Post # 5
St. Arnaud to Coleridge Lake
1989km to 2080km
300km
Nelson Lakes to Hurunui hut
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| Climbing back into the mountains after a rest day at St.Arnaud |
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| Nice weather this stretch |
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| True alpine rambling |
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Complete with dodgy parts......
.....an unavoidable part of the trail
(People have died here!)
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'Sunshine' at one of the many river crossings
After awhile you give up on keeping your boots dry!
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| One of the nicer huts - really nice to have a wood burning stove |
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| Even nicer to soak in a natural hot spring!! |
Arthur's Pass National Park
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| 'Cate' on a single cable suspension bridge |
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| Me in a 2 bunk emergency 'bivy' |
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| Tom in 'swampland' |
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| Flying out the 'honey bucket' |
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| Victory close at hand |
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| Final descent to Arthur's pass |
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| And a reluctant 'wash up' |
Last bit to Lake Coleridge
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| Cyclone 'Gita' coming in |
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| Cyclone 'Gita' has arrived |
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| 'Rescued' by 'Pickup and Dropoff' just in time! |
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Recovering by the fire at Lake Coleridge Lodge
Very nice!!
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Coaches Corner
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Lodging - camping
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| Occasionally we get a pleasant site like this.....nicely tucked in. |
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And sometimes not!.....tucked into 'gypsy' town here.
(Usually it's more like our 'KOA' campsites)
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Lodging - Motels
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| On Darrell's rest days we'll often take a motel |
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And cook our own meals.....
(that way you can get soused while making dinner and not worry about driving!)
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| They come in all sizes and shapes |
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Sandy cooks, Darrell does the dishes and I just 'whelp'
(that is: "watch and appear to help"
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Roads and infrastructure
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| Not typical but not unusual |
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| Driver's view - one lane of course - pray you don't meet a lorry! |
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| Creek in the way? - no problem....send it overhead! |
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| Similar to our Kicking Horse bridge east of Golden |
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| ..... they don't always get it right. |
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One lane bridges....a unique NZ feature.... almost all non-motorway bridges are one lane!
(Couldn't they build it just a bit wider in the first place??)
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Trains
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| New Zealand Rail ......a stingy outfit. |
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| Why build your own bridge when you can use a highway bridge? |
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| Why go the long way when you can go through a automotive round-a-bout? |
Glow worms
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Looks exactly like the night sky...... by design....it's a trap!
Insects are programed to fly towards the open sky...i.e. towards the stars
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A flash picture reveals what's really there.......
......The glow worm (larvae) and his web of sticky blobs.
Once trapped the insects are pulled up and devoured
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Eradication
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New Zealand has no problem irradicating anything considered
to be a pest......and they mean business .....total annihilation
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| Traps to get rid of possums, stoats and ratts |
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| poisons for wasps |
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| And viral control for a rabbit explosion! |
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| Just goes to show we're a long way from home! |
Cyclone Gita
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| Water everywhere.....have to drive slow to keep the engine dry |
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Storm ravaged rivers........impossible to ford so we're bypassing the worst of it.
Heading for Mt Cook for now and will return later!
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