Traveling

Pororari River Walk – January 2020

February 4, 2020 // Esther Filbrun Leave a Comment

Two weeks ago, we had two sisters come to stay with us for a week. While they were here, they wanted to explore the West Coast, so we recommended a few places to them, and in the end, I went with them on their different day trips around. I’ve loved West Coast scenery ever since I first came over here, so it was a special treat for me to see so much of it again in such a short amount of time!

On Monday the week they were here, I went with them to the Pancake Rocks (a popular tourist destination around here—a lovely spot!). After going around the walk there, we explored a cavern in the area, took a short bush walk down to the beach, then headed back to the lovely Pororairi River, where there is a longer walk back through the bush along the river.

I’d never been on this particular walk before, so I really enjoyed it. The water was so green, as well as the vegetation—they get a lot more rain on that side of the mountains than we do. And we saw a shag!

Aside from the usual temperamental nature of New Zealand’s rivers, I think this would be a lovely river to take a kayak down. It was very peaceful the day we were there, with lovely clear water. There were a few fast-moving rapids, but aside from those, I think a trip would be quite enjoyable!

Even just walking alongside the river was enjoyable, though–the deep greens were spectacular!

And then, after walking for about an hour, we came to a crossroads and decided the swinging bridge we had been told about must be quite a distance on yet. Since it was getting late and we were tired, we decided to head back—but a Canadian couple who were coming along just then reinforced our faith in our guide’s words. Sure enough, another five minutes or so along the trail, we got to the swing bridge!

In all, it was a lovely walk, and if we have visitors come at some stage, I’d recommend it. It’s a great way to get out into the bush of NZ and still see some spectacular sights along the way. We even saw—and smelled!—some wild goats on the trail!

The day after we did this, we took a trip down to our local glaciers. But I have quite a few pictures from that, so it may take a bit to narrow down which ones to share!

Have you done any walking lately? What are some of your favorite spots in your area?

Videos from the Interislander

January 13, 2020 // Esther Filbrun Leave a Comment

I had some videos I wanted to share with last week’s post about going to Hastings, especially the part of the trip spent on the ferry. I didn’t get them stitched together in time, though, so you get to see them today.

I took the videos with the intention of just showing them to my brothers, but then I thought others might be interested too. So here you go—the highlights from the ferry part of the trip! It was a fascinating ride for me, and I’m so thankful I don’t get seasick. The Marlborough Sounds are beautiful. If you’re needing to get from the South Island to the North, I highly recommend this mode of transport! Unless you want to get there quickly…in which case, take an airplane, and forego the scenery.

But in my opinion, the ferry is the best.

(See the pictures from the trip here.)

Hastings, North Island Trip 2019

January 9, 2020 // Esther Filbrun Leave a Comment

I finally got around to getting these pictures sorted out this morning! Back in the middle of November, smack-dab in the middle of NaNoWriMo, when I was more than half distracted with trying to get those 1,667+ words done each day, my brother, Simon, and I decided on the spur of the moment to take a 15- or 16-hour trip up to the North Island to help some friends move down to our area.

8 am on the West Coast highway—a beautiful time of day to be out driving!

We decided to go on a Thursday evening, after arriving home late from a trip across to Christchurch (which in itself was a 3-hour drive home!), booked our ferry tickets that night, and took off about 8 am on Saturday. It’s a good 4 hours up to Picton, where you meet the inter-island ferry, then you have to wait for a while until the ferry takes off, and once you do, it’s a 3-4 hour ride.

Boarding the Interislander in Picton around 1 pm

I was so thankful to be out of the vehicle, even if it did mean I was on a boat! I’m not one that necessarily enjoys traveling, but it was fascinating to explore the Kaitaki, the Interislander ferry we took from Picton, on the South Island, to Wellington, on the North Island.

Bluebridge ferry—the other ferry company going between the islands.

Once settled in on deck, Simon and I had fun exploring the top story (level 10), where we had a great view of Picton and the surrounding harbor! This boat had lots of outdoor seating (you can just see that on the right of the below picture) for fine days—unfortunately, it was far too rainy to want to be out there long the day we went. The two big orange things in the middle of the picture are lifeboats, and in the distance on the middle left, you can see a white warehouse with “Edwin Fox” on it. If you are ever in Picton, I’d highly recommend you go there!

