After the superb weather we experienced at Gillespies pass we were told the the chances of it staying sunny on the West coast whilst we did the Copland track were pretty slim. Amazingly tho, the cloud held off for a few more days. 
On the Copland a lot more time was spent in the bush and by the time we reached the Welcome Flats hut the hilarious banter of the last 5 days was starting to give way to quieter spells of reflective thought. But this was fine because as you can see, someone with a sense of humour had provided a little "on track" amusement for us.
That night we all went skinny dipping in the hot pools, which were surrounded by alpine peaks and covered by a sky full of stars. The evening was spent scaring the tourists by playing "skinny chicken" and then making up bizarre stories before Nick and Mike decided to head off to bed. Cara and I stayed a little longer.........long enough to share our first kiss (Aahhhhhh) before also deciding to go back to the hut..........well, we would have if the two little pranksters hadn't stolen our clothes. This mean't we had to walk back and into a hut of about 30 people completley naked. Little pranksters wasn't actually the term I used when I got hold of them ;-)
The walk back was pretty tedious but this mind numbing repitition had the effect of creating a kind of meditative state and I had some pretty amazing revelations about my life, its direction and the Universe in general..... And no Gav, they weren't induced by eating some funky native mushrooms!
After the Copland we headed back to fox just as a weather front started to move in and that night we were rewarded with this sunset which actually made the front page of the next days paper.
Next morning we said goodbye to Nick who was heading to Wanaka and then Mike, Cara and myself continued on to Greymouth. We spent a couple of days there in a very nice place called Global village, before Mike decided to go off and meet some chick who he'd been e-mailing for a while. Obviously Cara was devastated at the thought of being left alone with me so to help her get over it I fed her ice cream whilst she relaxed in the outdoor hot tub....... this seemed to help ease her suffering a little ;-) .
The two of us continued to head North to Karamea,where Cara was going to start the Heaphy track. I had gotten a little bored of hiking by this point so I was off to do a little white water rafting etc, with the plan being that I wou
ld meet her in about 5days. Before going our seperate ways we stayed at a very cool backpackers called Rongo which was run by a guy called Paul who also ran the local 24hour pirate radio station. Anybody and everbody was welcome do a spot and the eclectic mix incorperated German thrash metal, blues and possibly tips on milking your cow. I think the station must have been a real hub for the local community.
After Cara started on her hike I stayed a little longer as the next night there was to be a traditional Japanese meal prepared by two visiting elderly Japanese ladies whom Paul had taught English to in Japan. One of them seemed to take a shine when she saw me knocking up some lamb and vegetable shish kebabs and kept having her pal take photos of me with her. I thought this was very sweet till Paul later told me she was a bit of a gal, swore like a trooper and would probably tell her pals back in Japan that I was her european toyboy :-!.
Shortly after I went rafting in the Buller gorge, which to be honest was a bit tame cos the river was on the low side but near the end we got to do a little cliff jumping which was pretty exciting. Rather ironically about 20mins from the end of the trip the heavens opened and it poured down for the next couple of days ......Sod's law.
From there I headed over to Nelson Lakes but as the weather was so bad I couldn't do any hiking. However that night there was an Australian guy called Wayne at the hostel who palyed guitar . So about five of us sat around in the lounge calling out songs at random then singing along. In a session that lasted nearly 4 hours this guy didn't repeat a single song and could even pick up the tunes of songs he didn't know if you sang a few lines to him.......all in all, an absolutely brilliant night.
The next day saw a slight window in the weather so I did a little mountain biking, which was really refreshing after all the hiking. I actually managed to get in a little patch of blue sky and I rode just about half way to Blenheim trying to stay in it. I was due to meet Cara the following day but the weather report had been so bad for the Heaphy track I figured she might push on and finnish it early.
