Leaving the Okala Huts.
Wiji managed to fit two bowls of porridge in before Kathy realised that she had forgotten the Canadian girls had not had theirs! Lol.
The colourful pineapple shrub.
In all my layers (and Abba tea cosy head gear), hoping to warm up at the start of the day. The track was particularly beautiful on the ridge with the mistiness and the lichen colours.
We were loving the chunky moss!
Kathy was right, it was like an enchanted garden!
The forest just dropped away into the mist from the ridge.
The New Zealand Pigeon, quietly watched us go by...
Rock formations on the ridge.
Hard to capture the luminosity of the wispy lichen in the misty white-out. It did seem to glow.
Out of the trees on the ridge, our first view with the mist clearing, a little.
Hoofing off down the board walk.
We started to get tantalising views from the ridge as the mist parted...
Looking over the west side of the Hump Ridge.
A bit further on the mist had cleared on one side, but nicely obscured the sheer drop off on the other side of the ridge. This walk was shaping up to have an exciting mix of scenery. I was loving it!
After the climb, it felt really rewarding to get these views.
But unfortunately as we continued the mist drew in...
Reading the map we realised that we were near luncheon rock and Wiji wondered why, oh why luncheon rock was called that especially as it wasn't even anywhere near lunchtime! It really should have been brunch rock...
Billed on the literature as a great place to take in the views , Wiji goes up to take a look from luncheon rock...yep, its misty!
One of the many huge fungus beasts that we saw on the trees.
The walk descended into the forest and we checked out some of the native trees...
This one looked like it was suspended in mid air with a hollow middle section.
Gorgeous tree ferns...
Gorgeous boy.
After hoofing it down hill through the forest for about four and a half hours we reached the first viaduct of the day the 'Edwin Burn'. It was here that we had lunch and relaxed in the sunshine.
The view from above...
After a bit we reached the second viaduct 'Percy Burn' with Brian and Sheryl, who caught us up.
The view to the sea from the viaduct.
The Percy Burn viaduct (named after the river it crosses), is the world's largest wooden viaduct known to be still standing (though we're not sure how well the NZ authorities might have looked for others). It is part of a 17km tramway that once linked the remote logging sites used by the Port Craig saw mill. A 90 tonne steam winch dragged logs from the bush to tram-loading sites where they were picked up by a fleet of geared steam locomotives.
On the other side the track changed again into a more open and flat path with out a board walk.
The final viaduct didn't have a name, oh boo.
The viaducts were so novel, giving great views and taking us into the breeze and the sunshine for a break from the forest. We lucked out with the weather!
A tanin coloured tarn.
We had reached the part of the walk that followed the old tram lines...
Some of the exposed tree roots in the banks either side of the tram path.
This part of the walk seemed to go on for ages, it was quite muddy and we were walking in the semi shade of the recessed tram lines...
It was incredible to think that the wooden tram sleepers and large metal nails had survived for more than 90 years.
The new swing bridge at Shannon's Gully.
Very pleasing to the eye, but muddy under foot, more of the tram way...
We knew when we were on the home straight when we reached the old school house at Port Craig. This was the only building left from when the logging company abandoned the town. It remained standing because it was the only building that they didn't own. Today it is a DOC hut that you can stay in.
No sooner had we arrived at Port Craig Village than it was suggested to us by the warden that we go down to the beach to see if the Hectors dolphins were still about. Not wanting to miss this opportunity we decided to head off immediately, rather than taking a break, and taking our boots off...We were sceptical of the likelyhood of their presence, but after climbing down the many steps to the beach we were instantly rewarded with a quality sighting!
It was the perfect end to our second day's walk!
The pod seemed to spend ages fishing around the poles.
We were really thrilled to see the Hectors dolphins. They are endangered, sadly, and are the smallest dolphins in the world. Their dorsal fin had a really cute curve.
A couple of view's of the beach as we left the dolphins to it...
We clambered over the rocks to watch a fur seal trying to get comfy in the late afternoon sunshine.
It was using the rock in front as a chin rest...or trying to!
Back at the hut we gave our boots a scrub under the hosepipe. While doing this one of the teachers accompanying the school party told us that some of the students had killed two pigs in the bush. When we asked how, she said that the students had 'stuck it to the pigs' (a phrase that of course stuck with us!) What this actually meant was that they had gone out hunting with dogs and cornered the pigs before stabbing them with a knife to kill them. Nice. Apparently the hunting activity was a treat for the A level age students. We were quite speechless! Lol. The pigs were lying in the undergrowth near the huts, not that we looked. They were hoping to get them flown out by helicopter for the meat. A uniquely Kiwi school trip!
Later after much needed hot showers, in the kitchen everyone was cooking freeze dried food again. We still had our noodle and chilli tuna feast. While we were cooking the school group went out in wet suits to get some Paua. When they came back they invited us into the kitchen to explain how they cut the meat from the shell and cook them. One of the teachers offered us some Paua, first of all we tried it raw, more out of ignorance than choice and then they cooked it up with garlic and cream, which was much more palatable! Lol. Handily when the foot is thinly sliced it looks rather like mushroom...nice. After our massive walk we would have eaten practically anything though!
