The new Cable Car Terminal

I mentioned this before (at the bottom here) when it was being built. It has now opened and here it is in all its glory.

It is big and airy

with a viewing platform (that will be very useful in inclement weather).

 

Yesterday, being Boxing Day, saw the Morris Dancers performing in their traditional top of the Cable Car spot.

Here is Andy, trying to hide behind an out-of-focus Roger.

Compliments of the season to all my readers. I'm off to Christchurch at the weekend so should have some photos of my trip down there early in the new year.

Pre-Christmas Putangirua Pinnacles & Cape Palliser

I’m trying to be alliterative after a weekend away in the Wairarapa.

We stayed with Andy in his little dwelling in Martinborough.

The main expedition was down to the far south east tip of the North Island – Cape Palliser. There is a fine lighthouse there accessed by 252 steps 

with good views from the top.

It was extremely windy – but it is a very exposed place. Note the serious anchorage needed to ensure the toilet doesn’t get blown to the south pole.

Next stop – Putangirua where there is a very strange geological condition resulting in some impressive pinnacle rock formations.

I stalked this lovely little bird (a New Zealand pipit I believe) but it would never turn and face me. 

The track goes up a river bed

gradually getting steeper as you approach the Pinnacles.

With a little imagination you can see various things in the eroded shapes – we thought the one second on the left looked like an Easter Island moai.

Here are two silly girls pretending to be pinnacles.

The end point is a sheer rock face eroded in weird and wonderful ways.

Finally there was a bush walk up to the top of the ridge with views of the main face.

Today we had an exciting trip to some glow worm caves at Ruakokoputuna. They are in the middle of a farm. Access is by a farm track and there are minimal signs

and no walkways, just an entrance that a stream has cut for about 200 metres under the farm land.

It was a bit deep in places and you had to duck occasionally but the glow worms were bright and sparkly (unfortunately my camera was not up to the task - these two pictures were taken using flash).

Emerging at the other end.

We are back home tonight, tired, wind and sun burnt but happy to have had a relaxing time away from the big city and Christmas preparations.

Chocolate Mousse and Baked Beans

There is a link between those two disparate food items. Bear with me while I tell you a tale.

To celebrate Jane’s birthday she thought she would like to walk up Belmont Trig. (That's David and Noreen to the right of the top, silhouetted against the sky.)

Although it was a very blustery day and quite boisterous on the top 

the views were still magnificent.

One of Jane's specialities is a most amazing chocolate mousse and she decided whoever accompanied her could help with the eating thereof. Needless to say there were several takers. We found a sheltered spot and had our afternoon tea there.

The track down to the Korokoro Stream passes a camping spot called Baked Bean Bend. Apparently because the scouts used to come for weekend trips and consume the aforementioned delicacy while sitting round the camp fire.

No scouts were in residence when we passed by.

The area was heavily planted with pine trees which, as in common in many other places, are coming to the end of their life and have a nasty habit of toppling over in high winds. This made for some interesting diversions.

There were quite a few stream crossings but no wet feet were reported.

Having made the Korokoro Stream we followed it up river to the dam.

Happy Birthday, New Zealand Railways

Today is the 150^th anniversary of the opening of the first railway line, between Christchurch and Ferrymead. To mark the occasion Steam Incorporated operated a series of excursions between their depot at Paekakariki and Wellington. We decided to take a ride and have a picnic lunch on the beach.

 

Our locomotive was Ja1271

and the carriages built in 1908. The lights have been converted from gas.

This is the depot at Paekakariki

 

and one of their "heritage diesels". We don’t normally like diesels but this one is so clean and shiny that we may make an exception just once.

The picnic was made even more wonderful by David and his Volcano device for boiling water in order to make tea or coffee.

We found shelter down amongst the vegetation on the sand dunes.

 

After a brief walk along the beach we found a convenient shop selling ice creams before it was time for the journey home and almost on time arrival into Wellington station.

In other exciting news (well, I think it is exciting) we have a flowering flax bush.

The plant is about 10 years old, it self seeded in the front garden and I transferred it to the back. It's now about 2 metres tall and the seed pods another metre. I was bemoaning the fact that it had never flowered and then I noticed a commotion of tui and realised my wish had been granted!

Otari

We are lucky to live very close to three conservation areas where nature is in the forefront of the picture. There is the BotanicGardens, Zealandia and lastly the subject of this week’s blog, the Otari/Wilton’s Bush Nature Reserve. I have briefly mentioned it in two previous blogs (August 2007 and December 2010) but this is the first time it has had a pictorial posting all to itself.

The reserve had its beginning in the 19^th century when the first European settler, Job Wilton, set aside 7 hectares of bush in 1860. His name lives on in the suburb that was built on what was his farmland. This is part of that original reserve. It has been nicely laid out with tracks and information signs.

The Kaiwharawhara Stream flows from the dam in Zealandia down past the Troup Picnic Lawn and onto to Ngaio Gorge and the harbour.

On the other side of the stream are a number of paths through some lovely bush.

There are remnants of ancient podocarp forest and the famous 800 year old rimu.

Plus a not quite 800 year old human.

We followed the track to the southern end of the reserve and entered the Karori Cemetery. A lot of the pines and macrocarpa that were planted up to 150 years ago have got quite large and are starting to be affected by storms and high winds.

Row after row of graves facing east.

At the edges of the cemetery the bush is trying to take over. You can see how precarious some of the burial sites are on some quite steep slopes.

The return track follows the stream down. Lastly here is a panorama of the reserve from the top.