nigeyboygoeswalkabout

Hi folks,
well after my adventures on the Island I spent a few days getting sorted out in Invercargill before heading up the West coast via the Southern scenic route. Although very beautiful there were very few people about, the weather was mostly poor, and I was pretty much on my own for the next 4 days. I have to say this was the first time in the trip so far I have felt lonely and it reminded me that even the most beautiful view has little meaning without someone to share it. However, they don't necesarily have to be there in person with you, so whether or not you know it, you all saw the moonrise in the photo and an awesome moonbow (which I didn't manage to capture on film) and any inexplicably wacky dreams you may have had that night were probably all my fault ;-).


Zoe, Danielle, Mum, I also found an absolutely stunning lake that George would have loved to fished, and rather symbolically a huge trout swam right by me just as I was thinking that.....so who knows :-).




Anyway before you all think I've turned into a hippy ....................








Near the start of the scenic route are the Clifden caves which made for an interesting little sidetrip. Luckily I met Hoiga, a German guy outside the cave entrance as your not supposed to do it solo. So we teamed up and headed thru. Although a lot tighter than the Craigieburn cave they are predominantly dry and have some interesting formations and glow worms. Near the end there are a few poools to negotiate and for once it wasn't me that fell in :-)



















The next stop on my travels was Milford sound and I decided a kayak trip was the best way to see it. This turned out to be an inspired decision as the gods were smiling and the Sound was blessed with one of the best days they've had this year. Josh the guide, was totally buzzing with excitement over this, and asked if we wanted to go all the way out to the 153m high Stirling falls as he hadn't managed to make it out there this year. Obviously we all agreed and off we went. When we got there he let us kayak thru the falls which was pretty cool as when we came out thru them we kind of surfed on the pressure wave. If you look closely at the picture of the falls, you'll see a kayak near its base on the right hand side to give you some idea of the scale. On the way back we had about half a dozen seals swimming all around us. Actually I'm pretty sure they were messing with us cos every time Margret (the girl I was paddling with) or I pulled out our cameras they would dive then come up behind us. We also managed to catch the afternoon catabatic wind which blows up the sound which meant we could put up a make shift sail and cruise a little. All in all a fantastic day!!!


From Milford I headed back to Te Anau where I camped. However there wasn't alot of mingling going on at the campsite and I realised I was ready to start heading North for the sun. I drove up to Queenstown but as I pulled in I just go the urge to drive on thru.... so I did. I headed for Wanaka and as I approached the sun broke thru......just what the doctor ordered :-)

Now all the time I had been driving round NZ I kept remembering this place with these giant floating tricycles but couldn't remember where it was. Well this place turned out to be Wanaka. Gav, Russ, do you remember these? I think they might cos they managed to capsize one trying to do wheelies...... except it was more than 20years ago in the middle of winter and my mum had disapeared with the campervan keys ;-).


Leaving from Wanaka I decided to do a day walk up the West Matukituki valley up to the Rob Roy glacier.............without a doubt the best walk I had done so far. The Matukituki valley has it all; braided rivers, lush meadows, bush, high fells, mountains and spectacular glaciers, but more than that it has it all in perfect proportion. All in all a little peice of heaven. They say an artist must suffer for his work......well I want you all to know that I leant on an electric fence with my bare armpit when I was trying to get the photo below :-0

















Feeling reinvigourated I drove thru the night to Makarora as I was intending to start the 3day Gillespie pass walk first thing the next morning. Now then, all the time I've been in NZ, people keep talking about the possum problem and when I tell them I've still yet to see a live one they think i'm winding them up. Well after 7 weeks in NZ and on the drive up to Makarora I saw my first live possum.........................for about 1/2 a second before it went under my wheels and I squashed it flat. I have to admit as bad as I felt about killing the poor thing I couldn't help but laugh. And no you sickos, there are no photos!!!

Well, as fine as the Matukituki valley was, it was merely the grey light of dawn after a long dark night compared to what I would find at Gillespies pass............................but that's another story ;-)

Till then,
luv ya all,
Nig