Deciding to stretch my legs and give Caroline and Eric a bit of a break, I ventured up the coast to Kaikoura for a few days. The bus drive up was yet again stunning - the Canterbury Plains making way for the mountains and then the rugged East coastline. I was soon settled into the ‘Lazy Shag’ hostel with clear view from my room of the ocean and the snow-capped mountains…
However, by the next day I found out that unless you are blessed with nice weather, there isn’t much to do in Kaikoura. Because of the wind and the threat of rain, all the tours that promised whales and dolphins, kayaking, horse riding and the like were cancelled. In fact the only thing I found that was open was a little petting farm with llamas; a 5km hike from the centre, which weakly promised all those who had come to see majestic sea mammals that ‘llamas are the dolphins of the land’… ok then.
The farm turned out to be a dinky little place run by a group of charming French folk; and although obviously aimed at children I spent a lovely couple of hours there, the weather just holding out on the right side of miserable. I met Milo the kuni kuni pig, who looked a lot like an extra from Labyrinth; Nigel the horse and Simon the Goat, a wallaby, a Shetland pony, and assorted rabbits, chickens, lambs and of course the ‘land dolphins’. Spurred on I walked the long way back to town, another 14km to be precise, through the farmland and along the coast; it started to rain when I was half-way back and by time I made it home I was more than ready for some ‘fush and chups’.
It absolutely chucked it down for the next 36 hours with high winds so I was forced to retreat to my hostel with a good book and a pack of Tim Tams.
With Friday a write-off I decided to make the most of Saturday morning before my bus back. Tours were still off, so I went for a hike down the coast to the seal colony. The sun came out and it was all really rather beautiful. I got to see lots of seals up close, and they seemed happy to pose for pictures, the show offs.
Sunday 11th October
Back to Christchurch, and to say a proper farewell to Eric and Caroline we went out for a gorgeous dinner and drinks in Littleton. Also discovered ‘Ginger Tom’, which I hope to introduce to the UK when I return; it’s real ginger beer, as in lager but ginger flavoured, lush!
Monday 12th October
Early Monday morning, and I mean early, I said my final goodbyes to my lovely hosts and their fantastic hospitality and set out for the next stage of my trip. I took the Tranzalpine over to Greymouth, which is a quaint little train route that cuts right across the South Island, through the Southern Alps. There aren’t many trains in New Zealand as most people drive or fly whereas backpackers usually bus it, and subsequently the train journeys here are like an event in themselves; spotlessly clean in comparison to British trains, with a running commentary on the Tolkinesque scenery, homemade muffins and an open carriage where you can take photos. The ‘stations’ are tiny little alpine stops at ghost towns and old mining villages, and the train winds itself through viaducts and tunnels - it’s supposed to be one of the most beautiful train journeys in the world and I would have to concur. There was still some snow on some of the mountain tops and the weather was clear and sunny, I don‘t expect a trip on Virgin trains to be like that any time soon.
We got into Greymouth early afternoon and I checked into Noah’s Ark Backpackers hostel, which is an old Colonial style house that used to be a nunnery. It is called Noah’s Ark because years ago the town flooded and everyone headed up here for safety. It has an animal theme throughout and I was fortunate enough to be put in the zebra room, where everything is zebra print - I’ve never stayed in such a boudoiry room at a hostel before, so fabulous. Did a 5km hike up the side of a very steep and wooded hill, almost vertical in places, but was rewarded with some very fine views; and the next day I hiked alongside the river. I was told Greymouth is a fairly dull place, but I’ve found it quite charming and chilled. Wednesday 14th October
From Greymouth to Punakaiki and again I was told not to expect a big place, which was a bit of an understatement. One hostel, a couple of hotels, a café and a pub was the only life to be found, but I instantly fell in love with the place. When I arrived it was misty and raining, but this only added to the wild, prehistoric-looking rocky coastline. From Tolkin to ‘Walking with Dinosaurs‘, it was craggy-faced rock faces covered in palms and junglesque terrain and an imposing beach with dark grey sands and broken rocks, untamed and unspoilt - I half expected King Kong come lumbering out of the mists.
Once I’d checked into my charming little beach-front hostel I went exploring on the beach; where I found a friendly bunch of Christchurch folk who had travelled over for a whitebaiting holiday. Whitebait is considered a delicacy here and worth its weight in gold and so they intended to catch a haul and take it back to Christchurch to sell. I spent a pleasant afternoon with these cheery fisher folk and even got a piggy back over the estuary from a nice young man called Sam, when the tide eventually came in.
