As we made the ascent towards Mackinnon Pass, the scenery improved further, if that is at all possible. Perhaps it’s our bias towards climbing that gave us the impression but it was a magnificent day. One could say there is just too much beauty for the mind to absorb in ‘one shot’. Once again, we invite you to look at the visuals for part confirmation of our opinion; full confirmation could only occur from your presence in this spectacular area.
Roey, one of the Israelis we befriended, made us chuckle when he referred to a group of hikers dressed in their ‘spacesuits’. Briefly, the track is used by either the independents, that’s us or the guided trampers (people who pay at least $ 2,000 for the opportunity of a luxury, shortened hike along the track). As the ranger in the huts mentioned on the first night: “Please keep away from the privately run ‘lodges’ on the track as the managers become annoyed if the peasants hang around the kitchens seeking scraps”. The peasants are of course, us.
Of the ‘guided’, a large section comprised Koreans who had obviously visited the same sports store and brought matching outfits in red, yellow, green and blue. Rotem, the sweet Israeli woman in our group of ‘peasants’, mentioned that when she passed a colorful couple, she noticed that without their boots, they had matching socks, too. We were too shy to ask about the color of their underwear. We also noticed when we arrived by boat, we were let off first in case we boors trampled the poor dears. What we really thought a good idea is that they had nametags on their suits. In an age when people are often searching for their identities, this seems to provide a nice solution.
You might say there seems to be a little envy below the surface. You'd be correct. We would hope never to take a luxury hike like this. However, what we'd give for one of those flashy spacesuits, not to mention a prominent identity badge.
Rotem and Leor are a charming, recently married couple from Israel. We ate most meals with them and ended up bunking down in close proximity. Of course, lighting candles for Chanukah included the five of us. For the second night, Cedric, a New Zealand sheep and cattle farmer asked if he could observe our little ceremony while others watched from a distance. ‘Sure you may, Cedric. We hope that you are not of Syrian-Greek heritage, though.’
This ‘bunking business’ presents challenges at times. On the first night, sleep was not easy to reach. Above us slept the wife of the man on the bunk above Jenni. The woman was as quiet as one could wish. However, the husband was another story. When he approached his bunk, he had already removed some of his clothing…Let’s move on. We noticed strapped to his forehead was a miner’s light. A reader. Each time he turned a page, he moved his head, causing the light to shine on our bed. Fortunately, he wasn’t enjoying the book so he went off to sleep and snored the whole night. Such is the joy of sharing a hut with strangers.
New Zealand is not only wonderful because of the natural beauty. The people are, in our opinion, special. Many years ago, Derek Lichter, a friend of ours, expounded on a concept that we find most wise. When making comparisons of one society with another one ought to be careful. For often, one is not really comparing countries but rather eras. We were very impressed with this idea. New Zealand reminds us of life in South Africa some years ago, recapturing an era that we believe has all but disappeared—a great pity in our opinion.
Donald James, another New Zealand farmer, reminded us of a slogan we saw last year in Ouray. When discussing some tricky hikes, he said: “To do these tramps, you don’t have to be crazy, but it sure helps”. To continue in that vein, Donald is very amusing and entertaining. He added: “As a farmer, he’d choose a drought over a socialist/labor government any day. A drought only lasts for a year.”
One more day on the track… to follow.
Cheers,
Jenni and Jeffrey
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