Following the Bait Lines

Gollan's Creek

 We are on level three lockdown in New Zealand so I have plenty of time to blog some of my older hikes.

This one started as a planned brushcrash to take me to a pretty valley off the trail.  After I did a bit of reasearch on the net I discovered that my planned route was on a bait and trap line.  So this would not be a brush crash but would be nice and quiet.

I'm really starting to like the bait and trap lines, the lines are just barely trails and they don't get visited much.  They have the same solitude advantages as brush crashing but with much less risk.

I had trouble staying on route though, a lot of trouble!  I went way to far to the right and I kept crossing ridge after ridge on the left trying to fix my course.  How could I be so many ridges off?  Back home I can clearly see my track log so I know what happened.  Finally I found the correct line and down I headed only to find that I had gotten off the line yet again!  More backtracking and I was on the right line again and did not lose it. By this time it was 2pm.  I debated coming back to do this another day, but I went for it.

What a pretty spot I found and I had it all to myself!  I lingered and had lunch but I had to hurry to get back off the trap line before dark. I did not want to risk getting lost off trail.  My delorme battery was dead and I did not have a cord for it.

I'll be back!

3.5 miles with 1,400 feet gain on this up and down route

Trip to the South Island and lock down

 
We got in a quick but good trip to the South Island of  New Zealand.  Covid was found in the country the second to last day of our trip and the entire country went into lock down the last day of our trip.  We were lucky that we already had a flight home and our vacation was not really impacted by the trip.  Everyone was given 48 hours to get home.  After that all travel was to stop.

I went to Christchurch and spent 3 nights then I spent two nights in Dunedin and two nights in Invercargill.  Our trip included tagging the south tip of the south island, that is by far the furthest south I have ever been.  But it was still closer to the equator than my home in Seattle.  Seattle is a lot further North than most people realize.

This first batch of photos is from a place called Castle Hill, it is about an hour outside of Christchurch

 

The northern part of the South Island on my flight to Christchurch

Percy's reserve Petone city park walk

 

Putangirua Pinnacles Scenic Reserve

 

We spent the night at Lake Ferry hotel.  We had a charming room with a fireplace.  Good that it had a fireplace, buildings in New Zealand are basically just wooden tents.  We had a shared bathroom and shower facilities with the rest of the hotel.  We also had a wonderful fish and chip dinner at the hotel restaurant.  Then in the morning we felt so sluggish but we got up anyway and hike around the Pinnacles.  

We had the campground at the start of the trail to ourselves at first and when we first got out of the car I could swear that I smelled sage brush.  I felt like I was in eastern Washington.  Australian magpies we singing from the bush and their delightful songs echoed in the valley. 

I wanted to take the low trail, Abra wanted to take the high trail, so we took both.  I wanted to walk in the pinnacles Abra wanted to look down on them. Admittedly the view from above was better.  But I would still have wondered what it would be like to walk among them if we had not gone up the riverbank first.

There were clam and snail fossils everywhere!  They were all in rocks that were far too big to take home so they were left for everyone to enjoy.   We had lunch and coffee under the sand and rock towers and then climbed up the look out and then we walked back down to the car via the ridge track.

We agreed that we were glad that we took the river up and the ridge down.  The ridge track was steep.

3 miles with 1,100 feet elevation gain for the day. 

Some pictures from our walk to a seal colony off the Wainuiomata coast road.  We will be back to look for seals when we have more time.