To our right, there was a little sailing club of some kind. All the white sails are people learning how to sail; it was fascinating to watch them learn to tack with the wind! They balanced the one-person boats by shifting their weight from one side to the other. Several almost capsized while we watched, then they quickly slid over to the other side and turned the sail to get them back on course.

Finally on our way! The Marlborough Sounds were absolutely beautiful, even if it was an overcast, rainy day.

A mussel farm:

There was also an outdoor viewing platform that ran almost all the way around deck 7, underneath the lifeboats on deck 8 (we saw the tops of them from deck 10). Simon and I spent a lot of time exploring around there, too, and it was nice to be sheltered a little from the weather while still having a clear view of the scenery.

There were LOTS of houses dotted among all the different islands and formations in the sounds! I was somewhat surprised at the number, but I think it would be lovely to have one of these secluded places as a summer holiday spot.

We saw quite a few salmon farms, too:

And more mussel farms . . . I didn’t count, but I know there were a good number of these, too!

Wellington harbor, at last! Once you disembark at Wellington, there’s approximately another 4-hour drive up to Hastings, where our friends lived.

Coming into the dock . . . Wellington was a bit sunnier than Picton had been!

Even though it was a bit early to eat, Simon and I got fish and chips in Upper Hutt, then wound our way up into the hills toward the Remutaka Pass, looking for a place to pull off to eat. We found a nice quiet place overlooking the Macaskill Lakes—what a lovely spot! Water from the Hutt River is pumped up into these lakes when the river water is clean, and then it is held here for use as Wellington’s water supply when needed. It was quite the view to enjoy after driving or riding the ferry all day, and we felt quite refreshed when we hit the road again by 5:30 or 6.

We finally arrived in Hastings about 11 pm. To say we were bushed feels like an understatement! Sunday, we got to rest, then Sunday afternoon and evening, we loaded up.

Then on the road again Monday morning by 7 am, and down to the ferry in Wellington by noon! It was raining fairly hard Monday, but from our place in line, we still enjoyed our view of the Kiarahi, the Interislander ferry that took us from Wellington to Picton.

Just a tiny portion of Wellington, our nation’s capital, here:

Pulling up the ropes and casting off—farewell, Wellington! I wasn’t so sad to be leaving. I much prefer our quieter roads here on the South Island!

The second sailing was slightly rougher at first than our sailing Saturday. But about half-way across Cook Strait, the waves smoothed out—I was thankful for that! Can you see the two white specks in the middle of this picture, just above the water on the hillside? Those were the guiding markers to help us enter the Marlborough Sounds.

The markers closer up, once we were in the sounds:

We met several ferries coming out of the sounds as we were winding through them. I think this one was the Kaitaki, which we took on our Saturday sailing.

And Picton harbor again—with the sun out this time! I was excited to be back on the South Island again. Only four hours to home from here!

In all, it was a great trip. Although I didn’t take any pictures up in Hastings, I loved being back up there again and worshiping with the congregation on Sunday. I spent three weeks there a year and a half ago, so that area has a special piece of my heart. I’m not sure I’d recommend taking such a rushed trip up there and back again, though. 😉

What was the last big trip you took?

Tripping: Punakaiki Cavern, July 2019

September 13, 2019 // Esther Filbrun Leave a Comment

Well, I intended to get this post up last month, but that didn’t happen—my baby sister was born on August 20th, and life became a bit crazy for a while after that! Here I am now, though, with some pictures of a bit of caving (or is that spelunking?) that we got to do near the end of July—I’m hoping we can go back there sometime!

First, a picture of the sign and entrance. Doesn’t look like much, does it? We didn’t expect much more than a little hole in the rocks.

When we got in there, we discovered several large rooms, and branching off from there were lots of little side-tunnels! I’m sure we didn’t explore them all, but the ones we did see were fascinating!

The boys, of course, had to find a rope and explore the upper level:

I was intrigued by the different stalactite and stalagmite formations I saw:

I think we were all thankful we took lights with us—that made the exploration much more interesting!

The main room was massive!

In all, it was a very successful adventure, and I think we’d all like to go back and visit!

Have you ever gone caving before? What was your most memorable adventure underground? I think mine was when we took a trip through Mammoth Cave in Kentucky when I was a girl! That was fascinating!

Tripping: Punakaiki, July 2019

August 15, 2019 // Esther Filbrun Leave a Comment

If there’s one place on the West Coast that has grabbed my heart for the beauty, it’s just about got to be Punakaiki, or more specifically, the Pancake Rocks located there. I love wild scenery, and there’s nothing you can get much more wild than the ocean thrusting its way up through the rocks to burst in spray above you (or below, depending on how rough the sea is on any particular day).

