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MULANJE EXPATRIATES THREEPEAKS SOCIETY
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Mini-METHS – Collingwood, Golden Bay, South
Island, New Zealand
Thursday 27th February – Monday 2nd March,
2020
What a rapid and
disastrous change has swept the world in such a short time. Here we are in self-isolation and feeling
very fortunate that we’re living in a relatively remote country. As we hear of all the reports on the Covid-19
spread, we hope you’re all coping, staying safe and looking after
yourselves. We’re relieved that we were
able to enjoy our wonderful reunion just in time before we all went into
lockdown. This report has been put
together by each of the participants, for which many thanks.
"Mini-METHS
in Paradise"
Participants: Jean (Cheeky)
Hayward (leader), Andrew (Motley) Motte-Harrison, Mike (Mad) & Verena
(Muesli) Petzold, Neil (Bwana Nilo) & Sue (Donna Suzi) Stiles
Here in NZ we are under virtual
house arrest with the COVID-19 lock down.
Yet only a few weeks ago 6 of us were in paradise . . .
Mike and Verena, Jean and Andrew,
Neil and Sue arrived at various times on the Thursday afternoon and settled
into the Department of Conservation staff bach (a wooden cottage with a main
living area and adjacent bedrooms). We
arrived with the tide in – meaning 15 feet from the front kondeh! Jean, full marks for unbeatable sea views and
ambience. The bach is located at
Collingwood which is definitely at the end of the line and the gateway to
nowhere – so, very quiet and remote for the introverts amongst the party. The cost must be an all-time low for Mini
METHS – ₤6 per couple per night!
Those of us who woke up early the next morning saw vast mudflats and the
sea a long way out as we watched a stunning sunrise between the Marlborough
Sounds and Farewell Spit. Lots of wader
birds to see – oystercatchers, godwits, herons and pied stilts. Yes, we did some walking and claimed 3 peaks
. . .
Day 1: We all drove out to the foot of Farewell Spit
and did the Puponga Hilltop walk through Old Man range [apt name given our
advanced ages] to the peak of Pillar rock lighthouse overlooking the Tasman sea
having started in Golden Bay.
Unfortunately, it was not a ridge walk but rather a roller coaster of up
and then down and then up again. Donna
Suzi became increasingly most seriously displeased and, with an hour to go,
resorted to a sit down protest. Bwana
Nilo candidly outlined her choices – either spend the night here in the open or
carry on and I will carry your daypack.
We all got back in time for a refreshing swim.
For Day 2 it was just Andrew, Jean,
Verena and Neil to the Aorere goldfields for a gentle walk to 2 caves [our
peak] in the limestone crags. One of the
caves is called ‘Ballroom’ and apparently crazy kiwis have organised choral
recitals there! We timed our return to
leap into the sea at high tide for another delightful swim – getting quite used
to this combination of walk followed by swim.
For Day 3, Jean, Andrew, Neil and
Sue drove to Whanganui inlet and did a 4-hour return walk up an old forest road
and then across open scrub to Knuckle Hill Trig point. By now Bwana Nilo had become ‘2 sacks’ after
the bargaining with the drama queen from Day 1 [be careful about setting
precedents!] Marvellous views across
Whanganui Inlet to the north out to the end of Farewell spit and to the west
out to the open Tasman sea. Snack lunch and
photos with posing for photos taking the longer time. And yes, we got back just time for the
compulsory swim while the ebbing tide permitted.
Recovering in the evening with
cooking dinners, reading, playing scrabble and the (infuriating) card game
‘MOST’ and admiring the view while we still had opportunity.
Tidied up the bach and went our separate
ways on Tuesday morning little knowing or expecting a COVID19 lock-down.
Congratulations to our leader and
organiser, Cheeky Jean, on one of the best NZ mini METHS meets – great
location, marvellous and cheap accommodation, good walks, a large adjacent
swimming pool and good weather – not forgetting superlative company! [Neil and Sue stayed on elsewhere in Golden
Bay and the weather turned colder, with some rain].
Neil
Stiles (Bwana Nilo)
A request was made for a poem from
Sue, (whose ‘muse’ has departed, so I hope this will do) – so instead of a
rhyme consuming your time here’s a small piece of verse (not anything worse):
How we’d love a ‘re-do’ of this Leap
Year’s event and regret leaving it (which we couldn’t prevent). It was beautiful, healthy and a good time for
all, now our lives are reduced to a bit of a crawl. But the memories linger (and long may they
too), while we’re cooped up in situ with home-stuff to do, we can re-live those
swims and our tramps (hikes) and peaks that we did unaware of the COV-19 creep
that would soon overtake us on our return home, we want to be back there with
FREEDOM TO ROAM!
Donna
Suzi
A small offering from Mad Mike: V and I agree wholeheartedly with all
comments. Our own adventure on the 3rd
day, viz: Milnthorpe Park Reserve, which definitely needs more exploring –
miles of forest trails and, in order to stay "kosher", we even
managed three summits with glorious views of Golden Bay and further afield (and
forest). On the final day, we explored
the very friendly small town of Collingwood, lunched at the hospitable pub and
attended the evening service at the little church on the hill.
From Cheeky:
Neil has done such a good job of reporting our adventures, there’s
very little that I can add, except that I’m still smarting at the whitewash I
got from Nilo at MOST! I love the
geology of the Farewell Spit area. It is
the longest sand spit in NZ, formed after the last Ice Age. The sand from South Island rivers is washed
up to the north of the South Island by the Westland Current. About 3,400,000 cubic metres of material is
added every year. Once the sand reaches
the currents of the Cook Strait, it is washed over the spit into Golden Bay. Hence the reason why the tide goes out such a
long way. It was great catching up with
old friends again. We’ve decided that
this was such a special location with still so much to explore, that we’ll make
this our destination again next year.
Methophiles note this and plan a visit Down Under next year.
© WDYFO, 2020