So I drove up that night with her fresh clothes. This turned out to be a master stroke as she now thinks I'm a knight in shining armour who can read her mind ;-) Obviously this incredible guy image won't last long .........but for know I'm gonna milk it for all its worth before I have to pay the price all mortal men must, for the affection's of a good woman ;-)
Only joking Sweetie :-)
On the Copland a lot more time was spent in the bush and by the time we reached the Welcome Flats hut the hilarious banter of the last 5 days was starting to give way to quieter spells of reflective thought. But this was fine because as you can see, someone with a sense of humour had provided a little "on track" amusement for us.
That night we all went skinny dipping in the hot pools, which were surrounded by alpine peaks and covered by a sky full of stars. The evening was spent scaring the tourists by playing "skinny chicken" and then making up bizarre stories before Nick and Mike decided to head off to bed. Cara and I stayed a little longer.........long enough to share our first kiss (Aahhhhhh) before also deciding to go back to the hut..........well, we would have if the two little pranksters hadn't stolen our clothes. This mean't we had to walk back and into a hut of about 30 people completley naked. Little pranksters wasn't actually the term I used when I got hold of them ;-)
The walk back was pretty tedious but this mind numbing repitition had the effect of creating a kind of meditative state and I had some pretty amazing revelations about my life, its direction and the Universe in general..... And no Gav, they weren't induced by eating some funky native mushrooms!
After the Copland we headed back to fox just as a weather front started to move in and that night we were rewarded with this sunset which actually made the front page of the next days paper.Next morning we said goodbye to Nick who was heading to Wanaka and then Mike, Cara and myself continued on to Greymouth. We spent a couple of days there in a very nice place called Global village, before Mike decided to go off and meet some chick who he'd been e-mailing for a while. Obviously Cara was devastated at the thought of being left alone with me so to help her get over it I fed her ice cream whilst she relaxed in the outdoor hot tub....... this seemed to help ease her suffering a little ;-) .
The two of us continued to head North to Karamea,where Cara was going to start the Heaphy track. I had gotten a little bored of hiking by this point so I was off to do a little white water rafting etc, with the plan being that I wou
ld meet her in about 5days. Before going our seperate ways we stayed at a very cool backpackers called Rongo which was run by a guy called Paul who also ran the local 24hour pirate radio station. Anybody and everbody was welcome do a spot and the eclectic mix incorperated German thrash metal, blues and possibly tips on milking your cow. I think the station must have been a real hub for the local community.
After Cara started on her hike I stayed a little longer as the next night there was to be a traditional Japanese meal prepared by two visiting elderly Japanese ladies whom Paul had taught English to in Japan. One of them seemed to take a shine when she saw me knocking up some lamb and vegetable shish kebabs and kept having her pal take photos of me with her. I thought this was very sweet till Paul later told me she was a bit of a gal, swore like a trooper and would probably tell her pals back in Japan that I was her european toyboy :-!.
Shortly after I went rafting in the Buller gorge, which to be honest was a bit tame cos the river was on the low side but near the end we got to do a little cliff jumping which was pretty exciting. Rather ironically about 20mins from the end of the trip the heavens opened and it poured down for the next couple of days ......Sod's law.From there I headed over to Nelson Lakes but as the weather was so bad I couldn't do any hiking. However that night there was an Australian guy called Wayne at the hostel who palyed guitar . So about five of us sat around in the lounge calling out songs at random then singing along. In a session that lasted nearly 4 hours this guy didn't repeat a single song and could even pick up the tunes of songs he didn't know if you sang a few lines to him.......all in all, an absolutely brilliant night.
The next day saw a slight window in the weather so I did a little mountain biking, which was really refreshing after all the hiking. I actually managed to get in a little patch of blue sky and I rode just about half way to Blenheim trying to stay in it. I was due to meet Cara the following day but the weather report had been so bad for the Heaphy track I figured she might push on and finnish it early.
So I drove up that night with her fresh clothes. This turned out to be a master stroke as she now thinks I'm a knight in shining armour who can read her mind ;-) Obviously this incredible guy image won't last long .........but for know I'm gonna milk it for all its worth before I have to pay the price all mortal men must, for the affection's of a good woman ;-)Only joking Sweetie :-)
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