Cape Farewell - Christchurch
Dawnbreaker
Lars Alfredson
Tue 24 Jun 2014 10:41
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Pos 43:17.23S 172:43.15E Murchison We,ve been to some very interesting places this past week. We started by going to an old ruined town of Lyell and Zatatown. In the 1880 both town's were overrun with thousands of people looking for gold. Now all that's left is a very long walk way and a Hanging bridge over the river where gold was found so long ago. Lars started the bridge swaying while I was in the middle, I was terrified the thing would fall apart as there were only 4 steel bolts holding the bridge up, 2 on each side. It really wasn't funny. On our way to Westport we had to stop and take a picture at Kilkenny Lookout of the road ahead that had been carved out of the rock. It had been done really well and was even high enough for the larger lorries to get under as well.   The other side of the Hanging bridge and beginning of the walkway. Kilkenny Lookout and the road cut out of the mountain Before we got to Westport we made for Cape Foulwind, to check out a seal colony. Before went along the path we met some very strange birds that were very tame. We discovered they were called Weka's. The 2 in the carpark we found took food from my fingers but then we found a signpost with lots of information and on one side it said not to feed Weka's as they need to forage after their own food. Naughty me. We also found out that to see Weka's was very unusual as they are suppose to be very timid.   One of the Weka's checking me out. Feeding time for both of them. When we finally saw the seal colony it seemed to be arranged as a family. Two expected mothers were on one rock, other mothers were feeding and the babies that had their mothers going looking for food were looked after by the Big Daddy and a couple of other females. It was so beautiful to see it all happening and the baby females were marked with pink and a couple of baby boys were marked with blue. The Colony is looked after alot as they seem to be getting smaller in numbers so a close eye is kept on all the new arrivals.   Feeding time Big Daddy on the right with the whiskers and the baby playpen. From Westport we took the road down south towards Greymouth. We were only going to stay 1 night but we got caught in a terrible storm with lots of thunder and lightning. The rain just poured down and as I ask to see Shanty Town that wasn't far we stayed an extra day. We didn't do much as it rained all day and all night then suddenly it cleared and we continued on with out trip to Shanty Town and the Steam Train. When we arrived at Shanty Town it was built just like a town in 1860's with a Saloon, Hospital, Jail and Shops selling all sorts of goodies. There was even China Town and showed how the Chinese lived in those days. Terrible, with very little pay.   The Steam Train "Gertie". The Front of the train.   Our Driver getting ready to start. Shanty Town. After leaving Shanty Town I sent us down the wrong road and we ended up in what looked like a gold mining operation. We quickly turned around and went on the right road through the snowy mountains. The temperture went down fast as we went along, down to 2.5 C. We took a brief stop at "Punakaiki" and the Pancake Rocks and Blowholes. I only saw the Pancake Rocks that were layered as if they were walls of round rocks melted together. Rosie had stopped working half way along the trail so I just had a look at the first Pancake rocks that were very close. Lars went to the end and when he came back said, that the waves weren't hard enough to get through the blowholes and that they were difficult to see.   "Punakaiki entrance" The Blowholes and some of the Pancake Rocks   A better formation of the Pancake Rocks. See how they melt together.   Arthur's Pass at 920 meters, taken at Devil's Corner The snowy mountains We stopped inbetween the mountains at a Camp Ground called Springfield. It was just a little place with very few people living in the village so at night it was glorious, to see all the stars around us. It was such a clear night that I felt like I was able to nearly touch the stars they were so close. It was a beautiful sight. When we arrived at Waikuku Beach we took a look around as there wasn't anyone at the office. It was huge and took ages to get around it. I had had enough walking the past few days so I took it easy. Lars was going to check-out the beach for me and tell me if it was anything to look at. On his way back he came across a very strange looking object which we found out was a mushroom that had come from what looked like an egg and was called a "basket mushroom".  The egg on the left and the "Basket mushroom" on the right. Hope you've enjoyed this weeks adventures. More to come soon. Bye for now. Love Caroline and Lars x |