The Humpridge Track

This 3 day trek has been quite an experience.  We had the luxury of huts to stay in complete with hot showers , very welcome after really quite wet weather and a fair bit of up and down. The path has taken us up hills and around the coast, on the beach and winding through breathtakingly beautiful forest with ferns, lichen and ancient mossy trees. Finishing yesterday's walk on the level along an old logging tram line we ended up at Port Craig where ships used to be loaded with logs by cable from a pier. A bit like Makatea, Port Craig has had its day and from 1000 residents in the 1920s there are only a couple today who man the track hut.

We swam in the bay and to our delight we were joined by a few Hector dolphins, not scared of James' skinny dipping.

Today it rained nonstop but it did seem to fit the damp forest. We heard a crash at one point, a rotten tree falling under the weight of vines, fern and moss.

A flat route today meant we finished the 20 k in good time. But cold, fingers too numb to do much! We warmed up in Bailey with  a very welcome cup of tea. 

En route up to Manapouri we heard news that flooding and landslips mean a state of emergency has been declared in Fiordland and Southland. The Routeburn track was closed when a landslips fell onto a hut and walkers were rescued by chopper. The road to Milford Sound has been closed in 3 places by landslides.

Lucky us. We just got wet, not stranded.

A few days off then we start the Kepler track on Saturday if it is open.

Off tramping...

As planned a couple of years ago, we have met up with the Heaths in Invercargill. This morning we are setting off to walk the Humpridge track, 3 days from hut to hut in far south Fiordland. It was still blowing a gale last night, but is a bit gentler now. We will have mixed weather but  I can't wait to get up into the hills!🏃‍♀️

Bottom of NZ

Tonight we are camping in the lee of some dense bush at the bottom of South Island, just round from a point called "Chaslands Mistake"!

It's still blowing hard but with more sun than rain 😎

There are seals, dolphins and nocturnal penguins living nearby. It's wild and beautiful.

Tomorrow we plan to meet up with James and Katherine Heath, friends from home (James sailed across the Atlantic with us. Followers of the blog may recall his musings on climbing the mast mid-way...)

We will be exploring Fiordland together, starting with the Humpridge track walk over 3 days next week.

The Windy South

We were on the road for much of yesterday heading south past Dunedin to Moeraki, where there are giant round ancient boulders on the beach.  Bailey the van shuddered most of the night in a gale of 40+ knots which continued all day today. The skies have been spectacular and driving south along the coast there is mile upon mile of unspoilt, but pretty unfriendly (to boats) beach.

Land of milk and honey

Nicki has been teaching me how to make cheese: ricotta and fromage blanc so far. Their neighbour Nick is a dairy farmer so access to volumes of fresh milk is easy.

Richard and Nicki's home is remote but they are virtually self sufficient:

Eggs from their hens, honey from their bees, fruit trees bearing lemons, plums, apples and pears, a thriving veg patch with plans for a poly tunnel and fruit cage. Neighbouring farmers swap meat for Richard's latest catch of shark or crayfish.

Just no vineyard (yet!)

We had a great time staying and catching up on their Pacific island cruise on Tintin which they continued after we left last July from Fiji.

Coronavirus concerns in rural NZ

Molesworth Part 1 - out of order

To drive down the east side of South Island the main road (State Highway 1) follows to coast to Kaikoura then on to Christchurch. There is a far less travelled road, a gravel track which takes you 200km from Blenheim up into the mountains to NZ's largest working station (farm) , Molesworth station, over passes and then down to Hanmer Springs and the east coast. Our next stop is to visit Nicki and Richard (who live near Cheviot halfway down the South Island near the east coast), who sailed with us last year. So having checked the camper van insurance covered us for the remote Molesworth Road (no AA rescue or mobile coverage up there) we set off into the hills.

We passed only a few other vehicles over the 2 days on the very dusty gravel track. It is dry up in the hills on the east side. There has been little significant rainfall since October and farmers are struggling to feed their stock due to the drought. We loved the grand and remote scenery. Halfway we stopped to camp near Molesworth Station homestead at 900m. Trees in a gully gave us shade and a water hole in a stream was perfect for a dip after a dusty hot day.

The second day took us through the high plain of the station and then down the greener valleys to Hanmer Springs, a spa town with thermal baths.