Terraces

The Manawatu Gorge road has been blocked by a huge slip for months now, and it will be months before it re-opens. You can catch a glimpse of the slip-face from the first lookout when you climb up on the Gorge walking track.

Contractors have been cutting a series of terraces into the hillside to improve its stability, but today was the first time I have been able to see signs of that from the lookout. They are now down to bench 4 or 5...

Out and About

In just over three months time I am heading off to France for some more walking, some of which will be quite 'hilly', so I have been 'out and about' walking, trying to get fitter. Here are just a few views from along some of the ways I have walked...

 This old fencepost on the Turitea Walkway sits amidst some of the lush grass growth 

we have had after the rains we had in November.

 On Himatangi Beach I saw many lined up along the short stretch of river, 

hoping to catch a few whitebait.

 Climbing up Turitea-Green's Rd gives me lots of up-and-down hills practice.

 Signs of summer- there were lots of spider nests on the long grass.

 Blechnum capense was the name I learned back in high school for this fern 

whose orange-edged fronds I love. It has a new botanical name now, but I can never remember it!

 From a high point on Green's Rd, I can see where I am about to descend down the road- 

only to climb up again just around the next bend. Truly, good practice for the Cluny route!

 This is the highest point along Green's Rd before I descend again to Kahuterawa Rd. 

The sign is showing that this is part of the Te Araroa Walkway down the length of New Zealand. 

 Back down on Kahuterawa Rd, a sign that summer is advancing:
the hay has been cut and baled from this paddock.

 Finally I got back onto the Gorge Walkway, which gives me more practice up hills and down...

The Gorge road is closed at present by this huge, unstable slip, which is taking months to clear.
But you can still walk the walking track- it's just not quite so easy to leave a car at each end
if a group want to walk the whole track in one direction.

Ups and Downs

This time in five months, I am going to be in Singapore for a day, en route to Paris, before I head on to Cluny, where I will begin walking. Five months has a definite kind of 'urgent' ring about it, in terms of 'It is well past time to get fitter and I will be walking tomorrow rain or shine!' Thank goodness it was drizzling, rather than all out raining when I woke this morning...

I've been reliably informed- by someone who has already walked the routes, that the route from Cluny to  Le Puy is much hillier than what I encountered further south from Le Puy to Santiago last time. So, hills it is. I live in a city that is very flat, on a flood plain- but a major fault line lies not far to the east, so there are hills and ranges right on the eastern edge of the city. And there are walkways straddling a major hill near the university, and it is there that I intend to do a lot of uphill and downhill walking in the coming months.

 This morning I parked on a side road from where I could join the Turitea Walkway halfway along. The first bit of the track climbs through some lovely bush.

 Before very long the track emerges out onto farmland, where the view today was of a drizzly haze over the hills. I am sure the Irish must have a word for this gentle, barely-there kind of rain.

 The sun wasn't out, but even on a dull day you could see shadows on the pond, and so many different kinds of plants seemed to be in this pond. There used to be a pair of ducks that hung out here- I wonder where they have gone. The pond looked oddly empty without them.

It's funny, even when you have walked a track a few times, there are always new things that jump out at your eyes. I had never noticed the orange bits on some of the broom flowers before.

And another surprise was the amount of fungi I saw today. I really only expect to see them like this in autumn.

I'll be back on these tracks a lot in the coming months, so you might get to see more photos from here...

286: rock climbers

I don't usually put many 'people' shots on here but here is one exception. Had a lovely little 'adventure' in downtown Wellington with my two nieces. What was one of their favourite activities? Climbing all over the three large rocks outside Te Papa. This beautiful specimen happens to have originated from Mt Egmont- it's andesite.

Volcanic Plateau

This photo shows Mt Ruapehu with Mt Ngauruhoe in the background- as seen from the Desert Rd last week, before the latest snow storm.

Thanks to my photography tutor I was able to stitch photos together for this landscape :-)

203: Champagne Pool

Champagne Pool at Wai-o-tapu. For me, this shows the thermal wonders of the Rotorua area at their most magnificent.
(You used to be able to take photos closer to the edge, but this guard fence is an addition since last time I visited.)

Orakei Korako

En route between Taupo and Rotorua today, I diverted off the main highways to visit Orakei Korako, a thermal park I had never visited before. What a treasure it was! When you arrive you see steam rising from the bush across a lake, but you really have no idea how extensive the park is going to be. Access is via a short boat trip over the lake, then most of the track is on boardwalk. That might sound 'modern' and 'contrived', but in fact you feel like you have stepped back into some kind of primitive pre-history.
There was so much to see, and I spent much longer there exploring than I thought that I would: these photos just give you a sample.

 One of the amazing features of this park is the amount of coloured thermal algae.

 Steam rises into the air over a large area, but native bush also thrives.

 I don't know whether the thermal environment had anything to do with this or not, but I liked the combination of lines and bubbles. (I presume it is a spiderweb, but I might be quite wrong.)

 Coloured rock, coloured algae, steam.... in so many different ways....

One thing that surprised me was how much bubbling hot water there was.

This fault scarp dated back to 131AD and near it there were small geysers blowing water out quite often.

This was called the Artist's Palette.

 Here is one of the small geysers blowing boiling water forth on the upper plateau- a place to view from above, not to walk across...

One of the pools with boiling mud puddles. Apparently there is more mud action when there has been rain, so winter is a better time to see these looking active. (Check back later for a short bit of video action!)

