Mount Sunday to Tasman Glacier-Day 4-5

New Zealand Trip- Day 4

This morning, while laying in bed, we watched a pickup truck drive all the way across the wide river bed to the railroad tracks on the other side. He had to zig  all over the river bottom in search of crossings shallow enough for his truck. When we finally got up and opened the sliding van door we were met with a such a horde of sand flies ( giant gnat like things with huge teeth) trying to beat their way into our camper, that we high tailed it out of there without even making coffee first.

The plan for today is to go see the Tasman Glacier at Mount Cook National Park , stopping at interesting  places along the way. Rakia gorge is an easy first stop along the road with no hiking needed for the views.

The second stop is way down a  long, mostly gravel road, something like forty six  kilometers, to hike around on a small hill called Mt Sunday,  aka: “Andorras” ,  surrounded by huge mountains ( one was “Helms Deep”) and glacial rivers.

The Road to Mt Sunday
The Road to Mt Sunday
"Little" Mt Sunday with BIG Mts in Back
“Little” Mt Sunday with BIG Mts in Back

There were only a few people there ahead of us and we pretty much had the place to ourselves, with some cows and sheep wandering about for effect.

Sheep Leading the Way
Sheep Leading the Way

The Mt Sunday hill looked small until we started climbing  it which took about 40 minutes and it was quite windy at the top, making our pant legs flap and snap like sails. The surrounding mountains looked huge and seemed close, but it would actually take days to hike into them. The sun was warming our little spot on the hill and it was a beautiful place to spend time just sitting there taking it all in, watching the weather move around in the peaks.

View from Top of Mt Sunday
View from Top of Mt Sunday

On the way out, there was an entire herd of cows being moved down the road into a new pasture, using cattle dogs, pickups and people on foot. It was like swimming through cows as we drove slowly through.

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We have noticed all the houses and farms have above ground water tanks and there are palm trees growing in all sorts of places, mixed in with eucalyptus and pine trees. It must not get very cold in the lower elevations of the South Island. Looking it up on a plant hardiness zone map  it seems to be mostly Zone 8, which  averages lows of -5 to -10C , or 12 to 20 degrees F, in the mountains and then zone 9 on all the coastal edges. I don’t think this takes into account the elevational changes in the big mountains though. In the eastern panhandle of West Virginia, we are in Zone 6b which gets a lot colder, with the average annual minimum being 0 to -5 degrees F, or about -17 to -21 degrees C.  which is why we don’t get palm trees or giant tree ferns at home.

Single lane bridges abound, in the wide river valleys, posted with signage as to who has the right of way. It seems to be that heading upstream you usually give way to folks heading downstream. You cannot always see if there are people coming at you or not from the far side, and you have to go on faith. Sometimes there are lay-by’s in the middle. We are glad we are here in the (just barely) off season. A whole line of tourists could make these bridges kind of scary. Right now all we have to avoid are the sheep…and a few cows.

As we drive further away from the mountain ranges and again head south, the terrain progresses into fairly level farm land, with alfalfa fields and newly planted Kumara (NZ sweet potatoes). We start to pass incredibly  large, aluminum piped,  irrigation setups and then some giant rubber lined ponds that seem to be for warming up and settling out the seriously cold mountain runoff. We are on the “dry” side of the mountains, although maybe since summer is just starting, it does not seem all that dry yet.

We arrive at Lake Tekaupo, with beautiful (although invasive) lupines blooming everywhere, gorgeous turquoise blue water, and snow capped mountains in the distance.

Lake Tekaupo. Lupines
Lake Tekaupo. Lupines

The Tasman Glacier is up ahead, further than it seems, because the mountains are so big in the distance. It looks like storms are brewing up in there but here, the water in the lake is intensely turquoise blue and the sun is shining.

Road to Tasman Glacier
Road to Tasman Glacier

Once we actually get all the way up the valley, the hike to the actual glacier turns out to be further than we are willing to go, especially since the clouds have gathered and it is now cold and rainy, so we don our rain gear and settle for climbing up a steep, stair step path for a view of the glacial pond and morraine dam at the closer end of the glacier. As with most glaciers these days it has been retreating for many years now and will soon be gone.

As we leave the Tasman valley, the glacier, and supposedly a view of Mt Cook, is completely socked in, but the sun slanting under the clouds lends even more color to the landscape around  lake Pukaki.

Lake Pukaki in Tasman Valley
Lake Pukaki in Tasman Valley

We settle for the night in nearby Twizel, ready for another day.

Tuesday Day 5

The hedges, the hedges. There are evergreen tree hedges everywhere (both leafy and needled) and about 30 feet tall, shaved on the sides to make them only a few feet wide. They are between every field and somebody has to go around trimming these things. It looks like a steady job.

Hedges Everywhere
Hedges Everywhere

We are now heading for the coast to check out the Moeraki Boulders. It is weird how sheep pastures have seaside views in New Zealand. There is so much coast and so few people that even ocean front property is farmland right down to the water. Sheep at the beach. I suppose if the water was warmer, people would flock there instead.

Moeraki Boulder Beach
Moeraki Boulder Beach

The boulders are ancient concretions that have been washed out of the sand dunes where they were buried eons ago. Some of them have cracked open revealing the different layers of stone.

Inside a Cracked Boulder
Inside a Cracked Boulder

Next we came to seals sunning themselves on the rocks. Lots of seals. And giant kelp swirling around.

