Sunday, February 12, 2006
Photo gallery is back up
Thanks to those who got in touch to let us know that the photo gallery was down. It seems that Tom (my friend who hosts the gallery) upgraded the software and needed to change the configuration. This is now done and the gallery has a spiffy new look. Check it out.
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Monday, February 06, 2006
Waiohine gorge to Totara Flats tramp (Tararua Ranges)
Our friends Odessa and Zane invited us to go on a tramp with them over the Waitangi Day long weekend. We had resolved to get into the outdoors more when we got back from the UK so eagerly accepted. We packed our travel packs with our tent, sleeping bags and bed rolls as well as enough clothing and supplies for the two day tramp and headed out to the Wairarapa on Friday night. This would be my second tramp ever, my first in NZ, and my first having to carry a heavy pack. I felt a challenge coming on! Our plan was to camp on Friday night at the beginning of the track, tramp to another camp site near the river on Saturday morning and enjoy the surroundings in the afternoon, stay the night and tramp back on Sunday.
We started walking around 8.30am. The weather was perfect, not too hot and not too cold. At the beginning of the track was a large swing bridge. The view from the bridge of the river below was fantastic. I enjoyed the beauty of the native bush but at times was not able to appreciate it fully as I found the track quite difficult. There were lots of roots and rocks to climb over, boggy patches to negotiate around (we didn't have proper tramping boots and gators), steep banks to climb up and scramble down and streams to cross. The fact that I had a heavy pack on didn't seem to bother me, in fact it helped me climb up the banks as it propelled my weight forward! The only times when it did cause me grief was when I lost my balance and slowly tipped over not able to re-adjust my weight in time. Quite a funny sight I would imagine!
Odessa and Zane are more experienced than Joseph and I so went ahead to secure a primo camp site. We were able to keep each other informed of our progress using radios. We arrived at the camp site around 1.30pm. A little native bird welcomed us with a high pitched song and we spotted its nest. After setting up our tent we went for a swim in the river. The water was chilly but refreshing. After swimming in beautiful rivers during our holiday in Golden Bay a few years ago I have always preferred swimming in rivers to the sea. This river was just as nice. The rest of the afternoon was spent chatting, snoozing, reading, gathering firewood and enjoying the beauty that surrounded us. A satisfying game of hacky preceded our dinner which was Thai green curry flavoured rice risotto and tuna accompanied by a bottle of beer and some red wine. After dinner Zane lit the camp fire. Unfortunately we had forgotten to bring some marshmallows to toast. I have never toasted marshmallows on a proper camp fire before....just over the gas stove at home. Pretty sad eh. We dragged ourselves away from the mesmerising fire to walk out to a spot where we could appreciate the stars. We all lay down in the soft, dewey, long grasses and saw two satellites and two shooting stars. Pretty cool! Until then I didn't realise that you could see satellites in the sky and had only seen one shooting star.
We woke the next morning to the sound of native bird song and cicadas on the poon. The morning started out clear but soon the clouds came in and it started to drizzle. This quashed our plans for another swim in the river so we decided to head off around 11.30am. The moisture made parts of the track slippery so we were extra careful. Unfortunately early on I momentarily lost concentration and twisted my ankle. Bummer! I was able to keep walking and took a paracetamol but had to take it really carefully after that which meant that we were very slow. Joseph also hurt himself when he slipped on a tree trunk (whilst negotiating around a boggy patch) and landed on his wrist. We arrived back at the original camp site after 5pm.
We got home tired and sore but very happy as we'd had a great time. As a beginner I felt especially satisfied and proud. Photos are in the gallery.
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We started walking around 8.30am. The weather was perfect, not too hot and not too cold. At the beginning of the track was a large swing bridge. The view from the bridge of the river below was fantastic. I enjoyed the beauty of the native bush but at times was not able to appreciate it fully as I found the track quite difficult. There were lots of roots and rocks to climb over, boggy patches to negotiate around (we didn't have proper tramping boots and gators), steep banks to climb up and scramble down and streams to cross. The fact that I had a heavy pack on didn't seem to bother me, in fact it helped me climb up the banks as it propelled my weight forward! The only times when it did cause me grief was when I lost my balance and slowly tipped over not able to re-adjust my weight in time. Quite a funny sight I would imagine!
Odessa and Zane are more experienced than Joseph and I so went ahead to secure a primo camp site. We were able to keep each other informed of our progress using radios. We arrived at the camp site around 1.30pm. A little native bird welcomed us with a high pitched song and we spotted its nest. After setting up our tent we went for a swim in the river. The water was chilly but refreshing. After swimming in beautiful rivers during our holiday in Golden Bay a few years ago I have always preferred swimming in rivers to the sea. This river was just as nice. The rest of the afternoon was spent chatting, snoozing, reading, gathering firewood and enjoying the beauty that surrounded us. A satisfying game of hacky preceded our dinner which was Thai green curry flavoured rice risotto and tuna accompanied by a bottle of beer and some red wine. After dinner Zane lit the camp fire. Unfortunately we had forgotten to bring some marshmallows to toast. I have never toasted marshmallows on a proper camp fire before....just over the gas stove at home. Pretty sad eh. We dragged ourselves away from the mesmerising fire to walk out to a spot where we could appreciate the stars. We all lay down in the soft, dewey, long grasses and saw two satellites and two shooting stars. Pretty cool! Until then I didn't realise that you could see satellites in the sky and had only seen one shooting star.
We woke the next morning to the sound of native bird song and cicadas on the poon. The morning started out clear but soon the clouds came in and it started to drizzle. This quashed our plans for another swim in the river so we decided to head off around 11.30am. The moisture made parts of the track slippery so we were extra careful. Unfortunately early on I momentarily lost concentration and twisted my ankle. Bummer! I was able to keep walking and took a paracetamol but had to take it really carefully after that which meant that we were very slow. Joseph also hurt himself when he slipped on a tree trunk (whilst negotiating around a boggy patch) and landed on his wrist. We arrived back at the original camp site after 5pm.
We got home tired and sore but very happy as we'd had a great time. As a beginner I felt especially satisfied and proud. Photos are in the gallery.
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