| "I
love the Nature Safari outlook on life - very outgoing,
making great fun even in extreme conditions ."
I rekindled my love and enthusiasm for the mountains and valleys of
New Zealand last summer. It came so unexpectedly too. All through
joining a 10-day Nelson to Queenstown. New Zealand Nature Safaris
turned out to be more than just tramping in wilderness areas, having
fun with a small international group and exploring New Zealand's
natural history.
Mark Brabyn, owner-operator and
zoologist was our guide. Adventure with Mark seemed certain as long
as one enjoyed tramping and was reasonably fit. Especially since he
has participated in whale studies and bird surveys in New Zealand
through to wildlife projects with killer whales in Canada, bald
eagles in Alaska, chimpanzees and elephants in Uganda and Humpback
whales in Tonga.
I wasn't disappointed. Well-organized,
thoughtful and relaxed in manner, Mark seemed so-at-one with nature
and very keen to share his outdoors experience with us all.
Ready for Adventure
It was 27 December 1994 when nine of
us set off by mini-van from Nelson. We were American, Swiss, New
Zealanders and a Canadian working in Japan. After a food shop in
Richmond, which provided the first challenge in working together, we
drove to Flora Saddle in northwest Nelson. Here we had a divvy-up of
rations to last us two days. Mark's pack included the billies,
primus, tent flies and a mobile phone!
We set off on an easy four hour walk
along a pack route through fairly open beech forest where Mark
pointed out various plants and birds along the way. I'd never heard
of Griselinia littoralis before - a broadleaf found only in New
Zealand and Chile. Nor had I seen riflemen - New Zealand's smallest
bird with a high-pitched shrill.
The soothing sound of rushing waters
enticed some of us to brave our first swim when we came upon a
lovely sunny spot in the midst of the bush. Appearances were
deceptive - the clear shallow waters were freezing! But it was
refreshing.
Everyone gave a hand to collect
firewood when we set up camp that evening just beyond a goldminers
rock shelter. Tent flies were erected on soft spongy tussocklands
while the cooks produced spagetti bolognaise over an open fire. I
hadn't carried an overnight pack for several years yet felt no aches
and slept like a log.
A grey mist enshrouded us as as we
set off the next morning and tramped through limestone country
towards Gordon's Pyramid. Then the weather really clagged out on the
tops where rain and wind assailed us from above and our boots
squished underfoot. Five hours later we huddled in a shelter, warmed
up with hot cups of tea and hungrily devoured salami, tomato, cheese
and cucumber sandwiches. Returning to Flora Saddle we drove through
to Buller Gorge and camped at Lyell sharing Nachos and salad and
cheesecake with hoards of sandflies.
By now, we were well and truly broken
in and ready for any adventure ... At Cape Foulwind, a desolate
windswept headland aptly named by Captain Cook in 1770, we visited
one of six breeding seal colonies on the West Coast before
travelling further south and entering the dense podocarp forests of
the Paparoas.
Limestone canyons towered high above
us as we criss-crossed the Fox River in groups of four or five with
loosened pack straps around our waists and firmly grasping each
others shoulder straps.
The clear rushing waters looked
shallow but again they were deceptive - they reached the bottom of
my shorts, and I have long legs! That night we camped under the huge
Ballroom Rock Overhang.
At Punakaiki we donned waterproof
jackets and overtrousers in the torrential rain and walked down to
the blowholes lookout. To our delight we discovered that the
prevailing northwesters combined with a high spring tide, provided
ideal conditions for an "awesome" performance. boomed at
regular intervals as massive swells swept in under the pancake rocks,
while 'ejected huge white plumes high into the sky. The clouds drew
back as we reached Greymouth and fine weather greeted us at our
campsite in Okarito. We hung out our wet gear and after a delicious
haangi in the sands we joined a crowd who'd gathered at the far end
of the beach around a huge bonfire and welcomed in 1995.
On New Year's Day we kayaked up the
Okarito Lagoon on the incoming tide. Breathtaking beauty and peace
abounded as we explored small inlets with binoculars and cameras at
the ready. Several sleek white herons graced us with their presence
from out of the dense coastal forest, performed a repertoire of coy
show-off manoevres and then soared off out of sight.
In the late afternoon we walked up to
the snout of the Franz Joseph Glacier which is advancing at the
tremendous rate of a metre a day! In contrast to the sparkling clear
inlet waters of Okarito, murky, grey, glacial waters gushed out from
beneath these towering blue and white, moraine-dusted ice cliffs.
The weather looked threatening as we
set off on a seven hour inland tramp up a rugged West Coast Valley.
Soon we were immersed in forging the Copland River, resting on
grassy river flats and plodding up a track through dense podocarp
forest and one that had once been used by early explorers to reach a
goldmine camp. It started raining only five minutes before we
reached our destination. Quickly dropping our packs at the hut, we
headed off for a soak in the nearby hot pools. The downpour provided
an ideal shower when we got out!
We slept soundly even though the hut
was crowded. Packed together like sardines on adjoining mattresses
certainly kept everyone warm and cosy. It dawned a fine day so most
of us set off for an hour and a half's walk up a nearby stream. At
our lunch spot three of us dared to swim across to the other side of
a freezing snowmelt pool nestled beneath a rushing waterfall. My
toes nearly froze!
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