Desolation and Pinnacles

For what is likely to be the last of our travels outside the Paekakariki/Wellington area during this particular stay in New Zealand, we decided to keep it relatively close to home and relatively unpretentious....so on a whim and with very little planning, we took off Saturday around noon, after gallivanting around the Kapiti Coast to various soccer games (yes, they call it soccer here). By now the rental car guy in Paraparaumu knows us by first name, so that part was easy. Finding a place to stay at our destination, Cape Palliser, was also easy...there's about only one place to stay, and it turns out we were the only ones staying at the Gateway Motels and Holiday Park in Lake Ferry on Saturday night. I (Jim) guess it is a gateway to something, maybe the Cape? Even the owners weren't there, they having decided to get away for the weekend to the far more glitzy town of Napier and leaving the almost empty motel in the hands of their friend, LeAnn, who happens to be the former owner of the Gateway Motel and Holiday Park. But she doesn't live there and so we were, in fact, the only people there. "Just stay as long as you want tomorrow," she said. "The owners won't be home till late and you're the only ones here, so make yourselves at home. Call me if you need anything," she said, handing us a little piece of paper with her name and phone number on it. "I love this country," I replied. And I do. She left us saying that if any one knocked on our door looking for a room we should give her a call.

This all transpired at about 2pm after our 2 hour drive over windy roads to get there. Only 37 more kilometers to our real destination (a place without hotels or even campgrounds)....Cape Palliser, the southernmost point on New Zealand's North Island, where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean, where hardcore surfers come to catch some of the best waves in New Zealand, and where, reportedly, more fur seals choose to breed than in any other part of the North Island. The scenery ain't half bad either. After much oooh-ing and ahhhh-ing as we drove the (again) narrow, windy road from Lake Ferry (population about 300) to Cape Palliser (population around nil), we finally arrived at the famous Cape Palliser lighthouse perched high up on a cliff, a perfect vantage point for keeping a watchful eye on boats sailing upon both great bodies of salt water. This lighthouse is famous for its 250 steep steps leading up to it...which of course the kids counted as we climbed just to see if it's true---it is! The view from the top is magical...particularly at sunset, which is when we were there. On one side the sun was setting as high in the sky the nearly full moon was rising. Apparently someone else thought it was magical, because during the short 15 minutes we were up there, a young man got down on his knee and asked a young woman to marry him. Abby was thrilled by this dramatic moment, needless to say!

We ate dinner back at the Lake Ferry Hotel, the only watering hole for many kilometers around. Good food and back to our solitary little self-contained unit, which wasn't half bad for the US$77/night we paid for it! It even had a wood burner in the "master" bedroom, which we promptly lit to keep us from freezing our little toes off. Among the many things we have loved while here in NZ are the many cozy nights we've had together as a family in one accommodation or another...usually very clean, inexpensive, cold, and always providing togetherness. Last night was pure luxury, as the kids had a TV at their disposal with shelves full of movies to choose from. They watched Jurassic Park until David got scared and then he and I headed into the other room to curl up in his bed and watch Racing Stripes (much more my speed) on my computer. Simple pleasure.

The morning dawned quiet, cold, and clear as a bell and, as we often are, we were greeted by birdsong (this happens at our own house in Paekakariki as well). Jim woke up really early (for here)to see if he could find some birds at the Lake Ferry spit. All he found was some fisherman who had been there for hours and some really cold weather. Cool desolation, too. After a special breakfast of bacon and eggs, we piled on the layers, piled into the car, and drove back toward Cape Palliser to go on a tramp to a place called the Putangirua Pinnacles. A steep, 1 hour tramp up a streambed and then up the side of the deep canyon led us to a spectacular overlook where we gawked at the unusual and spectacular rock formations....not hard to see why they call them pinnacles. Tall, skinny towers of all shapes and sizes were apparently formed by the rain pounding down on and then running down through the limestone for the past several million years. I (Carolyn) have seen formations something like this in Southern Utah, but those were made of reddish sandstone. These looked like piles of rubble more than anything and it's hard to see how they don't just come tumbling down at the slightest wind or rain. Nature is amazing.

The day ended with a good laugh and lots of talk about things New Zealand as we took what we thought was going to be a way home that was a bit shorter and less winding than the way we'd come over....only to find ourselves on a 30km (posted at 70) one lane road that wound up and down through mountains and valleys, precarious curves with no visibility, no guardrails and no shoulders between you and the vertical drop off into the canyon below. Quite often there was no second lane, either. It was getting late in the afternoon and so we didn't have much time to stop at the Staglands Wildlife Reserve we'd wanted to visit along that road. No big deal, we thought...we'll come back next weekend. By the time we were safely down on the Sea side (our side) of the mountains and back onto two lane roads, we both decided that we can skip that wildlife center....we're not going back on that road anytime soon. We're (or I am) turning gray fast enough, thank you...no need for more help with that. As I (Jim) said to Carolyn, "the locals must think that they can see through rock the way the fly around the corners." Honestly, if I hadn't stopped on the side of the road we would have no back of the car or a very, very close view of the cliff face or both!

As our time of departure draws near, we're all struggling not to feel sad. After all, we have 2 1/2 more weeks and have had the most fabulous time. I feel quite certain we are all changed by it in our own ways. Stay tuned for our planned trip to Manawatu, an estuary that is world renown for its birds. I wonder who suggested we do that trip!