We wake to the sound of peacocks screeching and roosters crowing. That's just fine by me, I'm generally up early (the first usually). I make a stiff cup of coffee and throw on my leggings and jacket and watch the sun come over the harbor and the hills. It's a few cold steps to the outdoor loo and the outdoor faucet is icy cold. I love it! Yesterday, we packed our day sack and headed out for an all day hike all along the hills above the harbor--through farm land and stands of cypress and eucalyptus and wide open views of the harbor and the ocean. We are among hundreds of sheep--sometimes right in our path. They immediately get up, look at us in such a quizzical way but then move on. Maybe they think all humans are out to shear them. It is just past the lambing season and so there are all these sweet little lambs with their long tails--not yet bobbed. Oh, I just want to pick one up and squeeze it. There is dung everywhere and pretty soon you just give up dodging it. The wind whips us around at certain turns and then quiets next to the stands of trees. We had been told about one particular trail that we decided to follow. After about 1 1/2 hrs. we come to where the track stops and we scramble through high grass, then down rocks and finally down into a broad gully that has water streaming down towards the ocean and the largest stand in NZ of a particular kind of palm tree. We are literally climbing over large rocks in parts and it is much darker and jungle like. We finally see the opening on a bluff over the water where I manage to get stung yet again by stinging nettle. Oh God, that hurts. I've never been stung in the US, but here I've had three run-ins. Yowzers. We take our lunch here sitting on a boulder. We need to turn around in order to avoid getting stuck out here. Long, but beautiful hike.
Our new friend who has the breeding farm had sent us off with fresh eggs and I whipped up a yummy omelet. The sunset was beautiful coming down over the hills and the harbor waters turned from turquoise to indigo blue. Some new hostelers came in from Antarctica. They had spent a year on the ice. Another person (a zoologist) from the Czech Republic came in also. So many interesting people to meet. One of the helpers here is from Florence OR--small world.
This morning we had planned to go across the island to Le Bons Bay to sit on the beach and relax. We were also going to go to a reserve in the summit hills. Day starts with showering outside. The shower is built of rough sawn lumber with irregular spacing. The "sink" has a depth of one hand turned sideways. There is a window with peeling blue paint that looks out to the harbor in the distance. There are pipes and cords every which way--evidence of the evolution of this place and design through necessity. But!!! the shower is good and hot. Light comes through the corrugated acrylic panels above. Vines seeking water are climbing through the space at the top of the shower. I really want to build something like this. I'm not sure that is possible anywhere but here. There are no spiders, no snakes, no rodents to crawl through the cracks. Oh, well. . .we start driving up through narrow, winding roads into a dense fog. It is pretty scary--no guardrails, no shoulder--enough room for one car, not two. I'm not sure what I would do if I met another car on the road. It is a slow long drive to the bay. The beach is beautiful but windy and cold. I put on leggings, wool socks, boots, a skirt over that, two layers on top and a down jacket. Now, I can enjoy the walk along the beach. We head back over and stop at the reserve. It is so fogged in that we decided to just nap. We rolled the seats back, cracked the windows just a bit (but not enough to let the water in) and snooze for a hour or so. Eat some snacks and muster up the courage to drive back down. It is sunny down at the harbor--why did we leave. I burn through my internet time by helping some Dutch grandmother write an email on my account (her grandson responded to my address and there is no way that I could interpret it, nor track down his "oma"). We grab some items at the very expensive local grocery and come back up the hill to make supper. Lentil soup and garlic bread taken on a weather worn picnic bench in the late rays of the day. Wood stove is cranking good and hot. Lots of laughing and chattering in different languages (mostly German), people playing cards . ..we leave in the morning and head down the coast to Oamaru. We plan on seeing the yellow eyed penguins at dusk before staying the night in a hostel between Oamaru and Dunedin. Then onto the Moeraki Boulders and Dunedin and the Otago Peninsula. Joel is growing his beard and looking like a wild man. We are having so much run and feeling so lucky. Love to all, Linda
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