OK, so I left off here:
Karioi, the mountain behind Whaingaroa. Fresh from Alex's hot tub and with beef sandwich from the bakery in hand off I set for the summit and possibly Anna, Bexie, Merren and some dead Stoats. Setting off at a march to make up for being about 3 hours behind them I'd soon worked up a sweat. Added to the workout I'd had in the surf, when I met them and they were heading back down, I almost turned around and descended with them. Apparently the view was spectacular and worth the effort so onwards I stomped. Boy, were they right! Below are a few of the many, many, photos I took. I suggest you use Googlemaps to look for the names I mention and to get an idea of just how far you could see from the summit that day.
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| Mount Ruapehu and Mount Tongariro with their winter plumage |
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| Mount Pirongia |
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| The windfarm and Maungatautari 'inland island' nature reserve |
The Maungatautari 'inland island' nature reserve is quite a project. There's a dirty great fence all 'round it more impenetrable than Glastonbury's. Every non-native animal within has (allegedly) been eliminated allowing New Zealand's native species some chance to live, pro-create and continue eking out an existence on this planet.
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| South looking at the 10km Ruapuke beach, on past Albatross point and out to Mount Taranaki |
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| Whaingaroa / Raglan |
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| Mount Taranaki |
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| Mount Ruapehu again |
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| Aotea and Kawhia Harbours |
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| Ruapuke again |
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| The moon and the windfarm |
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| Add caption yourself |
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| West coast North past Mussel Rock perhaps as far as Port Waikato |
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| Rags again |
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| South. Erm, that's the best I can manage sorry |
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| Communications. Or maybe there's a telly up here? |
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| A land dominated by man, even though it's sparsely populated |
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| Raglan harbour |
After stomping up, I took my time, and some photos, on the way back down.
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| Growth |
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| Typical NZ 'Tramping' view. Keep the orange markers in sight |
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| Yellow Leaf. Umm, not a very original caption, sorry. |
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| The Southern end of Ruapuke |
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| Tree fern |
And so, to dinner. Bexie cooked for us at house she's sitting. Great views, great space but its an open-plan dutch-barn. So even though its double-glazed and has the ultimate NZ status symbol - a wood burner - its still bloody freezing. All the heat goes up. And it has a long way to go up...
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| kitchen, dining area, cat and Bexie |
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| And sitting area and Anna |
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| The house was so big this was how I got around the place. If I lived here I'd spend most of my life looking for stuff... |
In sharp contrast to my opinion of NZ architectural and building prowess, Bexie's grub was tasty and a fine way to end a fine weekend. Thanks Bexie :)
