Our group for the next 11 days has formed! There are 8 participants plus two guides. We added one person since the initial participant list showing 6 was mailed out, and there’s someone who works for the REI Adventures group coming along. There are four men and four women. The other participants appear to be in their twenties to forties. The two guides are young women, and they're both knowledgeable, competent and fun.
We're traveling in a yellow van towing a trailer for gear. It's been raining hard all day. Our lead guide said we were stuck in a good sized rainy weather pattern, but she was sure we'd get sun at some point during our trip. Not quite the cheery promise of no more rain that would have been nice, but on the other hand, we won’t melt.
Today after leaving Christchurch we drove west across the Canterbury plain, which is flat and fertile. Lots of sheep farms, and lots of sheep. In fact, there are supposed to be about 40 million sheep in New Zealand, and only about 4 million people. Even private homes often have a sheep or two grazing in the yard. On the plain, the fields are separated by hedgerows … some of them made of trees, some of them literally very tall hedges.
The roads are mostly two lanes, and many of the bridges are one lane. We even passed one bridge where there was one lane for both the cars AND the train. The guide said the train usually didn’t come through for another 3 or 4 minutes, and that we should have plenty of time to get across before it arrived. She has a very dry sense of humor; I never know for sure when she’s teasing.
About 45 minutes after leaving Christchurch, we spotted the foothills of the Southern Alps, which form the spine of the South Island. The view was limited, due to the rain. At the higher altitudes, snow was falling and the mountains were dusted with snow like powdered sugar on a cake. (Or "icing sugar", as they say here.)
The schedule called for a walk in Arthur's Pass, a mountainous area with fairly high peaks. We wouldn't know about the "high" part, though. The clouds were hiding the peaks and hovering in the valleys, so it's a bit like my trip to Seattle when Karen and Gordon kept assuring me that Mount Rainier was indeed out there, but I never saw it through the clouds. Parts of the movie Narnia were filmed in this area, so I may have to see the movie to see the scenery.
The trail for the planned hike was closed due to rock fall danger (perhaps because of the rain?), so we ended up taking a short hike to one of the many waterfalls around the world sharing the name of Bridal Veil Falls. Waterfalls are among the few things that are improved by the rain ... there were opportunistic waterfalls leaping out of the mountains to the left and right from places our guides said they’d never seen waterfalls.
This is an area of temperate rain forest, and the only others like it in the world are in Tasmania and Chile. Very lush, lots of mosses and ferns. And lots of water running down the trail, crossing the trail, and standing on the trail. Fortunately, my boots and gear are waterproof, at least so far.
After leaving Arthur's Pass, we headed west to the coast, then turned north to a small town called Punakaiki (Pyew-na-KEYE-key). The coastline is much like that off Washington and Oregon, with lots of sea stacks (rock formations) sticking up out of the surf.
We're staying in cottages right on the beach. Central heat is uncommon in New Zealand, but there’s a space heater in the cottage and they’re quite cozy. Most importantly, the cottage has a kitchen with a tea pot and tea, which really hit the spot when we arrived.
We crossed a couple rivers getting here, and one was in flood stage due to the heavy rains and one was close to flood stage. The rain will definitely affect our hiking plans, but there are apparently lots of variations we can take.
Dinner was superb, and the group is having fun together. The guides treated to wine tonight, so I suspect we’ll make it a habit and trade off who buys. All in all, it’s a great start to the trip!
Cheers!
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