We had a very exciting but scary adventure led by our B&B host. He offered to take us, 2 other guests and 2 of his visiting relatives to a very remote peninsula only accessible by boat. He hired a water taxi to drop us on the beach then we spent hours working our way along the coastline. We scrambled over rocks, squeezed through rock chasms, waded in marine pools filled with all sorts of marine life. We ended with dinner and a bonfire with champagne, whiskey, beer and stories about the Maori village once located there.
We returned to the pick up spot at 9 PM to meet the boat but high winds and huge waves prevented us from getting picked up. Our host guided us to a nearby cave for shelter until the weather improved. This turned out to be a bad choice as the tide was rising and we became trapped in the cave. It turned dark and the 7 of us had to huddle for warmth until the tide receded. Fortunately, no water came in the cave and we all stayed relatively warm. At 4:30 Am, we managed to get out and go to the other side of the peninsula where the waves were smaller. The water taxi rescued us there. The poor taxi owner had been on foot looking for us all night.
Our adventure along the coastline included some very interesting vegetation and marine life.
This was where I bailed out. It required wading and the tide was coming in. The group turned around right after they reached the point and saw how high the tide looked.
Room with a view? The sunset was lovely but high tide was still nearly 4 hours away. The sea was rough and we were stuck here. At high tide, the waves were lapping at the rocks you see.
Overnight in a cave is a tough way to get this shot!
Our next adventure, after 3 hours sleep, was to drive to Tuatapere for our 3 day hike at Humpridge. We decided to skip the first day which had a 12 mile 3000' gain. Instead we hired a helicopter to take us to the first night's lodge. the next day we had a 3000' down which may have been harder than going up. Here are the shots from Humpridge.
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