Wednesday 13th
February 2008
A Magical
Day
After our
Routeburn walk we camped again at Glenorchy as it would have been a late dinner
if we had driven back to Frankton that night. We had arranged to meet Bronwyn at
1.00pm on Wednesday because she had started a new job on Sunday; working Sunday,
Monday and Tuesday nights from 7.00pm until 3.30 in the morning, so she had to
get her sleep. It was really good
of her to offer to take us to Skippers Gold Mine after her first week on
nights.
So it was up
good and early, drive back to Frankton, set up camp, (two lots of washing –all
turned pink – I have to be careful now in the shower wearing my pink under
pants), shop for our evening meal at the mine, have lunch and be ready before
one o-clock. Phew! Bit of a
scramble but we were ready.
Bronwyn
arrived in pretty good shape, despite her new work regime, and we set off for
the hills. In less than 10 minutes
we turned onto a dirt road and stopped almost immediately and we were ‘Miles
High’, or so it seemed. It was a
180º panorama over looking a deep valley in which Frankton and Queenstown
nestled at the head of the lake with the mountains behind. And then the journey really
started.
We didn’t
realise how tightly God had packed these hills together? Our driving so far had shown us hills
and mountains with flat bottomed valleys in between. But here the valley bottom was very
narrow and mountain sides went
almost vertically straight down and straight up with no gap in between – and
they were mountains – and they were very high – and our road was a little ledge
cut into the side of these mountains.
This road - no track - was a
little wider than our 4x4 and very steep.
It hugged closely the intricate shapes of the mountain with very tight
turns where you could easily over-run and leap into space. It was stony, rutted, dusty and we
couldn’t imagine what it would have been like in the
wet.
We climbed
higher and higher and the drop to the bottom got deeper and deeper but our
driver was fantastic. Not once did
we think --- argh! Or look on with fear, but enjoyed every minute of it. Mostly in 1st or
2nd gear it took us nearly 2 hours to reach the mine. A pretty tough drive for
Bronwyn.
When we
arrived at Skippers there wasn’t a sole to be seen, then Bronwyn got a message
to say Stewart had taken his volunteers on an outing to another section of the
mine as reward for their good work.
Bronwyn went for a well deserved rest in Stewart’s tent and Mags and I
went exploring.
There is too much to
describe to do justice to the village and mine community that Stewart is
restoring but one thing that struck Mags was the picture on the school wall of
the children and the teacher in the 1890’s. It was almost a double of the picture in
West
Bretton
School at the turn of
the century.
When the team
returned they did another hours work and then we joined them for their evening
meal. This was a very enjoyable
occasion when we were fully accepted into their circle and where we learnt and
exchanged information.
It was 8.30
before we set off back along the Skippers track, the light was still good but it
had taken on a golden hue and this really made the mountains glow. We expected a steady drive back but as
the dusk fell the track seemed to be alive with hares who went up the sides or
over the edge with impunity.
Rounding one sharp bend we came face to face with a beautiful stag who
delighted us by staying long enough to give us a good view and some memorable
photos.
It was getting
quite dark now and we were on one of the most shear sections of the track when
on a blind bend we stopped dead – nose to nose with another vehicle! Bronwyn said “She’s a local and will
know what to do so we will wait”.
She was right the other vehicle backed smartly until we reach a place to
pass – I was amazed - it was an ordinary hatch saloon car!!!!! We drove on to
the same view of Frankton and Queenstown but now twinkling
below.
When Bronwyn dropped us off
back at the Caravan
Park and we were
saying our farewells we felt as though we were old friends and had known one
another for years; Stewart and Bronwyn had made us so welcome. We thank them most sincerely for their
generous hospitality.
A special
Day,
Roger &
Mags; Mum & Dad
