I’ve spent four nights in Ngatimoti now,
and I certainly felt better today than I did yesterday. This morning I woke up
at 9:45 AM and washed up. Last night I had a dream that I was stranded in Sao
Paulo. I was ready for a walk up to Mt. Arthur because I wanted to get out
there! For brekkie I had some sourdough bread smeared with raspberry jam.
Shiloh and Lani sure know how to make some fantastic food! The other day I was
having some of their homemade apple juice. Their refrigerator is literally a
cabinet with cool-air ventilation. Libi woke up just after I did, and was ready
to go on the trek. After we ate, we packed some pears, two bottles of water,
and a jumper (sweatshirt). The weather today was perfect for climbing a
mountain. I tried to call Teressa but she hasn’t been answering her phone for
the past couple of days. Lani told us that we should get going soon because it
takes about three hours to climb up to Mt. Arthur and then three hours coming
back. At about 11:00 AM, we were on our way. Up the road we had to walk up to a
bridge about a 10 minute’s walk away. Just as we got there an elderly couple
picked us up. They were heading about halfway to the beginning of the Mt.
Arthur track. They are really well-travelled and were telling us about how they
just got back from Israel and on another trip they journeyed from Alaska to the
Panama Canal on a cruise ship. Traffic was sparse when they dropped us off, but
a jeep came down the street only a few minutes later. They were heading up to
Mt. Arthur. As we were talking, they told us that we travellers have seen more
of New Zealand than most Kiwis have. I wouldn’t tell Lance that because he’s
been to just about every nook and cranny of the country yet doesn’t have a
passport. We drove up the bumpy gravel road and passed the sign that says
Kahurangi National Park.
“Kahurangi” can either mean “treasured possession” or
“blue.” Today I was wearing my kahurangi shirt. It was noticeably cooler
because we were at an altitude of almost 1000 metres. The walk from the carpark
to the summit of Mt. Arthur would be about 4 hours. Libi saw a weka, thinking
it was a kiwi. There are kiwis (I think) living in Kahurangi National Park but
they’re much more elusive than the tokoeka. I had on my tramping boots but Libi
had on her walking shoes. She wasn’t sure if she could make it all the way to
the summit. However I was confident I could make it. The first hour of the walk
was mostly through dense bush with the occasional spectacular view. At about
1:00 PM we reached Mt. Arthur Hut, but the summit was still another 2-3 hours
away. Libi said she’s wait here if I decided to go up but I didn’t want to do
that to her. We rested for a few minutes and chatted with several other people
there. Just a short distance up the trail, we’d be above the tree line and have
a spectacular 360-degree view. So, that’s what we did. There was blue water,
blue sky, and a hint of blue in the vegetation. Altogether it puts the “blue”
in Kahurangi. For more than a half hour we just sat up there, enjoying the
view.
There aren’t many days you’ll get a view like this! We got several
photos, including one where I’m pointing out to “my land.”
It would have been
nice to get to the summit of Mt. Arthur but we were content just going this
far. A number of trampers said it’s very cold, and there was a group of 11
people; only three decided to go up to the summit. There was an 80-year old
tramper named Truman at the hut. His philosophy: either wear out or rust out.
I’d prefer the former because it’s not much fun sitting around doing nothing
with your life. We decided to go back to the carpark. It took about 45 minutes
to walk all the way back. I’ll tell you a little bit about the forests of
Kahurangi National Park. The forest is a beech forest, the most common type of
forest in New Zealand. Ancestors of the beech trees covered the ancient
supercontinent of Gondwanaland before its break-up began 80 million years ago,
and relatives of New Zealand’s five beech types are now found on other pieces
of that continent: Australia, South America, New Guinea, New Caledonia, and, in
fossil form, Antarctica. During recent ice ages, vast ice sheets covered much
of the South Island, destroying many forest and alpine communities. Kahurangi
National Park acted as a refuge for a great many plant species and today, over
half of New Zealand’s 2,400-odd native plant species are found in the park,
including a staggering 80% of all alpine species. With the introduction of many
animals, some native forest animals have been wiped out, and the forest here in
Kahurangi is likely to be different in the next hundred years or so. Kahurangi
isn’t visited as much as Fiordland or Mt. Cook National Parks, but it has its
own beauty. As Libi and I asked around for a ride, a young man from the Czech
Republic took us with him down to the main road. There were a couple of guys
(who looked a bit like bums) sitting in the grass with their apple-picking
bags. We picked them up, and they were also from the Czech Republic. Kris, the
young man who picked us up was set to go fishing in the Motueka River. He
dropped us off on the main road but I didn’t realize how far away we were from
Ngatimoti. Libi and I had to wait for another ride. Sometimes I feel like I
have better luck getting lifts when I’m with a girl but today it was a pretty
long wait. Finally we were picked up by a gentleman from the U.S. who was
heading down to Greymouth. His name is Mark and he spent the past few days up
at Golden Bay. There are still a lot of places in this area that I want to
tackle, such as Farewell Spit and a number of the tramping tracks. As a thank
you we gave Mark some of the delicious pears that are grown on the property.
Nobody was home when we got home, so Libi and I just hung out in her tent. She
ate some tuna (normally not allowed on the property) and she gave me a couple
of granola bars. We then hung out where Carey sleeps and Libi and I gave each
other a massage. It was much needed after a good walk today. Shiloh and Lani
came home about an hour after we did. Aarla and I got into a wrestling match
because I was playing with the heart-shaped greenstone. She responded by taking
the book I was reading. Afterward she got all emotional as I lay in the grass.
Aarla doesn’t have patience with me like everyone else. Dinner was cooking as
Aarla got over the argument. It was soup, mashed potatoes, and apple dumplings.
Lani said that apple dumplings are very popular in Switzerland. Everything I’ve
had here is so delicious! It is my second straight day of not drinking any Red
Bull and not spending any money. It helps a lot when I’m eating healthy with my
friends. Libi is leaving tomorrow to do some WWOOFing in Riverside, which is a
suburb of Motueka. I’ll miss her much; she said I could stay with her when I
visit Israel. Shiloh, Lani, Sylas, and everyone else have been so nice to me. I
took a shower and then went to my room at about 10:30. Tomorrow is my final
full day here in Ngatimoti and I’m not sure what I’ll be doing tomorrow. See
you soon!
