Monday, Feb 27 - Kind-of-late from Havelock North to get to meander down to Castlepoint, then over to Rivendell, then the night in Lower Hutt/Wellington:
An overcast day in New Zealand, which is ok because we have had to use the ac a couple of times:
Peanut Butter-and-Honey sandwiches in the car - because who has time to stop and "Have Lunch"? We have places to go, people to see, things to do!!
Castlepoint is an area on the southeast coast of New Zealand's North Island. I saw this picture in a back issue of
Popular Photography I got out of the Manchester Library, and it immediately hit my travel-list:
It is a 3+ hour drive to Castlepoint: the first 2 hours are relatively flat and straight, but the last hour to the coast is kind of hairy:
and the final part is the WORST!!
BUT IT IS WORTH IT!! The "first beach" is super-long and beautiful - Wendy loves it! With a view to the north: mountains
and to the south: lighthouse
The lighthouse, in turn, is just north of
Deliverance Cove:
Which is the most beautiful place I have seen all this trip!!
(you will see some "people-in-picture" photos soon, to get a sense of scale)
Wendy and I split up so I could do the 1-and-a-half hour hike to the top of the mountain at the south end of the Cove - it starts going through a little forest
Before breaking out into a field that runs around the rim of the cove:
It turns out that on the south-side of this ridge is a BEAUTIFUL VIEW of the coast heading south:
On To The Mountain!
The trail gets a little sketchy
BUT THE VIEWS ARE SOOOOO COOL!!
Looking north over the Cove towards the lighthouse:
east at the
Pacific Ocean:
and south along the New Zealand coast:
I was able to get a shot down, with some people:
On my hike back down
I was able to zoom in on the kids who made it to the top:
I made it back down (less than one hour round trip - a GREAT workout), and so I went for a swim in the Pacific Ocean!!
What a beautiful place, and such an excellent adventure!
We then made our way down the road
to
Rivendell in the
Kaitoke Regional Park for some "Lord of the Rings" misc. It is a nice jungley-forest environment:
with an archway ("Leaving Rivendell"):
and a couple of guys taking a dip in the Hutt River:
Beautiful sunset overlooking Wellington Harbour:
Thank you God for all your wonderful adventures today!
Music today - music from my silver nano:
Acoustic Alchemy -
The Beautiful Game, 2000
Dave Mason -
Alone Together, 1970
I was able to tell Wendy the history of Traffic, Dave Mason's solo career, the history of Fleetwood Mac, and how Dave Mason was a member of Fleetwood Mac for a few years in the mid-1990s. I believe I remember there being a Traffic concert in the Boston area one night in the nid-1990's, and Fleetwood Mac down at Great Woods the next night - and thinking wouldn't it be cool if Dave Mason came in a day early and played with Traffic!! (I don't know if it ever happened)
Augustines -
Augustines, 2014
This is the 2nd album for the band - they were originally named "We Are Augustines" (first album "Rise Ye Sunken Ships" 2011), but I bet they got tired, when asked the name of the band, of saying "We are We Are Augustines".
Dave Matthews Band -
Away from the World, 2012
Bastille -
Bad Blood, 2013
105.9 MORE FM broadcasting out of Castlepoint
David Baerwald -
Bedtime Stories, 1990
Magic Man -
Before the Waves, 2014
