On Sunday morning we drove a short ways north along the coast and then turned off onto this unsealed road into Jurassic Park.
We half expected T-Rex to come out from behind a fern and swallow the Honda Fit. But that didn't happen. We just drove along very slowly, bumping up and down, scraping the crap out of the undercarriage of the little car. At one point we heard something dragging and panicked, but it was only a stick. phew. This drive made us really miss our old Subaru Outback. Oh 'ru, how we loved you. But nevermind.
We half expected T-Rex to come out from behind a fern and swallow the Honda Fit. But that didn't happen. We just drove along very slowly, bumping up and down, scraping the crap out of the undercarriage of the little car. At one point we heard something dragging and panicked, but it was only a stick. phew. This drive made us really miss our old Subaru Outback. Oh 'ru, how we loved you. But nevermind.We made it to the trail head. This is the start of a walk to Cave Creek. DOC (NZ's department of conservation, the poster of the sign) says it will take an hour, which probably means more like 30 minutes. DOC's estimates always seem to be for the slowest, most disabled walkers.
Lots of greenery along the way. We saw a few flowers blooming too, including buttercups and these pretty white flowers growing on a vine.
We made it to Cave Creek in about 35 minutes. Cave Creek was a pleasant surprise. It was a gorge full of giant, moss-covered rocks. It was a fantastic place that made you kind of feel like a midget.
On the way here, we had seen a plaque memorialising the death of 14 people. There was no information about how they had died. Gareth investigated when we got home and learned about the Cave Creek Disaster. The 14 people died while standing on a wooden viewing platform that had been negligently constructed by DOC. This was a bit disturbing as we had climbed down wooden stairs to get to Cave Creek. It sounds like they've sorted it now and stopped using nails in place of bolts... But this is an important reminder of the other, darker side of the Kiwi "she'll be right" attitude - sometimes she isn't right.
Lots of greenery along the way. We saw a few flowers blooming too, including buttercups and these pretty white flowers growing on a vine.
We made it to Cave Creek in about 35 minutes. Cave Creek was a pleasant surprise. It was a gorge full of giant, moss-covered rocks. It was a fantastic place that made you kind of feel like a midget.
On the way here, we had seen a plaque memorialising the death of 14 people. There was no information about how they had died. Gareth investigated when we got home and learned about the Cave Creek Disaster. The 14 people died while standing on a wooden viewing platform that had been negligently constructed by DOC. This was a bit disturbing as we had climbed down wooden stairs to get to Cave Creek. It sounds like they've sorted it now and stopped using nails in place of bolts... But this is an important reminder of the other, darker side of the Kiwi "she'll be right" attitude - sometimes she isn't right.Moving on...
We then took our packed picnic along with us to Truman's Track. This was a short stroll through the bush to Truman's beach. For me, this was the highlight of the weekend. This beach was just awesome.
We found this great big flat boulder to sit on for lunch. Perfect!
There was a lovely little waterfall trickling down from the cliff above. We explored the area, finding pretty rocks and shells and other, less pretty things. Kirsteen holds up some dead seaweed.
The ocean was pretty rough and crashing against the shore and rocks. Again, probably not a good swimming beach. It was more the kind of beach that you just sit back and look at.
On Monday, we had a nice pancake breakfast (gotta have pancakes at pancake rocks) and then headed back home. We stopped here first though. This place was called "foul wind bay" or something. The wind seemed alright to us though. And apparently it seemed alright to the seals who have set up a colony there.
We were getting a little camera weary by this point and didn't take too many photos of the journey over Lewis Pass. Actually, we didn't take ANY photos of that part of the journey... I can tell you though that it looked a lot like Idaho and that it was gorgeous. We saw some nice areas along the way that deserve further exploration, so we'll definitely be back in those parts. And we'll bring the camera...
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