When we went there with friends last month, we first stopped at an old mining equipment exhibit. I liked the brand name on several of the rims—it’s a good reminder, although I have no idea what it stands for!

I always enjoy the walk out to the blow holes, trying to spot what spray we can as we go! This time, we got a few good peeks on our way out.

Quite possibly my favorite blowhole, the Chimney Pot:

And then there is this one, the most famous and the biggest. Putai, I believe. I love watching it blow. The action wasn’t quite as good as other times that I’ve been there, but it was still enough to be enjoyable—and I was thankful for a few good ones!

Here is a video I got of Putai in action:

And then there is the Surge Pool, which is always fascinating to watch and listen to!

Watching the spray from a distance….

And then, on the way back, we had a special treat! Little sister caught my hand and said, “look! there’s an owl!” I looked, but couldn’t see a thing for a while—then, it finally turned its head and I saw it. A native morepork, I think. So small and cute—the first one I’ve seen in the wild.

Like I said, I always enjoy going to the Pancake Rocks for a look around. It’s never the same two times in a row. What are some of your favorite places to visit near where you live?

Tripping: The Nelson Post

July 25, 2019 // Esther Filbrun Leave a Comment

The past few weeks have been busy with multiple trips to different places. I’ve been able to catch up with quite a few different people from different places, which has been extra-special! Isn’t the Lord good to put different ones in our paths?

Two weekends ago, we took a family trip over to the east coast to visit friends at a little church there. It was an encouraging overnight trip; so good to see everyone, even if the visit felt far too short! I loved the view of the Southern Alps on our way back home!

Then, a couple days later, I took two brothers with me up to Nelson. Mom is due in about five weeks, and I wanted to be sure to have a good rocking chair here before the baby comes, hence the need to go and pick one up. I didn’t want to drive something like seven (plus) hours straight, so we arranged to spend the night with friends up there before coming back the next day. It’s been probably six months or so since we last caught up with those friends, so it was pretty special to do that! Other friends from Kaikoura were there as well at the same time, which made it extra-special!

Our friends are living at a Christian campground, so we had a quick tour the next morning before we left. Here is the main community building, with the dining room/lounge on the far left, the (beautifully large!) kitchen near the middle of the building, and a three-bedroom flat on the right wing for families or “camp mums” with their children. The white-roofed building off to the right is the beginning of a long row of cabins, and the fenced-in area holds a massive blow-up pillow for the children to play on!

We also got to explore the massive maze they have set up; I started going through it, but soon everyone else outstripped me, and I decided I would rather do without the mud and be ready to go when they all got out. I was assured that you couldn’t get lost in it!

I was also quite impressed by the long obstacle course that is set up! The apparatus was quite wet when we were there, but the children assured me it was quite fun. One girl said she had gone over it about 50 times! Most of the steps looked difficult enough to me, and for several I wasn’t quite sure what you were supposed to do there—maybe things are taken down over winter?

After exploring the campground, we headed up a short hill and got a look over the landscape. Back in January, I believe, there was a terrible fire that started up in these hills somewhere. It took quite a while for the firefighters to put it out, but the special part was that though the fire was very close, the camp didn’t burn!

This is the fire line. If you follow the valley to the left of the house, you would get to the Christian camp. I’d guess it’s a five-minute walk back to the camp from there, at most. Lots of people were praying for protection of the camp when the fire was going on; this camp has been going for years, and many people have been blessed by it!

According to the report we heard, a firefighter that was working there at the time saw the fire coming—and then it got up to this spot, and stopped. He said he’d never seen anything like it before! The pine plantation there should have burned, but it didn’t. The house in this picture was part of the camp at one point, but isn’t anymore—and it just escaped being burned. God is so good!

After looking at the fire damage, we headed around over the top of the hill, and got a good view of the valley leading up to Nelson. It was a beautiful day to be out sight-seeing!

Beautiful New Zealand! Nelson city is off on the left of this picture, under the hazier part, if I remember correctly.

In all, I thoroughly enjoyed our little trip up there, and loved that we could get a little nature walk in at the same time. Grandma, I wish you could have been there; the birdsong was quite different than we have here, and very pretty!

What places have you been exploring lately? What are you enjoying in God’s creation right now?