Franz Josef to Lake Mahinapua

19 June - Franz Josef. Heavy rain thundered on the roof all night and continued through the day: it can really rain here! Perfect day to visit an indoor attraction: the West Coast Wildlife Centre. Happily watched two Rowi kiwi snuffling about in the dim light of the nocturnal house. We were enchanted - the smallest kiwi is much larger than we were both expecting the birds to be, with an earthy mushroomy smell, and an eerie call that we realised we’d heard before whilst camping. They sound like the stabbing shower scene music in Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’. So glad we cleared that sound up!

20 June - Cycled to Hari Hari. Rain came down hard in the night - woke listening to it snug amongst the warm covers. There is nothing like feeling safe and warm in bed with the elements being elemental outside. As we cycled today, the rain came and went. As it eased off we climbed a brutal switchback hill before Hari Hari. Reaching Hari Hari we enjoyed the community mosaic art in the local park, and info boards on Guy Menzies, the Australian 21-year-old aviator who made the first solo flight across the Tasman Sea to NZ in 1931, crash landing in a swamp near Hari Hari.

We pulled into Hari Hari Hotel, a no-nonsense, no-frills place, with little welcome as the proprietor silently took us down back corridors of the run down hotel to show us the shower/toilet we could use (in an old disused room) and where we could camp (effectively the pub car park). Setting up camp on the sodden grass was very depressing - but the upside was hot food in the warm bar and an unusual ‘veggie burger’ experience (fried egg, tinned pineapple slice, pickled beetroot, lettuce). The place was packed with a hunting party and a handful of locals. The tent when we went to bed was dripping with moisture and starting to freeze.

21 June - Hari Hari to Lake Mahinapua. Was grim packing up as the tent and bikes were covered in a hard icy frost. We both wrestled with frozen fingers and being dispirited. Once on the bikes the mood lifted and greeted the warm sunshine, with a long panorama of mountains with their white peaks stretching out behind us. Cycling through tall thick bush was made magical with the sun piercing through the foliage. Had lunch on the beach. We enjoyed the quirky gold rush town of Ross when we reached it - a front garden full of teapots, a colourful historic pub, closed motorcycle museum, and closed gold mining visitor centre. Amazing to see old photos of Ross as it grew in the gold rush, with a peak of 3000 people in its heyday. Now a sleepy village of 300 people there are still some employed at the (much smaller) gold mine, with most people in farming and moss-picking (for Japanese orchid growers!).

10 more miles to the DoC campsite on the coast at Lake Mahinapua. We met Matt, who came over bearing cup-a-soup and told us of his 4-week holiday travelling with his family - wife and two girls - from most northerly to most southerly lighthouse. He’s not had an easy life, with experience of the army in Afghanistan, a death of a son, and discrimination for the colour of his skin. A very spiritual man he told Lilz he had good energy and gave him a stone. Beautiful encounters like this are very special.

Before bed we went down the to lakeshore and the water was so inky and still that the Milky Way was reflected in the water. I was looking down at the stars! Was totally bewitching and I was spellbound by the beauty of it. What a place.Leggi altro