Well the 1st item on the agenda today was to get the tire on the car fixed. Marlo took off to go to the information center to figure out what we should do today and I drove about 200 ft around the block to the auto place, they told me they couldn’t patch the tire so I had to buy a new one and it would take them about 30 minutes. So I left them to do their work and walked around the corner and found Marlo at the info center, where she was discussing the local hikes with the lady working there. We ended up deciding to take a walk to the end of the cape kidnappers, which was about 10 miles or so away, she told us the walk was pretty long, about 10 kilometers each way, but it went right along the shoreline next to the cliffs out to the point. On our way back to pick up the car we stopped at a possum store, they had all kinds of things from sweaters to throws made out of possum skin. Possums are everywhere out here, but they aren’t quite like the ones in the states, they aren’t as menacing looking. The pelts are soft too, but the sweaters were a bit pricey so I passed. No need to pay that much for something made from a possum.
When we got to the auto place the car was all ready to go, so it didn’t end up holding us back much at all, just setting us back about $80 or so. I’ll know when I see the exchange rage AMEX gives me.
On the way out to the hike we stopped at one of the wineries that was right on the way. This region is known for it’s wine, so we had to give some a try. Just like by us, the tasting was free, so that was nice. The wine wasn’t too bad, it was actually pretty good, but we didn’t have too much of it since we had to head out on a long hike. We bought some bread and spreads to eat while on the hike and headed out to the starting point.
We drove out to start the hike, which began at a trailer park. They actually give you guidelines based upon the tides that dictate when you can do this walk. The times vary each day since so
do the tides. Today you had to wait til 11:15 before you could start, which is pretty much exactly the time we got out there. You had to start your walk back from the end of the cape no later than 4PM to avoid being stranded out there all night by high tide. We didn’t plan to come anywhere close to staying that long, we figured it’d be a 2 to 2 ½ hour walk each way, so we could get back by 4:00 or so. It was funny to walk through a New Zealand version of a trailer park, there was no evidence of white trash present, it was very neat and clean. Not what you’d expect to see if you were stateside.
When you began the walk you could look out at the cliffs and beach we’d be walking along to get to the end, the cape at the end, and it looked a LONG way out there. But the walk was great, the cliffs were probably 200 to 250 ft tall and were all sorts of colors from grey clay to reds and tans. The colors were in large bands, I’m assuming depending upon age and what type of rock they were. The water basically comes right up to the base of the cliffs, which is why you have to do this walk during low tide, otherwise there’d be no beach to walk on. We were right in our guess, it took about 2 hours to get out to the end, where we had our lunch and then went a bit further to get to the very tip of the cape. We had to climb up to the top of the cliffs at that point to get to the reserve that is for the Gannet breeding, these are colorful sea birds that all nest
right at the end of the cape. There were thousands of them, all sitting on their nests (it is spring here remember). They weren’t afraid of people at all and would come swooping right over your head to find their mates sitting on their eggs. The views from up here were really good. Also of note, once we left the beach area to climb up the cliff to the top, part of that walk was actually through pasture full of sheep and cows, the cows were really curious and actually began coming towards us like they were threatening. Once we turned and faced them they ran the other way.
The walk back was quicker since we didn’t stop to eat or take many pictures. We got back
around 4:30 and instantly took off the shoes and put on the sandals, the feet were ready to feel some air. We figured the total walk was around 14 miles, so we were a bit fatigued. The weather was PERFECT again, it’s really unbelievable how great it’s been for us, all anyone ever told us was to get ready for rain. I’m sure we’ll get our share, but it hasn’t happened yet. Today was actually warm, we both bit sunburn despite coating ourselves in sun block.
We had planned to go to a winery afterwards, but we were kinda sweaty and just wanted to shower so we went back to our B&B to get cleaned up before going out to find dinner. Nothing too major happened for the rest of the day, we went to the irish bar from yesterday and had 1 beer since neither of us was hungry enough for dinner yet. We ended up at a Mongolian BBQ which was really good, but tons of food, now I’m totally stuffed but don’t feel guilty about it since I walked 14 miles today and have only eaten some bread and my breakfast.
