First proper day exploring. After giving up trying to sleep at 5.30 am we thought we'd sort out our packs for a walk. Somehow that took 4 hours! Well, Breakfast, showers etc happened somewhere in that. Once sorted, with Hannah fashioning a way to attach Dave's camera bag (involving carabiners and cord!) we were ready to roll.
We headed over to Akaroa, which is a peninsula made out of a couple of volcanos. We picked a walk (the one with the biggest hill of course!) and had a lovely knackering day in the sunshine.
Then, on the way back, we discovered Frank Worsley's birth place. He was captain of the Endurance. If you've not heard the story of what happened to him and Ernest Shackleton then go look it up.
This place is still feeling very much like Hawaii so far. It will be all change when we head to Arthur's Pass tomorrow.
Ahhh that looks a bit more like it doesn't it. Sort of Hawaii-meets-Exmoor, with spectacular clarity and not a single ISO container in sight. If that big sack is for a day hike, I hate to think what it'll be like for the big ones...
ReplyDeleteAt work tomorrow so will try to drum up some more enthusiastic commenters.
Keep blogging away!
Oh and ps - amazing that Commander Worsley lived to a reasonably good age, considering the privations. And even more amazing how recently he died For some reason - I suppose it's those pictures of the Endurance in the ice looking (to the deeply uninformed) as though it could have come from any time from 1700 onwards - it's easy to forget how recently people got to the really tricky bits on our own planet.
DeleteI wonder if Mrs Chippy's birthplace is recorded anywhere...
The packs were somewhat larger than was necessary as we figured that we should still be in training for the big ones. And if my shoulder is any to go by this morning, then still more training is required!
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