Bush Walking

Paths are well marked in NZ and, following on from the theme of the last post, walking is definitely 'experiencing' if only at a wimpy level. So we set off for a casual stroll, through Coromandel Town onto a path which would give a clear view of the bay.

The first thing you notice in a NZ wood is the noise.  There are tickings, whistles, rustles and what are almost certainly chompings.  Every tree is covered by things either eating it or eating the things that eat it.  It formed a constant backdrop until we emerged at the viewpoint.

Coromandel Bay

One thing we'd seen many of, and would see every fifty yards or so for the rest of the walk, were traps.  Maoris called NZ "The Island of Birds" - when they arrived there were no land mammals (except two sorts of bat).  Lots were later introduced, some generally seen as benign (eg the hedghog), other as pests: rabbits, rats, possums etc.  Stoats were introduced to reduce the rabbit population but succeeded in decimating bird species by eating their eggs.

The traps we saw were aimed at rats and stoats and were obviously part of a drive to get children involved in pest control.  The basic argument was rats and stoats eat kiwi eggs and kiwi are the endangered national bird.  Eight year olds painted "we love kiwis" or "kill all rats" on the traps and added bait - often eggs (chicken I assume), sometimes unidentifiable bits (meat?) and sometimes what looked like torn up plastic bags.  None that we saw contained either rats or stoats.

As we climbed the first hill we could also see evidence of NZ's gelogical instability. The photo shows a layer of sea shells about a foot below the land surface and about 100 feet above the current sea level.

Virtually none of the plant life was familiar except blackberries and thistles - both presumably invaders.  We continued to climb though denser woods, at some point transferring, unknowingly from a 'day' to  a 'bush' path.  Day paths are easy walking, vegetation gets trimmed back, there may be a gravel surface, they may even be wheel chair friendly.  A bush path is anything else.  

The path got steeper and muddier.  I think New Zealanders like corrugated iron because it reminds them of their country - up and down.  It wasn't completely wild. Some of the rises and falls had flights of steps.  The longest run I counted was over 100 steps.  At the bottom, turning a corner you saw another flight going up again, and then, and then, .....

Eventually they stopped, we were as high as we could be, clear of woodland for a few moments.  It started to rain, good steady NZ rain which continued for the next hour.  No more steps though, just slithering and sliding up and down muddy slopes, across a causeway in a mangrove swamp, up a mud slope with, fortunately, a rope to hang onto ... part of the way.

The last obstacle was a stream with stepping stones.  We nearly crossed successfully but were by then too tired and muddied to care.  We walked back to town dripping water and mud. A  Maori lady smiled and said "Hello" so we were recognisably human I guess.

We travel with only cabin luggage and now everything was wet and dirty.  It all went into the campsite's big washer and then drier while we sat in our van wrapped in the big faux fur bankets which came with it for just such occasions.

"People say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading", said Logan Pearsall Smith.  At the moment I tend to agree, especially sitting here in my furry comfort blanket.