I was very lucky to have one of my closest university friends, Sherif, fly over to visit me as a surprise a couple of weeks ago. It was so lovely to see someone from home, having been away now for 5 months. It took me at least an hour to get over the shock of seeing him in the flesh rather than catching up through the universe of Facebook or Skype which I use as a somewhat connection to life back home.
So, after he came back from two weeks of throwing himself out of a plane/into a canyon in Queenstown, he came and stayed with me before going back to Blighty. With a long flight ahead of him, we both agreed that taking it easy was the way to go. What did we decide to do? Take a four hour walk around the Bay. I know a four hour walk doesn't sound like the most logical thing to do in terms of relaxation, but in a country as beautiful as New Zealand it's hard not to dig out the walking boots, or in my terms, Converse.
Taking a walk is probably the one of the most refreshing and relaxing of outdoor activities. There's a lot more to it than just putting one foot in front of the other. It's taking in the scenery around you, feeling the warm sunshine bask on your skin, feeling your heart pound against your chest as you tackle a monster of a hill and exploring new parts of a place you would never otherwise see. I'm currently staying near one of New Zealand's many beaches; Long Bay , which provides a trek down to the other side of its rolling hills. From Long Bay beach alone you can see mountains that are situated on a different part of the island, and Rangitoto, a dormant volcano lying not too far from the mainland against the turqoise of the Pacific. Not too shabby as far as scenery goes, especially one that's 10 minutes away from my doorstop.
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| Long Bay | | |
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| View from the top of the Bay |
After walking up quite a few inclines and over a couple of stiles, we ended up on a completely different beach, scattered with rocks (some of which I promptly tripped over), with a view over to the other part of the island where I could see the bare trunks of the edge of a logging forest, and masts of boats lining the horizon. It had such a peaceful feel to it, secluded from any type of traffic. Walking along our newly found stoney (and slippery!) beach, we came across trees that had fallen from the tops of the cliff edge now lying skeletal, grey with branches reaching like fingers forlornly to the water, as if it had been its last desperate act. It was an interesting and sad thing to see, all these trees uprooted all along the beach having fallen to their demise due to the cliffs eroding away.
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| Part of the tree graveyard |
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| Uprooted Pine tree |
We kept going until a marshy spot of ground made us come to a halt. Now, me being the amateur interpid explorer declared that the mud didn't look as viscous at first impressions and it sure wasn't going to put a stop to our adventure. So, on we went and sure enough with each footstep, our shoes and balance became victims to both my judgement and the mud. I don't think Sherif's TOMS will ever fully recover. We went back up to where we had walked down to the beach but unforntuantly, a boundary sign declared the end of the walk and the start of someone's private land.
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| The Dreaded Marsh Land |
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| Sherif's sunken footprint |
But a walk like this is an experience to add to the wonderful moments I have. I can look back on it and think of it as a time where I got see another part of the Bay and where I laughed so much I couldn't walk. It was really nice to share it with a friend most of all, to have someone to talk to and share ideas, and laughter. I have always loved being outside, out of the house and away from any distractions. Sometimes it can be easy to forget that the Internet Explorer isn't the only place where you can discover and learn things. As Christopher McCandless wrote on his ill-fated, soul searching trip as depicted in the film Into the Wild, 'The freedom and simple beauty is too good to pass up...'
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| Happy on our adventure |
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