A 'short' interlude

A dramatic night with heavy rain and the occasional flash of lightning and rumbles of thunder over our beachside campsite at Pohara Beach (www.poharabeach.com) in South Island's lovely Golden Bay. This view over the bay is just a few metres away from where we were camped:

And, as you can see, the sun was out and the day looking very promising. Here's the view 180° around from the previous one:

And then off on the longish drive to Picton for the morning ferry to North Island. We made a wrong turn at one point, but it had its rewards; Barbara found a stall selling bags of seven kiwi fruit for $1 (about 40p) while I photographed this view:

After a dramatic drive back over the high pass to Motueka we stopped for a coffee and Barbara took over driving. A pleasant drive around Tasman Bay, through Nelson and on over more dramatic roads towards Picton.

All of a sudden, Barbara braked hard and did a handbrake turn down a rather remote country lane, which we later learned was called “Happy Valley”. I hadn't seen the sign that Barbara had, and hence was a little surprised when we rolled into a sheep farm with this sign:

After some misgivings I allowed her to sign us up for an “adventure”! Off we went to don suitable protective clothing:

And now clad from head to toe in mud-resistant plastic, we were introduced to our steeds:

Barbara chose to ride with Fletch for reasons yet to be determined!

Then after a brief explanation of where the brakes, gears, starter and accelerator were, we had a quick practice around the beginners' field:

and when nobody fell off, we were considered expert enough to set off across country. I say 'across country' somewhat advisedly, as we didn't know it then but a lodge up in the hills was our target for the afternoon:

This view might give a better impression of what was involved. The little red box shows the previous view:

So off we bounced through fields of sheep and up narrow rough tracks through logging areas where the smell of pine was positively delicious. A stop part way up to admire the view:

Which was rather good:

And on we went up to the lodge where Fletch unveiled a very welcome snack of cheese, biscuits, coffee, tea and chocolate biscuits, and I realised why Barbara was so keen to ride on his quad bike: the shorts!!!

Still grinning:

we were strapped into a serious bit of machinery:

in which we were about to travel about a mile out across an adjacent valley at speeds up to 78kph. This is the view and the little red rectangle shows where we were aiming for:

Fletch released the brakes and we gathered speed and hurtled down and out across the forest. The sensation of speed was mostly due to the wind pinning us into our seats; we were so high above the trees that it didn't seem as fast as it actually was.

After a while we slowed to a halt at the bottom of the long cable arc and the brake was applied and the cable pulled us gently up the far side of the valley in almost total silence apart from the birds chirping below us.

In due course we stopped a mile away from the rest of the party. Fletch released the brakes again and we set off backwards at some speed. When we eventually slowed to a halt. The serious machinery:

whirred into life again and pulled us back to the three youngsters (20-somethings) in the party who hadn't been intending to do the SkyWire, but having seen us having so much fun, decided that they ought to have a go as well. So Barbara gave up her seat for the girl and all three joined me for a second run. Once we were back up, and the machinery packed up for the night, it was back to the bikes, Barbara leaping hurriedly onto Fletch's bike for the ride back down:

On the way, we stopped at an otherwise unremarkable bit of track where Fletch introduced us to Mareikura. Mareikura we gather means 'noble lady' and this lady is estimated to be some 2,000 years old, judging by her girth. This shows a small part of her:

She's some 150 feet tall and has a substantial trunk. In the past, trees ten times her size (and hence age) have been felled for flooring and ships' masts, but Mareikura remains as the oldest matai tree in New Zealand, and as they only exist in New Zealand, she's the oldest in the world!

In due course, we got back down to the sheep pastures, and being by now experienced quad-bikers, were allowed three laps of the fun course, complete with muddy puddles to get really wet with, and a bit of loose gravel to make it feel fast when we skidded a bit. All in all, it was great fun, much better than I'd expected as I hadn't had any particular desire to go quad-biking, but http://www.happyvalleyadventures.co.nz/ were thoroughly professional, helpful and fun, and we can thoroughly recommend them to thrill-seekers of all ages.

Then on via Queen Charlotte Drive to Picton (www.pictontop10.co.nz) for the night.

written by  Saros on May 15, 2009 from Picton, New Zealand
from the travel blog: The Hairy Animal 2009 World Road Trip
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