I was still working my way up the west coast. I stopped in the am for a brief hike called the Charming Creek Walkway. It was a disappointment and I cut it short to continue north
The Heaphy Track was another of the Great Walks. Below is the map of the Multiday hike. I had planned on hiking just the last section backwards up to Scotts Beach. It was a bitch to get to. Lots of dirt roads and tight turns. I had finally reached the sandy beach scenery that was a nice change from snow and cold nights.
You basically just hike up over a saddle and the descend to the beach on the other side
Guys were working on the trail, blasting rock and moving debris. NZ invests heavily in these tracks for tourist dollars. Here are some pictures of them moving machine and people with helicopters.
I hiked back and drove towards the north end of the island where Able Tasman NP lies. Before I could get far from the Heaphy Track I blew a tire. I was flying around corners while looking at my GPS and travel guides. I veered off into a small ditch and bounced over a large rock. I could hear the tire gasping for breath right away. I got out and saw that it was shredded. I was in the middle of nowhere. I tore down the road trying to get as far as possible without doing permanent damage to the rim. I passed a farm and decided I could not go any farther as the wheel was fighting me trying to keep the van on the road.
I pulled over and a lady in a 4-wheeler pulled up. I said hello and told her I had blown a tire. She said, “ya, I heard you riding on the rim a couple miles away.”
I was amazed, but this piece of shit car actually had a spare underneath and a jack behind the drivers seat. I jacked the car up and removed the wheel and shredded tire. Unfortunately, the new replacement wheel/tire had lugnut holes higher then my jack could go. I could remove air from my spare but I really did not want to do that. Thankfully these nice folks had a shop jack and I was good to go. I needed to make it 100km to find a town where I could get a new tire on the old wheel. As I was racing to get there by 5pm I got pulled over for speeding. Great. I got what amounted to a $50 ticket. I got to the tire store and they replaced it for $115. An expensive mistake, but it could have gone worse. If this was a rental car in the US I would not have had to pay for it, but here in NZ, with my shady rental company and vehicle I determined that trying to get refunded was more trouble than it was worth. I made sure to leave the van in crap condition (pots, pans, funk, etc) when I turned in to balance it out.
I stopped for the night
It took forever to get to Able Tasman, A park and also another one of the great walks. Below is a map of the hike I was doing today. I started from the bottom right corner where it says “you are here” and headed north and then circled back via Gibbs Hill.
I picked up a few hitchhikers on my way into the parking lot. They had been tramping around NZ for the last 6 months and had done my hike a couple days ago. I was not getting started until 1pm these guys said it took them 7 hours. I figured I could do it in 5 and make it back before sunset.
The beach I ran into after an hour was beautiful.
In one of the coves I came across this carcass. I figured it was a shark or something, but I later I saw some pictures of large NZ fish and think that was probably more correct.
As I came around a corner, hiking on the rocks, I ran straight into this guy
As you can see there was not much room between the sea lion and the water’s edge. I said the usual, “Easy big fella,” in my best Croc Dundee voice and shuffled passed while trying to get a picture. As I was right next to him, he lifted his head and roared at me, which just about scared me into the water. I probably should have backtracked and not passed so close but oh well.
Next stop was separation Point
They had all these megaphone speakers set up and fake birds. They were hoping to attract a colony of birds to resettle here.
I carried on and started to head inland up Gibbs hill
I was getting tired as I kept pushing up hill. I asked a young attractive ranger in passing if this was Gibbs Hill? She laughed and said, “not even close” So deflating was that comment. I saw one lone peak in the distance with some sort of communications device on top. I kept saying, “That cant be Gibbs Hill, there is no need to hike that peak, I am sure the trail just circles around the peak.” I kept heading right towards it. Dammit! This was actually a tough hike with a pretty steep hike up to the top.
It was all downhill as my knees were killing me. I got back to car and headed right for the ocean. The cold water did not even phase me.
This was my last big hike of the trip. This area is called the Golden Bay. It actually had a different name in history, Murderer’s Bay. It doesn’t have the same inviting nomenclature. It turns out that explorer Able Tasman discovered NZ and this was where he first made landfall. He anchored his ship and sent a landing party to shore. The Maori came out in war canoes and killed a few of the crew, which promptly turned around and retreated to the ship. Able decided that was enough and raised anchor not to return.
I was on my way East across the top of the island. I stopped in the town of Nelson for lunch along the water. I sat with a beer and a great meal in a place called the Boathouse
I wondered why I couldn’t just end every day like this. Why must I subject myself to pain, solitude and poor food? I guess the hardships I experienced over the last 2 weeks is why I appreciate this moment so much. Similar to why I endure the winters in Michigan.
I worked my way through some islands and came to the port town where the ferries for the North island set sail
Driving along the coast South back towards Christchurch I stopped at a restaurant called “The Shore” . A cool spot and I actually ran into sports broadcaster Brent Musburger there. We laughed about old days and vowed to keep in better contact when we got back to the states
I headed out to the peninsula of Kaikoura.
Above this guy was sitting checking his phone while sitting next to a Sea Lion. Don’t think that because this one is docile, the one I confronted was anything less than a man eater.
I pulled into Christchurch the following morning. With a day to explore before flying out for Fiji the following morning.
I parked my car near downtown and walked the city. Chirstchurch was recently hit by a nasty earthquake, so they were still rebuilding in some areas. I walked through their version of central park and explored some museums.
They sign below is a map of the park. If you had any doubt how big rugby is down here you can see that they have no less than 10 fields set aside for the sport.
I set up shop at a local pub for the night
I watched a rugby match on TV, pissed at myself for not thinking of getting tickets for it before it was too late. I had moved my van during the night to a residential neighborhood near the bar. This allowed me to just stumble back to the van and sleep after a night sampling NZ’s finest ales.
Until Tomorrow
Darren
« “See You on the Flip Side” (New Zealand 9 of 11) | Main | It’s All About The Water- Fiji (Part 11 of 11) »
