Rest Day at Awana

After yesterday’s exercise my legs were telling me that some form of exercise was partaken in. So it was a quiet start to the morning.

At high tide I decided to have a little paddle down to the surf beach about 300 metres down the estuary.

		Awana to the beach VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

I then decided that the surf was a little rugged for me this morning so I then turned around a paddled back up the estuary.

		Up the Awana River VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

On the way I came across a tree full of shags….

So as I drifted towards them I tried to take some pictures….

		Disturbing the wildlife VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Managed to get a couple of interesting shots amongst the rubbish. Might go back later and get some more.

So I meandered way up the river for about 20 minutes until I could go no further due to the manuka blocking my way. Didn’t quite get to the road bridge which was my aim.

On the way back I realised that it was a pretty high tide and remembered that I had seen the new moon last night so wasn’t surprised that when I got back towards the camp that I could paddle right up onto the grass….

		Returning to camp VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

The weather is clouding over from the west as I write this, after having some lovely cheese, ham and fresh herb scones for lunch. No idea what the weather is going to do, could do with some rain as the camp is extremely dry.

So I am going to relax for the rest of the day and give my legs time to recover.

Loads of blogs to upload when I get back into coverage!

Safe travels everyone!

3,000 Stairs

Last night the sky was amazing…

Who need a gym when you have the great outdoors.

This morning was moving day again. I had decided to move through to Awana Campsite and do the Windy Canyon and Palmers Track on the way.

What a wonderful island this is. The views and landscape are quite unique.

Windy Canyon lived up to its name just…

		Windy Canyon VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

From there Palmers Track heads across into the interior of the island and towards Hirakimata (Mt Hobson). At 621 metres it is the highest point on the island and some of the views on the way are spectacular.

		Palmers Track to Mt Hobson VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

At one of the more open areas….

and the view from the top….

That is a 180 deg panorama from where I was staying last night around through Okiwi and Port FitzRoy and down towards Whangaparapara with Little Barrier very visible in the distance.

On the final approach to Hirakimata the area is where the black petrel nest so DoC have built the most amazing set of stairs and walkways to protect the nesting area and the rare plants like the Gt Barrier tree daisy and sun dews that are unique to the Barrier. It is fascinating that the petrels nest so high in the bush and yet travel as far as South America but return here to nest.

		1500 Stairs VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

From the lookout on top of Hirakimata I wandered down the other side to Mt Heale hut. On the way crossing one of the many slips that have torn through this area.

It appears that the set of stairs was the last in the line, but the destruction is just mind blowing. So after a short walk through the bush I reached Mt Heale hut where I had a bite to eat.

		Mt Heale hut VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Shame I wasn’t there yesterday, according to the book there were were a bunch of Australians sunbathing naked on the deck!

It is a lovely new hut complete with solar lighting and gas cookers and room for loads of people to sleep with two bunk rooms.

So I headed back up 835 stairs to the turnoff to the top

and then down 669 stairs and back through Windy canyon and back to the bus, a very welcome sight. So just on the Hirakimata to Mt Heale hut and back there were a total of 3,000 stairs, 1500 each way. That does not count the stairs that are up to Windy Canyon and back or the stairs up to the top of Hirakimata from the junction.

I then headed down the road and into Awana camp and set myself up there….

		Awana Campsite VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

I will stay here for the remainder of my trip and take advantage of the tidal estuary over the back and do some fishing and kayaking and swimming at the surf beach just a couple of hundred meters down the estuary. More on that tomorrow.

Time to get some dinner ready and have another shower.

Safe travels everyone!