An “Oops” Kind of Day

I’m not sure the proper words to describe today. It’s not been as great as it could be. I did sleep wonderful last night. My AirBnB may have been a bit tired in and of itself but between the sound of the waves crashing ashore and my magical sleep aids I was zonked out. When I woke up this morning I didn’t feel like I had “enough” on my itinerary today and since I had exhaustedly put that itinerary together before falling asleep last night I decided to revisit it before I took off. It’s amazing what a rested mind can do; in about ten minutes my itinerary had blown to about to eight different stops that would include about 6 hours worth of hikes. I found myself wishing that there was a Starbucks so I could get a cup of tea before hitting the road but I would just have to suck it up without caffeine today. I ate some granola and a date bar, drank a blueberry chia juice, and was happy to say goodbye to that place. Since I didn’t have my morning cup of tea I decided to pop open one of my delicious ginger beers as soon as I got in the car and sip on that instead as I made my way down the road. The nice thing about today, most drives were 30 minutes or less between stops with only one 45 minute stretch.

I hit the road and was disappointed that I had to use google maps offline as not enough cell coverage again today for Waze. The google does not do as great of a job reminding of upcoming turns. And sure enough I missed my first turn-off. Oops. I drove a couple kilometers until I found a spot where I could flip around and get back on track. As I approached my turn I realized that when I came back on the road I had started driving on the right hand side! Double oops!!! I guess old habits die hard.

I drove into the Waimea Forest and now easily found my first trailhead. I was going to start my day with a combination of the Goldsborough, Goffs, and German Gully Pack tracks. This area is home to the New Zealand gold rush and these tracks follow along old mining sites. The trailhead is found at the Goldsborough Campsite. I hopped out of the car and walked over to the information board to review the trail map and snap a picture of it for reference. An older gentlemen in acid washed jeans and a tank top approached me. He looked at me and warned that I should not go out on the longer track. He did it yesterday and realized it was too remote and too sparsely tracked and turned back. He also admitted he mainly turned back because he didn’t have enough food or water on him. I thanked him for his insight and assured him that I was planning on the shorter 90 minute track combo instead of the 4 hour track. Even that, he said, could be dangerous. I assured him I had a GPS tracking device on me and I’d be fine. He introduced himself to me at this point. This was Paul. From the start I didn’t love how Paul had intruded upon my pondering and got me to clarify my hiking plans to him. Paul had a New Zealand accent so I asked where he was from figuring that if he was in my presence maybe I could at least get some insider knowledge. He told me he’s from “all around” New Zealand. Apparently he’s retired and is living a nomadic life camping out all over the place. So basically Paul was a hobo. As I walked back to my car from the trail map to get my pack together Paul followed me. I did not like this. He started rambling on about how the other night he thought he saw a meteor and he went and told the newspaper about it and they told him it was just a lightning ball but he wasn’t so sure. Then he rambled on about how a Colombian girl was staying at this campsite a couple days ago and when he told her about the meteor she said she had seen one too. I wanted to ask Paul if he had buried the Colombian girl somewhere along the trail or if she had gotten away alive because Paul was demanding a bit too much of my time at this point.

Paul told me he was thinking to head to Lake Kaniere next but wasn’t sure about good hikes around there. I thought it was odd that as a nomadic New Zealander he didn’t know of any because I had found quite a few in my ten minutes of research this morning and had one on my list for today. But anyhow, I wished Paul luck on his travels and told him I must be getting on and left him with a “Have a great day Sir!” as I turned around and started down the track. All I knew about this track was that it wound through the mining sites and I was pleasantly surprised to find it nice and wide along the babbling stream. For the first few minutes at least. And then the trail started to narrow. And then the trail started to get steep. Like really steep in places. It had way more vertical climbs than I had expected and to be clear, I hadn’t expected any. I wasn’t expecting to be on all fours basically for parts of this trail climbing up slippery rocks and earth while realizing that one wrong hand or foot placement could send me falling down. It was a challenging hike but very beautiful and a ton of fun really.

As I hiked I thought about how glad I was to be putting space between me and Paul back at the campsite and also pondered that I hadn’t passed a single soul on this trail. Based on the timing I knew I had to be getting close to the top of the Goffs Track part of the hike and nearing some road I should find at the top that would take me down to the return trailhead. As I was wondering how much longer and desperately out of breath from a steep uphill with a sheer drop off one side I heard crunching behind me. I turned around and there he was, Paul. I was about 40 minutes into this hike. And now certain Paul was a serial killer and out to get me. He smiled at me and said, “Looks like I must be pretty fit to have caught you!” My heart was already racing from the crazy cardio workout it was getting and now it raced some more. I told Paul he should pass me as I needed a few minutes to rest. He asked me if I was in the army. Huh? No, Paul, I’ve never been in the army. He thought that maybe I had since I had a fancy gps device on my pack. And then added also because I had called him “sir.” He told me people have called him a lot of things but not sir. Finally I knew I had to carry on. This didn’t feel right to me. It’s amazing what a little adrenaline can do to propel you forward. With Paul literally on my heels I stepped it up to get to the top of the trail. I knew it ended at some road I had to follow for a kilometer or so before I got back on the trail and I figured being on the road felt safer than here in the bush!

