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Published: March 14th 2007
Note to self: When in New Zealand a forecast of a "Southery" means a front blowing in from Antarctica. With no other land masses to buffer the currents, this translates to very cold, wind and rains.
Tired of the city lights and in spite of this forecast my brave young friend Elisabeth and I decided to go tramping for three days. Feeling adventuresome, we went to a map shop in Christchurch and unable to find exactly the route we were looking for, pieced two maps and several routes together to form what would be our tramp.
In retrospect it is clear that this tramp didn't exist more formally because it wasn't very dynamic in its scenery. We left the maps in the store which we later (while thrashing our way through brambles and bush) sorely regretted and marched off to buy food supplies and bug repellent.
Although this tramp wasn't awe inspiringly scenic, it had its own stark beauty and retained one of the truest pleasures of tramping in Kiwi country: the discovering of the hut in which you will be staying for the night tucked behind a green hill or in tussock field. While some of the
huts are mere havens from the sand flies, many were built in the 60s and 70s and are entirely charming. Ours had a wood burning stove and a lovely crew of 3 Kiwi retirees to greet us.
I'll leave out the details of the tramp itself which would mostly involve stories of loosing and finding the route (always testing no matter the hemisphere), blisters, rain and 10 hour days and say that yesterday, Elisabeth and I were both glad to have been for a walk in the woods but very happy to be carrying our water logged feet into Hanmer Springs, a small town famous for its hot springs.
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Esther
non-member comment
Christ Church and Lewis Pass
One urban and one rural...........the contrast must have been interesting. Hyper thyroidism is fast and hypo is slow. I guess you slowed it down too much with the medication or maybe you are just improving. Whatever, the doctor made the adjustment. More beautiful pictures.............this bridge takes my breath away. Much love to you, Esther