'No really, I am ready to go'.
Naturally we were a bit stiff at the start of the day, but that quickly passed as our muscles warmed up and we really started up a great pace!
We left at 8:30 am and the sun was shining, we were really enjoying the morning and the light coming through the canopy.
We stopped to try to capture the movement of the water, the light was right and Wiji snapped this top shot.
In almost every part of the walk we heard the beautiful song of a particular tiny little bird but we never actually saw it. It managed to hide very very well. I recorded this vid to capture its lovely song that made me think it was happily tidying up the forest.
We were so chuffed with the weather, it was ideal for the more open terrain of the last day.
After hoofing it through the forest at an enthusiastic pace for 3 hours we reached Breakneck Creek. We had actually been going great guns too!
Crossing the bridge we paused and took in the view. Wiji suggested a food break, lol.
He does have some great ideas! We sat down for a bit and had a sesame seed bar, but didn't linger as we could feel our legs stiffening up immediately.
On we went to our first beach of the day, Blowholes Beach, we were sensibly decided to put more sun cream on.
Wet, sweaty, smelly, muddy and sandy.
Looking inland at the flora...
...And then running to catch up!
We were the first ones on the beach.
Apart from the deer.
Looking back at the Hump Ridge. It did seem so far away, now that we were back down on the beach, but we still had quite a way to go...
At the end of the beach we looked out to sea and Wiji threw some stones into the water, it was then that we got dive bombed by a very angry seagull, just the one, but it returned to zoom over our heads in repeat fly overs. Quality.
At the end of the beach we climbed the headland path to the next beach...
Once again it was deserted and pristine.
Stewart Island in the distance...
I found a cat's eye shell with the crustacean still alive and the door still in place. I had only ever seen the door in the sand previously.
Mucking about with NZ green lipped mussels, there were plenty on the beach and they were huge!
Beachcomber deluxe pickings.
The drift wood was wonderful!
There was a lot of admiring it.
The beach ended in the same way as the last, with some nicely eroded islands.
After one last look we Left the cove and climbed back up to the coastal terrace.
The track brought us back to the junction to Okaka, where we had paused on the first day to look over at the view and make our way up the very steep Hump Ridge. This time the weather was a lot better, and we certainly felt fitter.
The Flat Creek Swing Bridge, for the second time.
Checking out the damage.
On the first day this scene looked quite foreboding, but now the sky really enhanced the bleached silvery wood.
We were not surprised to find the giant puddles waiting for us.
Looking back down Blue Cliffs Beach at the array of drift wood. We decide to sit in the shade here and eat some lunch. The Canadian girls caught us up and hoofed on passed without seeing us in the shade.
Back on the track and enjoying the appropriate message on the fisherman's hut, it was true - we were.
Admiring the draping layer of soil on rock face.
The Waikoau River Swing Bridge were the tannin coloured tarn water ran into the sea.
It was after the bridge that we had the massively steep steps to climb up from the beach. The wardens had cheerfully warned us that they would seem to go on forever. They did look really ominous from the beach, and now I can't believe that we didn't take any pics of them. They were sooo steep, I guess at the time we put all our energy into getting up them...And we did it pretty damn fast.
We really knew that we were on the home straight after the steps, with the forest walk to go of about 3/4 of an hour. We had been really pleased with ourselves for beating the suggested times all day. But we both felt that our feet were none to happy, Wiji with an enormous blister and me with the sensation that the pads of my toes were grinding off against my socks. We did motor on though, with our own individual hobbles.
The vine in the last section of forest was like a linear drawing. It was very stiff, but at the growing tip it was like bendy black licorice.
Heading out of the forest and towards the Rarakau car park...
At the end of the trail, where we first began, the Canadian girls were peeling off their footwear to reveal huge blisters and we were all hoping that our lift would arrive. We were about half an hour early and in need of this time to do some SERIOUS stretching. It was good to see that they were hobbling too!
Our lift arrived and took us all back to the visitors office, for us to sign out and endorse the trail to some interested walkers considering the route. It had been such a great experience, really enjoyable, challenging and with lots of interesting sections to look forward to along the way. At the end what we were most looking forward to was a return to Colac Bay, a shower and a pub blue cod and chips with some well deserved pints to celebrate.
1 comment:
Well done,brilliant that you did it. The beaches looked lovely and so much to see. You were so luckyy to see the Hector dolphins. I really want to go to NZ now and do these trails...x
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