In record speed I scrambled over the last bit of mossy earth with Paul following behind and boom I made it to the top. This road though? That’s a very generous word. It was more of a gravel path. Paul hadn’t killed me yet and it became obvious I wasn’t going to shake him so I figured I might as well learn about him. He’s 65 years old and retired 6 years ago but just started getting his pension this year, a whopping $400 NZD per week. He told me was originally a painter but was a broken painter since he had a wrist issue and became a kiwi farmer instead. He talked a lot about how he stayed fit and that the younger farmhands would be jealous of his capabilities. He stays pretty well in touch with the world via his radio and the newspaper. He actually gave me the updated fatalities number for the terrible fires burning back home. I tried to enjoy the trail back while listening to Paul and wondering if he was going to kill me. At least he was walking in front of me now. We passed narrow mine shafts and rambling streams before making it back to the car park/camp sight. I was so relieved that it turned out Paul wasn’t a serial killer after all and just a lonely old man. I asked him if he wouldn’t mind snapping a picture of me on the swingbridge. Paul had never used an iPhone before! He struggled to get a picture but in the end I was able to screen shot a good one out of the apparent time lapse he turned on instead of simply snapping.

I again wished Paul well (and deep inside thanked him for not being a serial killer) and took off. Just a couple minutes down the road was the Tunnel Terrace walk. This was a super brief 20 minute loop but you entered and exited the trail by going through old mining tunnels that had been carved through the hillside. The tunnels were creepy and the walk not totally interesting.

Back on track to my next destination, the Blue Spur Bushwalk, I drove though the beautiful Arahura Valley. The valley was mostly filled with farms set amongst a milky turquoise blue river and a backdrop of the mountains. Simply gorgeous.

I made it to the trail head of the Blue Spur Bushwalk and read the trail details. Honestly, it didn’t seem very interesting to me. And I had a bit of a headache starting to come on so I decided I probably needed to eat something for the headache and that I would skip this Bushwalk. I chowed down on a protein bar and asked google maps to take me Lake Kaniere. To my dismay, google maps sent me on wild goose chase for the lake. I had previewed my routes when I had service before leaving for the day and knew that what google maps was telling me was a way different route but I had faith. Until it told me to turn down a road clearly marked as private. Screw you google maps. I used my own sense of direction based on what I could remember from the morning and back tracked in what I knew was the correct way to the lake.

As I drove my headache grew stronger. I don’t get headaches often, and I rarely get major ones but this one sucked. Right between the eyes and traveling around my forehead this headache was relentless. I tried to figure out the cause. My first guess was the lack of caffeine in the morning. But there was no caffeine to be found now. My second guess was that it was from my adrenaline finally dropping after that last hike. Thanks Paul. And my third guess was that it was from the fact that I’d only really eaten granola and protein bars so far today. It didn’t matter what it was from. It sucked and it was there. I stopped and looked in my bag hoping I’d packed some excedrine or anything that would help with a headache. No such luck. I made it to Lake Kaniere and decided to skip that hike too. This headache needed to get better. I figured I just needed to kill a bottle of water and it should get better. As I pulled away from the lake side I saw a person walking down from the campsight a few hundred feed away. I would know those acid washed jeans and that wife beater anywhere. Paul! I was glad I decided to skip this trek!

I continued on down the perimeter of the lake and the road changed from two-lanes and paved to basically only single lane width and gravel. I wasn’t expecting this either but ok. A few minutes later I arrived at Dorothy Falls. I would have loved to enjoy the falls more but my head was still killing me.

Time to head to Hokitka Gorge. The Gorge hike seemed like it was super quick so I decided to keep on track and head that way. I continued on down the narrow gravel road and next thing I knew, well, I was only half on the road. That’s right, a small car approached in the opposite direction and was not moving over to make enough room to pass so I had to move over further and, just like that, off I went. Both wheels on the passenger side now hanging off the road into a ditch. Yup. My car was supported by two tires on the road and the belly of the car laying against the top of the ditch. Oh fuck. I begged the car not to roll and gingery opened the door and hopped out. Now I know that picture does not look like much but the ditch was about three feet deep and the balance of the car was precarious. The gentlemen who just needed to have moved over more hopped out of his car and came to make sure I was ok. Yah, I’m fine, but how the hell am I supposed to get this car out of here?! With the help of the dude pushing the car I was able to turn the wheel and punch the gas as hard as I could and jump the tires back out of the ditch. I was even more impressed that I did this without gunning the car all the over and down the other side of the road! Now I was really feeling spent. The headache was still raging in full force and now my heart and adrenaline were raging just as strong again.

