We took a nice hike along the coast and quickly realized we were walking the same trail that starts/ends up at Cape Reinga at the northern tip of New Zealand called Te Araroa
Memories of hiking the Appalachian Trail. 3000 kilometers is about 1860 miles.
Laurie looks like she is having a fabulous time! This place is called Lookout Point. The views were stunning.
I may look a bit less enthusiastic but, boy was I happy to be on the coast of New Zealand for another awesome hike.
A very sad placard was placed at Lookout Point especially the 7 year old dying of hypothermia in his father’s arms.
On our way back up the trail we ran into a trail maintainer. We stopped and chatted with him for a moment about all things trail related then thanked him for his service. Not sure if he was a volunteer or not but the sentiment is the same either way.
A nice passer-by snapped this photo of us under a sign very similar to the one at Cape Reinga in the north.
Not sure where all these places are but, they are all pretty far away.
On a cooler and less sunny day we opted to walk around the rocky shores of the bay. Cool little lighthouse we ran into.
The rocks were not slippery at all and the timing of our visit corresponding to low tide allowed us lots of room to explore.
A quick drive up Signal Hill followed by a walk up to the viewing platform gave us nice views of the entire town of bluff. The port was bustling with activity most days with the unloading of a cargo ship and the unloading of tourists from a cruise ship.
Gotta tell you, it was really windy most days in New Zealand. We almost got blown off the platform the wind was so strong!
We had to get up at 5 am to catch low tide in order to view the ship graveyard. At first we thought it was an area that was dangerous for navigation, hence, all the ship skeletons. Come to find out it is simply a spot that folks or companies discarded their old and useless ships.
Here is a picture of the ribs of an old ship along with some sort of metal container it was carrying when it met its demise.
The kiosk for this dead ship said that the pile of rocks in the middle was actually the ship’s ballast and are still there a hundred years later. Cool to think they were in use during the 1800s.
At first I was going to call this a US Geological Survey marker like you find at the summits of mountains back home but…..NOT. Being in New Zealand we assume their Lands & Survey Department is a similar organization.
Had to mention the public restrooms during one of these posts. NZ is incredibly good about providing restrooms for the public in just about any place you might want one. They are also kept in immaculate condition. There was a light system to tell you if it was vacant or occupied and when you entered the door automatically locked and music started to play. This one had nature sounds to assist with you needs.
Also thought it appropriate to mention an oddity on the roads in most of the country. Except for the busiest spots in the larger cities, there are no stop lights and very few stop signs. Most intersections had one road with their version of a yield sign. No more tickets for that “rolling stop” we all do on occasion.
We will end this post with a picture of the working barometer that was hanging on the wall at our Airbnb. Curiosity got the better of us and we opened a door on the back only to find the instructions on how to read it. Guess these are obsolete now with the advent of the weather people on the evening news.