North of the South

My new car and kayak in Murchison



Looking into the bay we were camped in on Kenepura Sound



In NZ it is customary to carry children with you for sacraficing in event of rockfall...



In the deep forest



a beautiful view down into Marlborough Sound (I think)



cranking it up one of the many many hills on the Queen Charlotte Track



one of the plague of Weka birds who constantly pestered us for food. Look out for the evil red eyes!



a view point at Eatwell's Lookout on the Queen Charlotte Track



the road back to the campsite along the Kenepura Sound



Davies Bay, near the end of the Queen Charlotte Track


Hello all,

As you can see I now have a car and a kayak. I've been out paddling on the Buller River at Murchison and one of it's tributaries, the Matakitaki. Great to get out on the water again, although there are relatively few kayaking tourists like me about so it's been tricky finding people to paddle with. Luckily in Murchison there is a kayak school, and due to the quietness, the instructors and rafters are often at a loose end.

C, J and I went for some mountain biking action on the Queen Charlotte Track in the Marlborough Sounds area while C&J wait for the van they want to buy to be fixed in Blenhiem (looks like it will be Monday now).

I am currently at GB & M's flat in Chch sheltering from the rain, before hopefully heading across to the west coast for some rivers tomorrow.

I've run a couple of my hiking plans past C & J and they are game for the Christmas and New Year plans. I want to hike the 7 day Hollyford-Big Bay-Pike River (not that Pike River)-Hollyford circuit over Christmas, spending Christmas day on the beach at Big Bay 2 and a half days hike from the nearest road. Then on the 31st we will start the 7 day 'traditional' Dusky Track from Lake Huaroko in the far south of South Island, out to Supper Cove, and back inland to Lake Manapouri near the town of Te Anau. On this track we will pass such famous Scottish landmarks as Loch Maree, the Upper Spey, the Dingwall Hills and Gairloch. These plans are hopefully going to come to fruition, but we still need to book huts, which may be a problem on the popular section of the Hollyford track.

Right, I think that's most of the news for now - i may not blog again until after Christmas, so Merry Christmas to all in the Arctic UK, from a rather soggy NZ!

Andy