Still feeling crappy I made it to Hokitika Gorge. I had seen pictures and expected it to be the highlight of my day. Before I even made it to the trail I spied a little food truck in the car park. Thinking real food could help with the headache I decided to order a burger before carrying on. The juicy burger was absolutely delicious and I could feel my headache beginning to show a smidgen of relief, just a smidge. I walked down and checked out the gorge. It was way smaller than I had pictured. And the famous milky blue water? I had seen it looking even more radiantly blue driving through the valley earlier! Nonetheless l took some time to relax on the giant boulders and wait for my headache to subside.

Finally I left my peaceful spot and decided to make my way to check into my AirBnB for tonight so I could drop my stuff, recompose myself, and see if this headache was going to get any better. Between my little car incident, my splitting headache, and that I had been certain earlier of death-by-Paul I was feeling lonely and homesick. When I got to my AirBnB and finally had service I tried to call “home” for some comfort. Unfortunately no answer. Oh well, I’ve got a lifetime worth of experience comforting myself. I decided that the rest of the itinerary I had planned for the day, rubbish. I wasn’t going to enjoy anything until I felt better.

But then I chastised myself to put on my big girl pants and get a move on! I looked up the remaining tracks around me and decided that I would put in one more good hour hike and then come back and walk into town to check out the Hokitika Beach. I settled on the Rimu Lookout track and set off to find it. This was another walk about focusing on mining history. It was super lame. It should have been an hour walk and I did it in about half an hour an that included time to stop and try to get some sheep to let me pet them (they never gave in). But there was some beautiful scenting views from the hill where the trailhead originated.

On my way back to my AirBnB I stopped to refuel. At this full service station you follow the attendant in to pay after they pump your gas. As the station attendant, Kim, finished pumping my gas I instinctively rolled up the windows and locked the doors so I could follow her in to pay. Kim shook her head and said to me “You’re in New Zealand now, you don’t need to lock your doors.” I’m definitely noticing that the accents are getting thicker the further south I travel. Kim’s voice and look reminded me of the old witch, Latrine, from Robin Hood Men in Tights. What a great movie that was.

About a minute after I got back to my AirBnB the host arrived to welcome me and drop off her special whitebait fritters. Apparently whitebait are some sort of baby fishes and are a delicacy. And today was the last day of whitebait season, she had just caught the fish that had gone in to these fritters this morning. Based on what I’m sure my facial expression looked like when I finally pulled back the foil and saw these “fritters” I was so glad she had already gone so she didn’t see my reaction. I tried a couple bites. The taste and texture weren’t bad. But visually, that was a hard one to swallow.

After choking down a couple bites I left on foot to walk into the town of Hokitika. It’s not spectacular as a town in and of itself. A calico cat greeted me was I walked down the street, that was awesome, I really needed some animal loving. I made my way to the Hokitika beach and watched the waves crash ashore and abuse the driftwood. Apparently the Tasman Sea is not fit for swimming as the undercurrents are strong and crazy dangerous. I found the distinct Hokataki driftwood sign and snapped the obligatory picture. I wandered down the entire length of the beach and perched on a concrete replica of a ship to think through dinner.

I tried to google but of course, no coverage. I wondered throughout the entire town and only found five places open to eat. Two restaurant/pubs, a pizza place, an Indian restaurant, and a Thai food “truck” on the beach. I did not want pizza and only one of the restaurants had anything that looked remotely decent so I decided on beach side Thai food. Only problem, when I tried to order they were out of basically everything. They could only make one dish and even then only vegetarian. I gave up and went back to the restaurant in town. It was a restaurant/pub. I went up to the bar on the pub side to see if I could order and was told I needed to check in on the restaurant side. Got it. I could see a line of people waiting and realized that was the right place. This line moved SLOW and I noticed that people were actually placing their orders, not just checking in. Got it. I made sure I was ready to order when I go to the front. What felt like 20 minutes later I got to the front and was told that I couldn’t order! Apparently when they are busy they stop taking orders and you have to get a number just to be put on the list and be able to order. No way. This was going to take FOREVER and I had already been on my dinner finding mission for about an hour. I walked out and ended up having a delicious dinner of chicken tikka and Marsala mushrooms at the Indian restaurant instead.

After dinner I walked partway back along the beach path and admired the stunning sunset. This was the first sunset I’ve caught so far this trip and it did not disappoint. Another calico cat greeted me on my walk back and I was again grateful for kitty time.

Tomorrow I must be up and out bright and early. I have a little over a two hour drive to Fox Glacier and must be there by 10am for my helicopter glacier hike! I can’t wait. Today was not the best day so fingers crossed that the tomorrow makes up for it.