(written on February 10th from notes taken previously)
Not a very eventful day today, so not much to report.
I was late getting going this morning, finally leaving somewhere around 11:30, I think 😅? before heading to the Pak ‘N Save in Blenheim to stock up.
I think that might be the last Pak ‘N Save for me for a long time, as they are not common in the South Island (except on the east coast in the Christchurch region).
It was a bit of a stormy day today, thick cloud cover often accompanied by light rain.
After leaving my camping place, And with it being a stormy day, I decided to do a little bit of inland exploration, picking a dirt road that led from the coastal highway up into the hills.
Up, up, and away I went, dodging climbing the hillsides, dodging rock falls that on a regular basis littered the road with obstacles.
It was a beautiful area, mostly barren of vegetation, but beautiful in its own way. The rain added color contrast that wouldn’t normally be there in sunshine, as well as an entire waterfall that I’m betting is not there on sunny days.
I tried looking up the name of the waterfall online, but there was no mention of a waterfall there at all, which I think lends credence to my hypothesis.
Charlie with my sister Heather a little bit while I was on the drive, snapped some pictures here and there, and then ended up turning around when the road dead ended at a private house with a funny sign about guns and cooking and wives… I think? I forget. Thought I took a picture of the sign!
Anyway, in a spot with a pretty lookout and enough room on a bend to pull off to enjoy the view, I veged out for a good little bit.
Eventually, I headed back down, taking time to clean up all of the various rock fall debris along the way, so it wouldn’t be a source of danger or damage to people and vehicles.
I didn’t make it very far geographically today, stopping at the freedom camping spot right off the road at Lake Elterwater to vege some more and then crash for the night.
Lift the world.
Bring it on.
~ stephen
Lift the World 