Mount Holdsworth
Ice climbing was fantastic, even though we did it in the rain -- a severe weather warning, in fact! What an experience to climb a vertical wall of ice with just ice picks and spikes on my feet! We are now in Queenstown -- adventure capital of the world. We're booked in for an adrenaline activity tomorrow, but I'm keeping it a secret til later. ;)
Back to your regularly scheduled programming...
Mount Holdsworth and its surrounding area is a popular hiking destination in the Wairarapa (Masterton area). It is part of the Tararua Forest Park. As with many trailheads in New Zealand, there are hikes ranging anywhere from half an hour to a few days long, the latter of which often have huts about every five hours of walking time, so you can stay overnight without packing a tent.
I visited Mount Holdsworth twice, once by myself and once with my neighbour, David. On the first occasion I only wanted to scope out the options and just did a short one hour loop track to Donnelly Flat, but it was plenty scenic, with beautiful native forest, a footbridge across a fairly wide river, an attractive creek that fed into it, and lots of interesting plants which I did some closeups of. And of course there are lots of pictures of tree-shrouded paths -- my favourite!
From the bridge.
This meadow was filled with very tall palmpas grass.
These leaves are actually as shiny as they look!
Looking up at the canopy.
`
I returned with David a couple weeks later to do the Rocky Lookout track, which was two and a half hours round trip. It burned significantly more calories than the first walk, as it was entirely uphill! It was a "pick your way through these sprawling and trecherous roots while trying to avoid tripping on rocks as you slog on and on at a constant 50 degree angle" sort of hike. :p David had wanted to do a different track which, while still mostly uphill, had stairs to make things easier. David was a good sport about the change of plans though, even after he turfed it coming down the mountain!
The forest was considerably less lush further up the mountain -- it actually reminded me of some of the drier places in Australia I visited!
David tackling a particuarly steep section.
Me tackling a particularly steep section! Who am I kidding... it was ALL this steep!
View starting to emerge.
View from the top, complete with a sundial.
Coming down was almost as hard as going up! Eeeep!
We definitely deserved our reward afterward, which was pizza at a place that mostly only locals know about, as it is only open from 5-8pm on Fridays and is on a little road off of the route to Holdsworth. The place was incredibly popular, and we were glad we got there at 5:30 because we only had to line up behind a few people, whereas shortly afterward, the line went right out of the building and down the stairs! The handmade pizza was delicious though, so I can see why business is booming.
David was keeping a eye on some neighbour's properties up the road from our houses and one had a great view, so we drove up to snap a couple shots. :)
Back to your regularly scheduled programming...
Mount Holdsworth and its surrounding area is a popular hiking destination in the Wairarapa (Masterton area). It is part of the Tararua Forest Park. As with many trailheads in New Zealand, there are hikes ranging anywhere from half an hour to a few days long, the latter of which often have huts about every five hours of walking time, so you can stay overnight without packing a tent.
I visited Mount Holdsworth twice, once by myself and once with my neighbour, David. On the first occasion I only wanted to scope out the options and just did a short one hour loop track to Donnelly Flat, but it was plenty scenic, with beautiful native forest, a footbridge across a fairly wide river, an attractive creek that fed into it, and lots of interesting plants which I did some closeups of. And of course there are lots of pictures of tree-shrouded paths -- my favourite!
From the bridge.
This meadow was filled with very tall palmpas grass.
These leaves are actually as shiny as they look!
Looking up at the canopy.
`
I returned with David a couple weeks later to do the Rocky Lookout track, which was two and a half hours round trip. It burned significantly more calories than the first walk, as it was entirely uphill! It was a "pick your way through these sprawling and trecherous roots while trying to avoid tripping on rocks as you slog on and on at a constant 50 degree angle" sort of hike. :p David had wanted to do a different track which, while still mostly uphill, had stairs to make things easier. David was a good sport about the change of plans though, even after he turfed it coming down the mountain!
The forest was considerably less lush further up the mountain -- it actually reminded me of some of the drier places in Australia I visited!
David tackling a particuarly steep section.
Me tackling a particularly steep section! Who am I kidding... it was ALL this steep!
View starting to emerge.
View from the top, complete with a sundial.
Coming down was almost as hard as going up! Eeeep!
We definitely deserved our reward afterward, which was pizza at a place that mostly only locals know about, as it is only open from 5-8pm on Fridays and is on a little road off of the route to Holdsworth. The place was incredibly popular, and we were glad we got there at 5:30 because we only had to line up behind a few people, whereas shortly afterward, the line went right out of the building and down the stairs! The handmade pizza was delicious though, so I can see why business is booming.
David was keeping a eye on some neighbour's properties up the road from our houses and one had a great view, so we drove up to snap a couple shots. :)