Red Sox win the World Series in a clean sweep of the lowly Colorodo Rockies. Can any national league team compete? Guess not. I also saw the Patriots trounced Washington by like 50 pts.
The plan tomorrow is to get up whenever we wake and get out of here and begin our 4 hour drive south to Wellington which is where we’ll take the ferry to the south island in two days. We plan to take the drive slowly and stop at several places along the way.
When we got to the auto place the car was all ready to go, so it didn’t end up holding us back much at all, just setting us back about $80 or so. I’ll know when I see the exchange rage AMEX gives me.
On the way out to the hike we stopped at one of the wineries that was right on the way. This region is known for it’s wine, so we had to give some a try. Just like by us, the tasting was free, so that was nice. The wine wasn’t too bad, it was actually pretty good, but we didn’t have too much of it since we had to head out on a long hike. We bought some bread and spreads to eat while on the hike and headed out to the starting point.
We drove out to start the hike, which began at a trailer park. They actually give you guidelines based upon the tides that dictate when you can do this walk. The times vary each day since so
do the tides. Today you had to wait til 11:15 before you could start, which is pretty much exactly the time we got out there. You had to start your walk back from the end of the cape no later than 4PM to avoid being stranded out there all night by high tide. We didn’t plan to come anywhere close to staying that long, we figured it’d be a 2 to 2 ½ hour walk each way, so we could get back by 4:00 or so. It was funny to walk through a New Zealand version of a trailer park, there was no evidence of white trash present, it was very neat and clean. Not what you’d expect to see if you were stateside.When you began the walk you could look out at the cliffs and beach we’d be walking along to get to the end, the cape at the end, and it looked a LONG way out there. But the walk was great, the cliffs were probably 200 to 250 ft tall and were all sorts of colors from grey clay to reds and tans. The colors were in large bands, I’m assuming depending upon age and what type of rock they were. The water basically comes right up to the base of the cliffs, which is why you have to do this walk during low tide, otherwise there’d be no beach to walk on. We were right in our guess, it took about 2 hours to get out to the end, where we had our lunch and then went a bit further to get to the very tip of the cape. We had to climb up to the top of the cliffs at that point to get to the reserve that is for the Gannet breeding, these are colorful sea birds that all nest
right at the end of the cape. There were thousands of them, all sitting on their nests (it is spring here remember). They weren’t afraid of people at all and would come swooping right over your head to find their mates sitting on their eggs. The views from up here were really good. Also of note, once we left the beach area to climb up the cliff to the top, part of that walk was actually through pasture full of sheep and cows, the cows were really curious and actually began coming towards us like they were threatening. Once we turned and faced them they ran the other way.The walk back was quicker since we didn’t stop to eat or take many pictures. We got back
around 4:30 and instantly took off the shoes and put on the sandals, the feet were ready to feel some air. We figured the total walk was around 14 miles, so we were a bit fatigued. The weather was PERFECT again, it’s really unbelievable how great it’s been for us, all anyone ever told us was to get ready for rain. I’m sure we’ll get our share, but it hasn’t happened yet. Today was actually warm, we both bit sunburn despite coating ourselves in sun block.We had planned to go to a winery afterwards, but we were kinda sweaty and just wanted to shower so we went back to our B&B to get cleaned up before going out to find dinner. Nothing too major happened for the rest of the day, we went to the irish bar from yesterday and had 1 beer since neither of us was hungry enough for dinner yet. We ended up at a Mongolian BBQ which was really good, but tons of food, now I’m totally stuffed but don’t feel guilty about it since I walked 14 miles today and have only eaten some bread and my breakfast.
Red Sox win the World Series in a clean sweep of the lowly Colorodo Rockies. Can any national league team compete? Guess not. I also saw the Patriots trounced Washington by like 50 pts.
The plan tomorrow is to get up whenever we wake and get out of here and begin our 4 hour drive south to Wellington which is where we’ll take the ferry to the south island in two days. We plan to take the drive slowly and stop at several places along the way.
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