 So many viewpoints- so much to see...

Then when you think you have nearly finished and seen it all, you pass by this exquisite pool with very hot water bubbling forth.

I loved it at Orakei Korako. There were quite a few visitors, but it never felt crowded. And it felt like I had truly stepped back in time.
Just to finish off- a short bit of video clip of some of the boiling goings-on.

201: Mt Ngauruhoe

Today I traveled north on the Desert Rd, and the volcanoes of the Volcanic Plateau were looking resplendent in their winter snow-cover. Here is a photo of one of those volcanoes, Mt Ngauruhoe.
Later I visited the thermal park of Orakei Korako- and there's a Nomad post coming about the treasures there!

117: little treasures

Little treasures collected on various walks.
And yes, it's still raining and cold outside... hence a 'still-life'. You'll know what's in my whole house by the time winter is over :-)

54: Perspective

Spire of Christchurch Anglican Cathedral, 10 January 2011

There was no heart in me to take a photo today. 
This is from January in Christchurch.

This spire and part of this cathedral collapsed yesterday,
and possibly people were trapped in the rubble.

The Christchurch earthquake puts life in perspective.

Much love to friends and family.

Sympathy to all those bereaved, RIP.

Back to the Manawatu Gorge

When I broke my wrist last year, there was a long descriptive paragraph came back from Radiology that the Dr sensibly translated at the time as 'nasty'.  But with good hospital treatment, and lots of hard work from a wonderful physio, my hand is pretty functional again. Surprisingly, what has taken longer than I expected, was getting my confidence back with certain physical activities. My brain has kept on wanting to protect my arm from further injury...

However, today was the day for me to get over another one of those heebeegeebee moments and head up onto the Manawatu Gorge track. I walked this track lots early in 2008, when I was preparing to walk the Camino. (From road level, you climb up onto a ridge, so that is good aerobic exercise.) There are new signs along the track now, so now I know it is 10.1km long- I never realised it was quite that far. I seldom walk the whole track in any case, as it isn't a loop. Usually I walk in for 1, 2 or 3 hours, then out again.

I had my camera with me, since I am doing the 365 challenge this year where I take a photo each day. And I had been thinking it might be time I added another landscape photo into the mix... but as it turned out, I got quite distracted by the fungi along the way.

Even these dying ones look rather beautiful.

Today I only intended to walk to a certain log that is my 'one hour' marker. It took me one and a quarter hours. I don't think I was walking more slowly than normal- I think it was all the 'photo opportunities' I kept taking...

This is the view down from the first lookout, to the White Horse Rapids below. (I never knew they were called that before- but they have new signs up along the track now, so now I know!)

I have never before seen as many drupes, mainly from tawa, as I saw today. There is a lot of work being done in this area to restore biodiversity, and getting rid of possums and other predators is one of the strategies being used. Maybe that is part of the reason for the abundance of fruit.

 

In places, there are quite a few tree ferns along the track, a part of our native bush I love.

 

And there were many tawa standing along the way, tall and straight. 

I so much enjoyed being back in the bush today, and won't leave it too long before I head up there for a longer walk. I have to say, as I am just 'getting back into it', my body gave me a wonderful buzz of endorphins today as well, with the steady climbing. Two incentives to get back there!

10: Earthquake damage in Christchurch

A sculpture with several human figures 

decorates the props for an earthquake-damaged building in Christchurch.

Downtown in Christchurch, life has returned to 'normal' for many businesses, but signs of the major earthquake are still obvious. Many of the most damaged buildings in the quake area are older brick or stone buildings. Some have been demolished, and only 'gaps' remain. Others are closed with red-stickers, some of those closed only since Boxing Day when a strong shallow aftershock hit the central city. This historic stone building has been propped up, and some-bodies have 'decorated' the props with sculpture.

Taken 10:59am 10.01.2011;    Canon PowerShot SX20 IS

Shutter: 1/640     Aperture: f/5.7    Focal length: 88.18mm      ISO:160

The French presence

After visiting Onuku I headed back to Akaroa -still before the heat of the day and the later rush of fellow tourists -to see a little more of the French connection.

My first stop en route back to town, was to the Catholic part of the Akaroa cemetery. I had visited here once before, as one of my great-uncles married a woman who hailed from here, and I had previously found her parents' headstone. Her father was named François, so I have presumed he is quite possibly French.

I was very surprised by what I saw in the cemetery. Akaroa is not all that close to Darfield where the recent huge earthquake was centred, and I wasn't expecting to find a damaged headstone. But there was in fact considerable damage to the headstone I was seeking, and to many others in the cemetery.

 

Yes, maybe this is a bit of a cliché shot, with the agapanthus flowers in front of the harbour view- but I am sure you don't mind seeing another pic of this beautiful harbour.

On the outskirts of Akaroa, near the coastline, is the 'Britomart' memorial, and it commemorates the raising of the British flag here in Akaroa.

The British flag was raised here on 11 August 1840, just days before the arrival of the French ship, L'Aube, carrying the first French settlers to the South Island.

 

In the centre of the Akaroa township, a different flag flies near the place where it is believed that the first French settlers came ashore.  Here the French are celebrated.

Whatever political power ploys were in action in 1840, today Akaroa is proud of the French part of its heritage.

(You can read more about the French colonists in Akaroa here.)