Day two in Punakaiki and I set out to hike the Paparoa trail. Now there are a few hiking trails through the park, ranging from a two-hour trail to a two-day trail. I thought I had chosen the six-hour trail but I actually had made a wrong turn and ended up on the two-dayer. I was quite impressed that I managed a two-day hike in eight hours but was utterly exhausted afterwards, with a sore back and boots falling apart at the seams. It was worth it though for the stunning scenery through the forest, one of the most wild, yet peaceful places I have ever been to. I had intended early night, but then I met Joe. I was laid on the floor, easing my sore bones when a little face popped over the edge of the sofa and offered me a smoke. Joe is 19 and backpacking for a year and is great fun. Once night had fallen we walked up to the famous Pancake rocks to watch the sea spray through the blowholes, then we went exploring some caves nearby with a torch to see if we could find some glow worms. It may have been a bit scary getting in the caves at first in the pitch black, especially as we were a bit stoned, but once inside we saw an amazing colony of glow worms making constellations on the ceiling of the cave - it was so beautiful, sometimes you have to act on stupid ideas as they are often the best ones.
Friday 16th October
And so to Nelson. After a five-hour bus ride through even more gorgeous scenery - I won’t bore you, from this point on just assume that I am constantly surrounded by ‘breathtaking scenery’, it’s just easier - I arrived at Tasman Bay Backpackers, famous for its nightly homemade chocolate pudding (which even has a Facebook Group it‘s so revered). On the bus over I met a really nice Austrian girl called Marina so we decided to share a room. Joe from Punakaiki also turned up and we’ve decided to chill in Nelson for a bit as it seems so relaxed and friendly, plus it’s the perfect base for returning to after my intended five-day guided walk in Abel Tasman National park. On Saturday we decided to check out some of Nelson’s nightlife but as neither of us had drunk much for a while we had to call it quits after a couple of pints, then spent the rest of the weekend, chilling and watching old movies, Nelson does that to a person.
Tuesday 20th October
This morning I left sunny, rainy Nelson for a few days to do my walk of Abel Tasman. As I have been sofa surfing and hostelling this was a treat to myself, and I flash-packed in style. The guided walk included, obviously, a guide; stays at luxury lodges, a personal chef, good wine and all the yummy food you can eat. Pretty flash but still no easy option as we walked about 100k in five days. Here’s what we did:
DAY 1 - met up with my fellow trampers on the bus. Fay and Bill are brother and sister from Melbourne in their late 40s, Fay is absolutely lovely, but I can see me and Bill are going to clash. He is one of these highly-completive over zealous Aussie types who enjoys nothing more than the sound of his own voice, especially if it’s explaining why everything is bigger or better in Australia - I think I’ve got some tactics to deal with him though. Michelle is my roommate and a lovely lady from Sydney who could be anything from 25 to 50; and Eric is a splendid old French gent from Marsaille, who doesn’t speak much English but is very enthusiastic, and very patient with Bill who seems to think he’ll understand English better if he’s shouted at very slowly.
We were also introduced to out guide Marius who is originally from Oxford, but has lived in NZ for 18 years. He is a very spiritual and knowledgeable person who knows everything there is to know about the history and geography of the park, I also like him because he put Bill in his place straight away!
We hiked from our drop off in Marahau for about five hours, stopping along the way to admire the headlands and little islands dotted off the coast. Our walk took us right above the canopy of forests and right down to the custard-yellow and turquoise bays. At Torrent Bay we walked barefoot across the estuary at low-tide, which looked pretty but it was actually fairly painful wading through sharp rocks, icy water and cockle beds. By time we reached our stunning beach-front lodge, we certainly welcomed the luxury. There were other guests staying at the lodge that evening, from another trip heading in the other direction. Ron and Rosemary, your typical British middle-aged couple, posh and funny and very jolly-hockey sticks, and Greg from the US, here for some corporate stress relief… you can imagine how well he got on with Bill. We were served a stunning three-course meal with lots of wine, and for the first time in a long time, I was happily tucked up in bed by 9.30pm.
DAY 2 - Today we hiked the slightly-more challenging, but ultimately more rewarding, inland track. Much steeper and with much clambering over tree-roots and over tiny rocky streams we reached our first destination, River Falls. This waterfall and pool, hidden high up in forest hillside, enchanted us all, even Bill had nothing to complain about! We spread out for a picnic lunch on the rocks and soaked up the scenery and the first glimpse of sun. Marius then took us to the edge of the pool to meet one of his friends - a 3ft conga eel, who was happy to eat scraps of bacon from our fingers and be stroked.
After a decent lunch, we set off again to hike further inland, this time to Cleopatra’s pool, another stunning waterfall. Fay and Eric bailed but there was no way Bill was quitting, even if he did look to be on the verge of a heart attack. He was getting more and more competitive with me, and obviously I was giving him as much bait as possible. When he suggested running the 6km back to the lodge I took the challenge, knowing that being about 20 years younger and six stone lighter I was going to give him a run for his money. I don’t feel that guilty, I mean he was clutching his chest by the end of it, but he didn’t die or anything.
