Monthly Archives: April 2013

25. Abel Tasman Coastal Track 1

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Marahau – Bark Bay (26.1 km)
Wednesday, February 27: Cloudy in the morning with a touch of drizzle, becoming clear and sunny in the course of the day
GPS Tour
Youtube Video

Was up before 7:00 to shower and pack what remained. Breakfast was unusually well populated today, and I left behind what remained of milk and bread.

Then it was time to collect the key deposit and get on the road to Marahau. Fairly slow going because of the built-up areas, and going the other way was rush hour into town and long queues. Stopped off at a supermarket in Motueka for some odd supplies and arrived in Marahau just before 10:00 at the place I had chosen for the water taxi back, bought my ticket, parked the Flying Spaghetti Monster in the long term carpark, and started walking pretty much on the dot of 10:00. Continue reading →

24. Nelson

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The Palace
Tuesday, February 26: Cloudy at first, clearing somewhat and quite warm

Today was meant as a technical day, but there was certainly a lot to do. Breakfast at 8:00 was pretty empty (the hostel here provides one, at least) and I made my coffee and a bowl of cornflakes; then some toast for which I collected my vegemite.

Washing could only be done after 12:30, so I started on transcribing the hiking diary into blog format. Rearranged the TV room to get a comfortable enough seat for typing and downloaded at least some of the outstanding podcast episodes and finished transcribing two days. Guys came in every now and then to watch something on the telly, which was really helpful. Continue reading →

23. Blenheim – Nelson

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The Palace Backpackers, 114 Rutherford St., Nelson. $56, spacious, very Victorian room with iron bedstead
Monday, February 25: Cloudy at first, becoming hot & sunny
GPS Tour
Wither Hills, drought withered, from ridge track to Mt Vernon

Wither Hills, drought withered, from ridge track to Mt Vernon

I seem to have got this organising thing under control – although it’s a lot of bags, small bags and even sub-bags. Took off down to the supermarket first thing for bread, milk and some sausage for lunch, then after breakfast acquired a BBH card. The telephone card costs 30c a minute from public telephones in addition to the 2.9c for the call, and that’s about as good as it gets. Continue reading →

22. Kaikoura – Blenheim

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The Grapevine Backpackers, 29 Park Terrace, Blenheim, $56
Sunday, February 24: Sunny throughout
GPS Tour
Kaikoura South Beach in all its glory.

Kaikoura South Beach in all its glory.

Was off just after 9:00 this morning and wanted to do the Kaikoura Peninsula Walkway again, so I parked on the Esplanade & started from there. Lovely day for the walk and the tide was low again, so I also redid the panorama. Plenty of seals about and I’m afraid at times I could neither keep the 10 m safety distance nor avoid cutting the critters off from their escape route. Continue reading →

21. Kaikoura, Mt Fyffe

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Kaikoura TOP 10
Saturday, February 23: Sunny and clear skies to begin with but clouds started forming by the afternoon as the sea wind condensed
GPS Tour
Gentians on Mt Fyffe

Gentians on Mt Fyffe

Today was the day for the Mt Fyffe ascent. Breakfast was still pretty rudimentary but managed to nab another jar of vegemite, salt, some bacon which I then fried and packed into sandwiches for the hike. A roll of gladwrap was gratefully found to wrap the sandwiches up in, and a can of waterproofing spray which would be welcome for the boots. Continue reading →

20. Waiau – Hanmer Springs – Cathedral Cliffs – Kaikoura

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Kaikoura TOP 10 Holiday Park, 34 Beach Rd. Standard cabin for $80 per night
Friday, February 22: Cloudy and cold at first with a little drizzle, clearing in the course of the day

Had a rather relaxed breakfast of vegemite on toast and coffee, and then made my way to Hanmer Springs for the divine service of the internet. Looks like I lost my hairbrush on the way out—the changeover to this new style of living out of the car and transferring most of the belongings to and fro the accommodation still has to become routine. Continue reading →

19. Christchurch – Waiau

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Waiau Motor Camp, Highfield St., double bunk room with linen and towel for $28
Thursday, February 21: Cloudy, but very warm

I was up at 7:30, and the American family that I had been told about (Zac, Mahabissa with two little girls and a baby boy of 10 weeks) were in various stages of getting up, but Matt had apparently worked until 5:00 in the morning and didn’t appear for some time.

I made avail of some muesli, the very little milk that was left, made some coffee and had some toast with vegemite and engaged Zac in conversation. There was not too much to get ready this morning, but Matt had wanted to give me some tips for which he had set a time of 9:00. Eventually he appeared and without so much as having breakfast proceeded to tell me some stuff about the tracks at the top end, some place in Punakaiki and a couple of tips for Queenstown/Wanaka. Let’s see. Continue reading →

18. Invercargill – Christchurch

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Matt’s
Wednesday, February 20: A little cloud, with the sun shining through & reasonably warm
Backside of the bottom in the deep south...

Backside of the bottom in the deep south…

Up at 7:30 for breakfast with Tina & Courtney – muesli, toast (with vegemite) & coffee. Then Tina was off to work and I set about the task of packing all the heavy stuff into the case and some overnight stuff into the rucksack. Worked OK and was able to close the case by just after 9:00, so I could have slept in. Continue reading →

17. North-West Circuit 10

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North Arm – Oban (12.2 km) – Invercargill, Tina & Tony’s
Tuesday, February 19: Overcast, with some sun appearing in the afternoon
GPS Tour
Oban panorama from the pier

Oban panorama from the pier

Up fairly early in an attempt to make it onto an earlier flight. The last of the breakfast stuff was soon eaten and again there was enough coffee for two cups, though the sugar seems to have run out. A bag of salt was used to season the egg, and everything was packed up and ready to go by 9:00.

Lucas had already left a couple of minutes prior to me; then I was off on the very well graded and gravelled Rakiura Track. Not much mud here! A couple of stops for photos – mainly snapshots – some of which would be copies of the 2009 series. On the one long wooden bridge, the compass slipped out of its holding and bounced along the bridge. My heart nearly stopped beating. But in the end the device was safe. Continue reading →