Just been tramping. That doesn't mean that I have been nursing tins of Tennents extra strong lager, sleeping in doorways and mumbling incoherently (although that may be true). Tramping is the NZ word for hiking or walking.
Yesterday I finished a four day tramp around Lake Waikaremoana, which is simply gorgeous. It is a large lake about 500m above sea level in the middle of a huge area of untouched forest and bush land. Overnight you stay in huts dotted around the wlaking route, which are really just bunk rooms with a communal area for cooking and chatting. The walking was great, you could wander through the dense bush and along the lake side without seeing a single person all day. There was a side track up to a beautiful waterfall in the middle of nowhere and from the highest hut you could see Hawkes bay and the pacific ocean in one direction, with nothing but bush covered hills in the other direction. It was a real escape from the world - no mobile phone reception, no computers for miles and only rain water and stream water for drinking. Met lots of good people who were staying in the same huts as me, two of whom I had met before - which was quite bizarre! All in all, despite the tired feet, it was well worth the 40Km of riding along gravel roads to do it.
Now I am in Napier, which seems like a pretty laid back kind of town. It's stuffed full of Art Deco buildings, and is judged to be one of the finest collections of buildings of it's type anywhere in the world. I plan to stay here for a couple of days, just looking around and taking in the atmosphere before heading off again. I'm not sure where the next stop will be, but I've got a couple of days to decide . . .
I hope you're all feeling tip top and getting in the christmas spirit. The christmas parades have started up over here, but when you're wandering around in shorts and a t-shirt it all seems a tad surreal.
Anyway, have fune everyone and I'll write more rubbish soon. While I'm in Napier, I'll see if I can get more photos on the blog too.
2 comments:
In January 1945, the German submarine U862 entered the Port of Napier undetected. That event later became the basis of a widely circulated post-war myth that Kapitanleutnant Heinrich Timm took his crew ashore near Napier to milk cows to supplement their rations.
My dear David, what have you been sneaking into your nosebag apart from VB?
RDS KFC BBC SAD GIT
You really need to get yourself some further interests.
Nosebag? VB not enough? I've got some warming nicely in my tent. Guinness in Napier - wallop. The world is getting the GLC message . . .
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