them Bloody Swans!

Last night we parked the van on the side of a mountain road. I love sleeping in the middle of nowhere, far from any towns or cities because of the darkness. Because of the stars. We got out of the van and stood for awhile just looking up. The amount of stars we could see was immense, there were even clusters that formed what looked like galaxies, although I know they weren’t. Like something you might see on Star Trek when they arrive on another planet. I haven’t been able to see stars that clearly in years, it’s so hard to get away from artificial light. But out there on the mountain we were surrounded by nothingness. A black so dense it was scary to lie in bed, I wasn’t even able to see Ollie a few inches away. It was so dark it felt as if it was midnight when we pulled over when really it was only half past seven. It’s amazing how ones body is effected by the light it’s in, as if light and not time dictates how we feel.

Unfortunately we had picked a spot on a slope and I spent most the night feeling like I was on a fair ground ride that was tipping me gently backwards, my balance was a bit freaked out, but we coped! We dressed and drove a few kilometers down the road to an entrance into Nelson Lakes National Park and one lake in particular, Lake Rotorua (Not to be confused with the lake of the same name on the North Island). Everything was still wrapped in the morning clouds but the lake itself looked amazing. We walked along the little pontoon so we felt like we were standing in the water. It was another amazing view as the cloudy mountains fell into the water surrounding the lake and the bush over hung the shore line. A couple of black swans were taking their signets for a morning paddle and the sight was extremely cute until they turned for me. I wasn’t doing anything inflammatory, just observing, but they obviously decided they didn’t like me because they paddled in my direction and at quite a pace! Due to a childhood incident with a swan I was immediately alarmed and grabbing for Ollie I ran backwards down the pontoon as fast as I could, all the while with the swans advancing! Lucky for me they weren’t about to continue the pursuit on land and I was left to compose myself.

We set off along the ‘Nature Trail’, Ollie with stick in hand (he found us walking sticks the other day, mine is called Gwendolyn but I left her in the van) and me with my miracle shoes that had dried overnight! We are used to trails being fairly well marked out and with proper paths but on this walk we realised that wasn’t going to be the case. This trail had a general direction but you had to figure the walk way out for yourself and there were arrows every so often on trees to let you know you weren’t lost. We were up for the challenge and it made for a far more interesting experience! Trees had fallen over that we had to climb, rivers had made a home in the walkways and foliage and roots sprung form every possible angle. It was a constant battle to move anywhere and after ten minutes we had got hardly anywhere! It was super fun though and with Ollie and his stick to help us we soon got our brains in gear to figure out a way through. It was great to be lost in the undergrowth, to see tons of little rivers forming and to have the lake on our right, ever present and ever calm while two idiots tripped and fell forward.

After a couple of hours we stopped to eat our lunch on a tree branch and took a moment to take in our surroundings. The forest was wet and water leaked or spat from every available hole or crack. You could feel how alive the trees and plants were, hear them growing and expanding. We had to walk back the same way as you couldn’t walk around the entire lake and to get to the other end took five hours, so if we’d walked there and back it would be ten hours and we’d have got lost in the dark! I took the lead and I was doing really well, remembering the way we had come and how to over come the different obstacles. We got to one particular swampy section and I told Ollie I could recall the exact bits of wood to step on that would get us through. Ollie disagreed with my recollection. Of course that only fueled my determination to prove him wrong. ‘Yes, yes you go here, here and he....OH CRUD!’ It became instantly clear that I had been wrong when on my final lunge my foot disappeared into the muddy swamp and I began to sink rapidly. Instead of help, Ollie just laughed. I don’t think I’ve ever used the term (if it can be classed as a term) ‘crud’ in my life before. Retrieving my very disgusting shoe we continued, me at the back again. I wasn’t angry at myself, just disappointed that every time I try and take charge, something goes wrong. 

Finally we emerged from the bush once more and found the end of the lake. By now it was afternoon and the clouds had vanished to reveal a bright blue sky and a spectacular view. Now we could see the mountains surrounding us in full. They were so high and had snow caps that bounced off the lake beneath them. The view was a postcard. I sat on the pontoon and just stared. I wanted to carve the picture into my mind to stay forever. Beautiful. But then the swans appeared from nowhere and began to charge at me once more. Bloody Hell! 

We dragged ourselves away from the park and hit the road, this time heading for the west coast. Usually we listen to the radio and sing along to the songs word for word (because over here the stations repeat songs a ridiculous amount of times) but now we’re getting further from major towns the signal is rubbish and there is literally no radio. We have an ipod shuffle but it only holds so many songs and we’ve listened to them far too much! So we practiced the art of conversation and got into deep discussions that then turned to mild hysteria as all conversations do on long journeys. We reached the first of the coastal towns on our route, Westport, or as we renamed it, Dissapointingport. The place is nothing much, just a piece of mining history eternally stuck. We drove straight through. It was one of those places that looked like it would eat anything that wasn’t a local. I think I even saw someone point an axe at our van. Anyway we continued our drive and along the way stopped shortly to observe a Seal Colony sprawling on some rocks (as seals do) and messed about on a windy wild beach for a while. 

We were looking for a place to park up for the night but signs were being a real pain and not allowing us to. Eventually we found a spot in Punataki across from the car park that said no overnight stopping. Well it didn’t say it on our side of the road! But I didn’t have the best nights sleep because I kept waking up thinking someone was coming to move us on. I guess that’s the price you pay for a free nights parking!

20/7/12

Please note - The grammatical error in the title is deliberate!