I had been asking Marius if there were any glow worm caves nearby, and tonight he took me to one side and said there were but he liked to keep them secret, it was quite challenging to get there, but would I like to come? I went to get ready. When I came down Bill demanded to know where we were going so Marius had to tell him, but that it involved wading out to sea up to our waists in freezing water, then climbing barefoot over a very rocky headland in the dark, the crawling on our bellies on sand through a very narrow tunnel… did that put Bill off? Did it heck as like… the whole experience was quite beautiful (once I’d deafened myself to Bill shouting at me to hurry up) - once through the tiny tunnel in the cliff face we ended up in a little cave no bigger than a 10-man dome tent. At first there were about 20 glow worms shining, but as we sat there in the dark, more and more came out till there were literally hundreds, and laying on the sand looking up at the domed ceiling was like being in some micro-planetarium, the glowing bugs mapping their own interpretation of the stars.
DAY 3 - Today we bid fairwell to the Lodge at Torrent Bay and set out on our longest hike yet, to Arawoa. I really enjoyed the hike today, even though the weather was mad and kept switching from boiling hot sunshine to mad rain and back about five times.
During a moment of clear sky and warmth we were walking down one of the most stunning beaches I have ever seen, and although I knew the water was icy, it looked so tempting to my tired sweaty being, so I decided to take a dip, freezing but so wonderful… and yes, of course Bill jumped in too!
One very positive thing that came out of today was the I realised I can speak quite good French, I’ve been trying to talk to Eric as I feel quite sorry for him with all the loud English being shouted. With his encouragement I’ve been digging in my brain for all that old forgotten GSCE French and low and behold if I couldn’t hold a conversation! My grammar and tenses may not have been perfect, but Eric understood what I was going on about, and even Marius, who is Fluent said I was doing a good job. I am so pleased with myself, and it has also given me the opportunity to get to know Eric better. He really is a lovely man. He was a heart-surgeon for many, many years but then serious illness made him retire early. For the last ten years he has been re-learning to walk and talk properly again and now here he is on a 100k hike, talking Franglais with me, a total inspiration… and since he told me about his attractive 35-year-old single son who works as an architect in Barcelona and loves English girls, I have started, maybe a little pre-emptively calling him ‘Papa’.
DAY 4 - A slightly more chilled day today, in more ways than one, with the rain coming down and the wind blowing., we took the pace down a little and enjoyed the luxurious lodge’s roaring fire, comfy sofa and seemingly endless supply of hot coffee and fresh baked cookies. However it wasn’t all rest. We took a morning hike before the rains came down, and then in the afternoon, when the tide came in and filled the estuary we took the Kyaks out. It was lovely to boat around the place where we this morning had been walking, but if truth be known, I was rather glad to get back to the fire.
DAY 5 - And so we left our final resting place and hiked to our furthest point of the coast and of the park itself, Totaranui bay. It rained for most of this hike, so we were glad to get on the warm, if slightly rocking, ferry. In true Kiwi style it was soon sunny again, so we got off the boat half-way back for another three-hour hike. The weather stayed fine and as we munched even more food, looking out over the sea we saw a school of dolphins.
*Foodie alert! Today I learned of the joys of scroggin. For non-kiwis this is a sort of trail mix and I urge you to give it a go. Basically scroggin is an acronym for: Sultanas, Chocolate, Raisins, Orange peel, Glucose, Ginger, ‘Imagination/improvisation and nuts. The improve bit means you can add whatever else takes your fancy, in our case it was seeds and dried pineapple, anyway once I get home and am near Scoopaway, all expect boxes of scroggin for your foreseeable birthdays.
We caught the boat back to our starting point and were dropped off at our respective destinations, me back to the comfort of TBB and to a waiting Joe and chocolate pudding, not a bad welcome home!
Sunday 25th October
Had quite possibly the perfect backpacker Sundays today. After a well deserved lie in, I went to the climbing centre in town with Joe, but as the sun came out we abandoned our efforts and headed to the beach instead. Maybe it was the climbing, maybe it was the spliff we had on the beach, but we had a great idea to cook a proper English Sunday roast. We also invited our friends Diana and Rob from Joe’s hostel, who are from Berlin and are absolutely lovely. I commandeered the hostel kitchen for the evening and made everyone very jealous with my herby roast chicken with roast potatoes, honey roast kumara and pumpkin, green beans, crispy spinach stuffing and gravy. Rob brought some proper German beer and a lovely evening was had, until the last few days caught up with me and I crashed out.
No comments:
Post a Comment