I spent the morning working out a vague itinerary for the rest of my stay in New Zealand - I still have a bit of work left to do but I think I have an idea that should allow me to include most other important places, including glaciers and the Tranzalpine railway journeys.
I decided that since it was no longer pouring with rain, I really ought to get outside to do something so had a quick look at some maps and decided to walk to the top of a road called Wallace Road. Google maps advised that it was 10km to there, which made for a reasonable amount of exercise.
With that in mind, I made myself some packed lunch, put together the rest of my day bag, and set off.
The roads were reasonably quiet, and I enjoyed the countryside as I headed towards the hills, soon arriving at the main loop where the hill road went from. As I approached a bridge, I noticed a raptor soaring in the sky, though it was a bit far away to get a good shot, so I made my way closer. It had other ideas though as the wind carried it even further away and out of sight.
I almost passed the winding road up, as it looked like a driveway, but started my way up the forest road like path. Some signs indicated that vehicles still used the track and so I should get off the path if I heard one, which seemed to me to be fair enough!
It was apparent that there had been a few minor land slips on to the path as a result of the earthquake, which hadn't been cleared up, so I wondered how frequently people used the path, and continued on my way up.
I reached a sign that advised that people going further on foot or by bike did so at their own risk, which made me hesitate a little but nothing seemed out of the ordinary apart from that, so I continued on, until I reached a sign that said "Private property" and indicated I shouldn't go further. At that moment someone in a Ute arrived, so as instructed further down the hill, I got off the track.
He pulled up beside me and wound down the window, as we exchanged hellos, then he asked if I was aware that I was on private property. I indicated that I had seen the sign to that effect (pointing at it) and asked if I should go back, as my goal had been to reach the summit to check out the view. He indicated that it should be OK as long as I didn't go in to anyone's property, and that I should stick to the track.
With that, he drove off, and having been given some element of permission by someone who appeared to belong there, I continued up the track another 800 metres or so, till I came across another sign that said 'No entry, private property'.
I took that as a sign that I had reached as far as I could, and since there was an opening in the trees to afford a view, I called it quits there.
By the time I made it back to the ranch, my legs were letting me know they had just walked 11 miles, so I enjoyed a soak in the tub, and processed the photos online.
When Tina came back, we organised the hay for the sheep and alpaccas, and then fed the lambs. As part of this, I got to drive a quad bike for the first time. It was fairly straight forwards, however the accelerated was thumb operated lever, so I found that fine adjustments were a little tricky!
We enjoyed some home made bacon+egg quiche for dinner, and confirmed my plans for the next day including when I needed to catch the bus.