka pass on a old steam train (actually due to the forest fire risk it was a diesel) - it just happened to be running on the day and was too good an opportunity to miss. The we skirted through Ashley Gorge, picking up supplies for the climb in Oxford (no dreaming spires here, just neat clipped lawns and well spaced houses). It was a great two days cycling skirting the foothills of the Canterbury plains, until we got to Sheffield (population - 200, but home of the famous Sheffield pie). When we were hit by our first major headwind. The famous ‘Norwester’ we had been warned that can blow for days and days - and indicates that it is raining on the west coast. After a struggle to Springfield against the wind, we were advised that the wind would be with us for at least 5 days, and we knew we could not make it up the steep gradient of Porters Pass against it. So we got the bus to the top the following day, and sure enough the weather was absolutely beautiful all the way up, but immediately beyond the pass there was continuous sheet rain. We headed to the campsite in Arthurs pass in drizzle and the fading light, with two starving girls (the bus was late due to a puncture). We set up in the shelter to cook some tea and got the girls colouring books out to pass the time. However the tables were bolted down so far from the benches that Thea’s knees slipped off and she fell cracking the back of her head on the bench in the process. After we had stemmed the flow of blood, it turned out to be a tiny 1cm cut, however it was immediately obvious it was in need of a stitch. We tried to give her an impromptu haircut and steri-strip the skin together for the night but could not get the strips to stick. A medic from the village came to help, however, he could not improve on our efforts and he agreed that she needed to go to Greymouth to get the cut stitched. So in the dark rain and drizzle Thea and I were driven down the mountain leaving Ben and Lily with all our stuff to camp. The ambulance met us halfway down and we were taken to accident and emergency. By midnight Thea’s head was glued back together - and she was extremely stroppy at being pinned down by two people so the doctor could do his thing…she is certainly strong! We ended up in a motel for the night planning to get the bus back up to Arthurs Pass in the morning. However, at the hospital I was told about the Hokitika Wildfood festival the coming weekend. Basically a gourmet celebration of all wild animals found in the bush over here, everything from possum risotto to rats a la greque…plus copious amounts of alcohol. Over 20 thousand people would flood into the area, and every member of the emergency services within 200k would be on full alert - not a good time for cyclists. So we decided that Ben should get the bus down the mountain with all our stuff and we should pedal south and clear Hokitika by the weekend. So that’s what we did: passed on Arthurs pass, we’ll attempt it again when we get back to Christchurch!
Since then we’ve had some great days cycling and camping out by scenic lakes, and last night we stayed with a lovely family we met in Whataroa, which has been a great social for all of us.

So next week we hope to make it past Franz and Fox glaciers over the Haast pass and perhaps even as far as Wanaka….but who knows!

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