Tom Grundy's New Zealand South Island part 2 2016 Page

The story is continued from the New Zealand TAO tour South Island part 1 page.

South Island part 2

After Te Anau we went through the Clifden Cave. I was feeling grumpy because I couldn't find the gear I was looking for and I hadn't slept well (the leaky air mattress didn't help). The cave was cool even if it had over 100 years of tourists bashing out speleothems and signing their names. Somehow graffiti from 100 or more years ago is more interesting. We saw a few glow worms but not in any great profusion. There was a passage that dropped down to a stream that would have been fun to explore with vertical gear and a pool we had to wade around the perimiter and a few ladders to go up and down. Then we came back out a few hundred meters down the road from where we started.

Nalumon navigates around the edge of a pool in Clifden Cave

Sam, Raquel, and I went to Mores nature preserve near Riverton and did a loop hike down to balanced rock. Mores beach was covered with lots of polished pebbles of various sizes (sorted on the beach). We picked out a few nice pebbles some of which are probably jade and took pics on and around the balanced rock before heading back up the hill to Donatello. I'd have picked up a lot more pebbles if I wasn't so far away from home with serious weight limits on my luggage.

Raquel wants to take all the polished pebbles home

Sam and Tom jumping on top of Balanced Rock

in camera HDR with the fisheye lens looking up among the tree ferns

Then we traveled east to Curio Bay where I saw a few Hector dolphins in the distance and then walked around on the tidal flat that featured some interesting tide pools and petrified logs. We also saw a few yellow-eyed penguins come ashore. I didn't have my super telephoto and things were getting dim. One did come out near Sam when he had the 200mm lens on so he got some good pics. I also tried for a while to get a pic of the waves hitting the shore when backlit by the sun - mostly unsuccessfully.

Sam was in the right place in the right time with the right equipment (200mm lens) to get this pic of a Yellow Eyed Penguin

Sam took this pic of me trying to get a good pic of waves

this is what I was shooting - not quite what I was aiming for

We watched the sunset and then the stars from the headland. Among other things I was trying to determine if there was a "South Star" - not really, but I did figure out how to identify the approximate region of the sky with the Southern Cross and some other indicator stars. Rather than staying at the pay area we drove to a free camping site for the night. Luckily I had a fairly large and late lunch since we didn't really have dinner.

Donatello at night with Sam, Raquel, and Nalumon

long fisheye exposure of the southern sky
(move cursor over picture for helpful text with the Southern Cross and the location of due South circled)

We did another hike through drizzly bush to the Waipohatu waterfalls. They were pretty scenic and it wasn't cold, but we were all a bit sick of the rain. Sam posed in one waterfall for some pics and then climbed up it to pose on top. The camping spot that night didn't have any space left and tents were not allowed so we continued on to another. This one was popular with surfers. We set the vehicles up so that we could run a slackline between them while cooking. A bunch of kids came over to watch and try.

Sam at one of the waterfalls

Sam bases Nalumon at the other waterfall

This day we went to look at rocks on the coast. First was Shag Point where there were giant concretions weathering out of the tidal flat. Some were hollow and full of water. We walked about and took pictures of a bunch of these as well as the old trash slowly weathering or rusting away (some huge iron gears and railroad rails among others). We also spent a bit of time watching sea lions swimming around.

Raquel, Sam, and Tom selfie on top of a round concretion

The next spot was the Moeraki boulders - a few odd round boulders on a beach surrounded by tourists with cameras. Some were split open with veins inside. We took a bunch of pics and then headed to Oamaru where we availed ourselves of the aquatic center's showers, pool, and hot tub. We also stopped by the Steampunk HQ but it was closed. Still there were some fun constructions outside. Then we went to see the blue penguin colony but they were charging admission and didn't allow photos so with those 2 strikes we moved on most of the way to Wanaka.

balancing on top of one of the Moeraki Boulders - I only photoshopped out one tourist (Raquel took the pic)

In Wanaka we caught up on computer stuff and swapped back some gear (like paddle shafts) that got mixed up. Then we did some steep rock climbing at Mt Iron before heading back towards the east coast.

Raquel on the overhanging rock of Mount Iron

Nalumon goes for a swing off the route

The next morning we did a round of conditioning before driving for a while and breakfast and a mid-line in a park. Then we went to visit Aarn - the inventor owner of Aarn packs - packs with pockets in the front that split the weight front and back and support most of it off of the hip belt. We had some loaner packs for the packraft trip (excellent because they were waterproof, and carried stuff well for the trek - and because the pack I had wasn't big enough). It was fun to see what he was working on and talk shop about packs, packrafts, packraft packs, etc. Of course we all want the new and improved packs that he is working on now instead of the really good packs that are currently available. sigh. Then we headed to a camping spot by a lake. It was drizzly as we cooked dinner, but the sun cut under the clouds and delivered a most striking full double rainbow.

