Rest Day - in & around Hokitika
It was great catching up with RM & family. We had last seen R-- way back in 1983 when he was on a Young Farmers Club exchange trip from New Zealand. The previous evening whilst dining on some of their own produced lamb, the telephone rang reminding R & J that they had only one day left to use their raffle prize from the Hokitika Rugby Club Prize Draw. Unfortunately, this was of too short a notice as there was no relief milker booked to allow them an early start. R & J asked if we would like the prize, a flight with Wilderness Wings over Mount Cook & her glaciers. Wow, thank you so much!!
For being on holiday, we were up with the larks, left R busy doing the morning milking & headed down to Hokitika Airport & the Wilderness Wings Office.
The weather conditions were ideal. Clear blue skies, light winds & a full Cessna 206. Seemed all the prize winners were taking a last minute ride. After a quick safety brief, seat belts clicked & doors checked, we were rolling down the runway & turning right handed once airborne heading up towards the towering snow covered peaks of the Southern Alps.
My late father was a keen amateur pilot, & so as a child l spent quite a lot of time messing around in light aircraft, & bouncing about in the turbulent airstreams of the foothills of the Pyrenees, never venturing anywhere near snow capped mountains. So here l was, climbing to 6,000 feet, amongst the mountains & experiencing no bumpiness at all.
The visibility excellent & you could see for miles & miles. We swooped past the Franz Joseph & Fox Glaciers we climbed & banked around the majestic Mount Cook, we waggled wings at a group of climbers sat having breakfast on one of the snowy peaks of Mount Tasman.
All too soon, our pilot slowly turned Northwards & we headed back to base flying our downwind leg parallel to Hokitika scanning the ocean for the recent sighting of sharks just of the coast. Like the penguins, they were noticeable by their absence.
What a way to start the day, what an amazing flight, what an experience, this was going to be one action-packed day!
Afternoon was a bit more earthbound, a drive up to the totally amazing Hokitika Gorge. A gentle stroll along a well laid track through lush forests of tree ferns, & native bush dripping with mosses, leading down to the brilliant turquoise waters of the gorge itself.
The day was really hot so it was nice to walk through the cooling shade down to the river & bathing pool.
A Suspension bridge, carried us over the swirling glacier melt waters below. Now l don't like swing bridges at the best of times & especially so when 2 farmers & farmer's boy start jumping up & down making the wires swing.
So far the Rest Day had been far from it, what other exciting things could we all pack into the remains of the day?
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