Today I adventured beyond the city center of Wellington for the first time. In New Zealand, the word "tramping" refers to hiking, and Kiwis seem to really enjoy tramping around! So I had to try it for myself. My guide for the day was Mike, a fellow American and the English horn player for the NZSO. We took just about every scenic route possible. Or maybe every route here is scenic?
The Wellington area is surrounded by rocky bays. The beaches have large, smooth stones instead of sand, and the water is very calm, even with the tides going in and out.
Amongst the rocks are hundreds of little tide pools. The ones that we explored housed all sorts of great marine flora, plus anemones and starfish.
We embarked on a proper walk at Makara. The beach there had an attractive assortment of driftwood and rock formations.
It was a pretty strenuous and steep hike up the mountain, but the views were almost otherworldly. The side of the mountain was so steep that it felt a little bit like being on the edge of a cliff. But the air was fresh and cool, and we could see all the way across the strait to the South Island.
To get to the top of the mountain we had to walk through a sheep farm. There were even some stair steps that had been built into the perimeter of the pasture for hikers to continue on their path. How strange is it that sheep can easily navigate the harsh terrain of mountain sides, but they don't know how to walk up and down the stairs to escape their life on the farm?
Reaching the top of the mountain was rewarding in itself, but we were also able to explore some WWII gun encampments up there. Even though NZ was never actually invaded during the war, the military kept soldiers on the lookout. The massive guns were mounted to the concrete supports in the middle of each encampment.
I have a lovely little sunburn now. I'm going to get some sunscreen from the drugstore ASAP--apparently the ozone layer over NZ is really messed up, and the sun burns extra bright here. What a landscape, though.
No comments:
Post a Comment