Aarn helps Raquel fit a pack

demonstration models show how the Aarn packs distribute weight and keep the torso more upright

Sam and Raquel pose under the double rainbow

We did another round of conditioning in the morning before heading back west. Our goal was Castle Hill but I wasn't very optimistic as it was raining most of the night and morning. The soft weather gave way to overcast when we got there and we were able to get in an afternoon of a bit of bouldering (not much without a guide or crashpad) and climbing. The climbing was interesting - especially at higher grades since there weren't really any holds or else it was just a few pockets that were far apart. We were actually mostly on Spittle Hill. We did a round of acro conditioning before cooking dinner in the parking lot and heading to a lake to camp. There was a pretty nice sunset on the way to the lake but more rain in the night.

I near the top of something on Spittle Hill (Sam pic)

Nalumon near the top of another climb

Nalumon was right to be worried - we were training pops

We did a round of standing conditioning (to keep somewhat dry) and played on a 100 ft triple stacked line a bit before driving up and over a very foggy drizzly Arthur's Pass. It continued to rain most of the way to Greymouth where we repeated the aquatic center shower - hot tub - pool ploy (this one had a sauna and an inflatable obstacle course we tried a few times). Then we did laundry and headed up the coast to Punakaiki. There we planned to head to the end of a road to camp near the climbing - but the road was closed. There were plenty of no camping signs everywhere and more rain so we ended up going to a pay campground - ouch. It had showers and cheaper laundry than Greymouth, so had we known... Meanwhile others had bailed on the wet west coast to go try a highline near Christchurch...

a pile of slackers conditioning

When we got up we took advantage of the campground amenities (shower, stove, sink) as best we could before meeting up with Sam's friend Asher for some climbing. This was adventure climbing starting with a hike up the closed road, an interesting high water stream crossing, and muddy track up a steep slope to the base of the cliffs. There the rock wasn't fully dry, but we did a 2 pitch climb - well, we climbed up to a ledge, and then climbed off from there. There was plenty of loose rock as well as wet slippery rock and so on. It was fun though. Then we trekked along the wall farther to another section. This had much cleaner rock and we did a few nice pumpy lines there - I did have a foothold blow off on me and the topout to one climb was exciting since it was wet and slopey. Raquel slipped off a ledge (saved since she was set up for belaying and Nalumon was tied in), and then a brick sized rock was dislodged... Never a dull moment. Then I headed back down with the ladies while Sam and Asher stayed to do a trad climb. When we got back down to the river the level had dropped about 2 feet (to the point that we didn't recognize the spot at first). We cooked up dinner while the sun lit up the cliffs. We hustled to get to the beach for sunset and missed the actual sunset but enjoyed about an hour of colorful clouds. We headed N and E for a while and then slept at a car park on the side of the road. There were a lot of sandflies there.

Sam and Asher scope out the swollen stream crossing

Nalumon belayed by Raquel on somewhat better but still chossy rock

sunset that night was really most excellent

The next morning we drove for a while before a stop for coffee and conditioning. It was nice and sunny by lunchtime and we cooked up a big brunch and dried things out. We shared our table with a man biking around the country and traded travel stories. Then we drove on and on. It wasn't that far but the roads were far from highways and Donatello isn't a sports car. Eventually we went up over a mountain and dropped down towards Golden Bay and Paynes Ford. There we moved into the Hangdog campground and went to climb some polished sandbagged climbs and scout waterline possibilities - the one obvious place had a gravel bar under it (supposedly it wasn't there last year). But there was a nice swimming spot with rock jumping and climbing out of the water.

Climbing here was pretty good with a lot of sport climbs just a short walk from the campground. We went to the most obscure cliff to start the next morning and after some bushwhacking found it. The climbing was nice though. Then on to another area before scrambling up to the next tier where I led "1080 and the letter G" - a very steep climb starting 30M off the deck. It was about a 10 M roof with one no-hands rest I was able to slide into. It was nearly as exhausting down cleaning it. If the lip was cleaner I'd have taken the giant swing but instead I just finished downclimbing and pulled the rope.

Raquel pulls really hard on the overhanging rock

Nalumon scrambles up to the upper tier

leading out the roof on "1080 to the G" while Sam belays aided by Raquel
thanks for taking pics Nalumon

The next morning we did more climbing including a first for me - a climb with a stake on a string bolted to the wall - this was "the fearless vampire slayers" - so the stake was useful for that. Then we had to pack up and depart. We drove to a park near Nelson for brunch, slacklining, and to dry things out. Then we had a very brief visit with another of Sam's teachers before rushing down a very twisty road to the ferry. The ferry was running late so we went to the park for a bit before returning to head across to the N Island. It was very windy outside the ferry so I didn't spend a whole lot of time there. I was hoping to see albatross and whales on the crossing, but that was not to be.

the stake on "the fearless vampire slayers

one of the many cicadas making a racket

Raquel and Sam risk dropping their sunskis into
Queen Charlotte Sound

The story is continued on the New Zealand YogaSlackers TAO tour north island page.

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