Seal with Giant Kelp
Seal with Giant Kelp

Next, we have to drive through an actual town, Dunedin (pronounced doo NEE din) on our way to an Albatross colony and penguins. It is a city with the University of Otago, and a busy harbour and shipping port. We do not stop, although we get turned around on a road detour and end up at a castle accidentally. The gardens looked promising but it was closing time by then so we found our way back to the road.

Harbour at Dunedin, Otago Peninsula
Harbour at Dunedin, Otago Peninsula

Albatross are huge birds that look similar to seagulls and they fly right over your head very fast, so it was hard to get a good photo of one.

Otago Light ans Albatross Cliffs
Otago Light and Albatross Cliffs

Albatross and gulls were flying around the lighthouse and zooming by right over our heads at this spot. We could see seals and dolphins and diving water birds down in the water and there were flowers blooming all around the cliffs.

It was getting late so we started south again  looking for a camp for the night.

Please share and comment if you can. It is nice to know you are out there reading this.

Wendy lee, writing at edgewisewoods.com

 

Snowstorm Jonas

Snowstorm Jonas

I love that we get names for winter storms now. Instead of having to talk about the “Big Snow of 96” we can say “Yeah, in 2016 Snowstorm Jonas hit Shepherdstown and we got the  biggest snowfall on the East Coast! 40.5 inches of snow in one storm! We rock!” Actually we rock around on the floor after shoveling all that snow, in an attempt to ease our aching backs. And then we hang upside down on an inversion table trying to get straightened back up.

The snow is beautiful,  but worrisome too. My barn has an awful lot of weight sitting on it and since I built it myself  I know I did not plan on dealing with 40 inches of snow back then. I should have used bigger supports, more bracing, etc. I had to lock Mara, my horse, up in the barn for two days during the storm because she was going to let herself get all snowy and cold outside. Then I didn’t sleep very well because I was afraid of the roof collapsing on her. So far it hasn’t but now the weather folks say it might rain tomorrow and that would make the snow REALLY heavy. Considering that it was 8 degrees F this morning it is hard to imagine rain happening, but I think I will still have to see if I can knock some of that snow off, just in case. I put a nice slippery metal roof on 3/4 of the barn roof last year so it should slide. Maybe if I started a fire underneath? Just kidding, not going there.

Barn with new plastic wind guard
Barn with new plastic wind guard

OK, just got back inside from shoveling off the part of the barn roof over the horse stalls. It did not slip off at all. I had to push and pull it with a rake and only removed about half but I feel better now.

My little mini greenhouse has not collapsed, which I am happy about, even though there is nothing in there right now. There have been reports of some big hoop houses nearby not making it.

Mini Greenhouse Out in the Garden
Mini Greenhouse Out in the Garden
Happy Chickens
Happy Chickens

I splurged and bought electric water buckets this year and I am really appreciating them and so are the horse, the chickens and the wild birds. I had to pull the pump from the water garden right before the storm because it got jammed with frogs (it was terrible, their legs were stuck in it) and I did not get it back in before it froze, so there is no open water for the deer and birds and other wild critters. I will put a pump sock around it before I re install it when the pond thaws. I thought that the skimmer box I installed last year was going to keep the frogs out but they found a way around the strainer basket.

I have been using my snowshoes (after adding some additional leather laces to them), that Jeff bought me a couple years ago from REI, to tramp down pathways, one to the road, one to the neighbors barn with the two donkeys , Emma and Elmo. My neighbor is not well enough to make it out there herself and nobody can drive to her house yet. The “Long Ears” were pretty sure I was a monster when I came clomping up to them yesterday and they wern’t much better today. They were snorting and carrying on. They now have a path to their heated water trough, and I gave them hay, so they are good. The guy with the plow is supposed to make it out maybe today or tomorrow and do our shared 600 foot driveway.

our driveway is two snowshoes wide
our driveway is two snowshoes wide

The paved road out front has one lane opened up by some very nice neighbors with tractors and plows. No highway department yet. They are working on the main roads first.  I walked up the road, which is a tunnel of pristine  white snow,  to help dig out  my husbands parents and on the way back some people in a 2 wheel drive car were out there  and got stuck, of course. A helpful guy in a pickup , who could have been plowing instead, had to help them get out  and I heard him say, “Now please go back where you started and park it. It is only one lane and we need the road clear for emergencies.”  Update: the roads department got to it Monday afternoon and now it is almost two lanes wide.  I am going to have to dig the mailbox out soon.

No mail for awhile yet...
No mail for awhile yet…

I have tons of good food put away in the freezer and we have not lost power at all, which is amazing. We rarely do lose it here, although the next house down the road is on a different substation and they lose it all the time. Their lines go through some large trees. We have been eating venison stew, pumpkin pie and our fresh eggs. The chickens have slowed down during this storm but there are plenty for us. I have ordered 50 new chicks  to arrive in the spring to replace our old laying hens, and another 25 chicks for eating.

I hear people complaining about being cooped up in the winter, but I love it. I love the excuse to stay inside and do all the things I won’t do when it is too nice outside. When I feel antsy, I go do something energetic outside, and then appreciate coming back in when I get cold. There is time to sit by the fire now and I can read, sew, cook, write. The animals give me a reason to get up and be outside a couple times a day and I am not working at the moment, so I don’t have to go anywhere. It is all good.

-Wendy lee, writing at   edgewisewoods and gardens