On Sunday morning we decided to do walk 3 of 39 in the "Hikes + Walks - Out East" pamphlet - The Kuri Farm Walkway. We remembered this walk from a previous visit to Gisborne, and knew that it was steep and slippery, so why the heck did we do it again?
We set off in light drizzle and the first obstacle, a stream crossing, was easier than last time, bolstering our confidence, until we hit the farm track climbing the hill. The track was muddy after the rain and had been well chewed up by animals and farm vehicles. It was a case of two steps forward and one back as we slid around the track, and our shoes got heavier and heavier as they attracted more clay. I thought I was dying but Marlene thought that the weights on our feet just made it a better workout.
We climbed slipperily but steadily for 1000 ft, past sheep, goats and young cattle, to the top of the ridge, from where we had great views over Gisborne and Poverty Bay.
By then the sun was out, and after picking a few field mushrooms we headed back down. If we thought climbing up was tough, coming down was tougher, with a fair amount of sliding, some of it was even controlled. But we made it back in one piece, and after hosing off our shoes, putting all clothing (and shoes) in the washing machine, and having a good long shower, we called the day a success. Fitbit congratulated me on my record number of stairs climbed in a day (110 flights) and awarded me the helicopter badge for climbing as high as a helicopter - what better motivation could I have to do more?
Monday being a non-work day (Sunday in North America), we decided to visit the Eastwoodhill Arboretum (Arboretum of New Zealand) which is about 35 Km from Gisborne. The Arboretum was started after WWI by a New Zealand soldier who wanted to replicate gardens that he saw in England while recuperating from injuries. Today it contains over 3500 different types of trees and is the largest collection of Northern Hemisphere trees in the Southern Hemisphere. Species include the Coastal Redwood and the good old Canadian Maple, pictured below making its Autumn colour change.
There are a number of colour-coded walks on the myriad of paths that criss-cross the property, and we chose the yellow path - Marlene's choice as it was one of the longest, and my choice as being the one colour that I would not get confused with something else (blue and purple, red / brown / green), me being colour blind.
The (extended) yellow trail took us to the Plane Table lookout, where we had spectacular views of the surrounding farm lands and beyond.
We were looking forward to a coffee and food when we got back to the visitors centre, but learned that the food that we had seen earlier was only for the cruise ship passengers on a day excursion. The disappointment must have shown in our faces, because the woman agreed to make us tea and give us a slice of ginger crunch each for a total of $9.00. As the cruise ship people had already left, the other woman told us to help ourselves to an asparagus sandwich and a coconut / blueberry muffin (yummy). So, visiting on a cruise ship day is a good thing.
Revived by our snack, Marlene guided us around the brown trail, where we saw wild turkeys living in harmony with sheep.
I think that we might be back next week to do the green trail, as we only climbed 75 flights of stairs today and I am told that we have to do better than yesterday.
In the evening we had a beach walk and I found a set of car keys in the sand. We asked everybody that we met on the beach if they had lost keys but could not find an owner for them. The tag on the key ring identified the make, model and licence plate number, so we decided that we would try and find the car in the parking lot where we parked. As we arrived back to the parking area we saw a young couple put their surf boards on their roof rack and then start searching for their keys. Of course I had their keys. The young couple were most appreciative and a man sitting at a nearby picnic table said "nice one". What better way to end the day than a random act of kindness?
Today was a work day, but we managed several loops around Gray's Bush (too sunny to do walks 4 thru 7 in the walk book) and I'm told that we will be doing another beach walk after dinner.
There is no rest for the wicked.
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