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Return to CivilisationThe last two days are probably symbolised as much as anything by the giant nikau along the track.
These are palm trees, the southernmost in the world. As kids on the farm we used to collect a dead frond, take it to the top of a nearby hill, sit in the "bowl" at the base and slide down to the bottom, hanging on to the leaf stem for dear life, legs splayed out either side to the front. But these are a few sizes bigger than anything we saw up north. Hell, some of them would fit round my bottom at oits present size. We turn a corner and the Gunner Bridge is right in front of us. It was written up as the biggest and most fearsome of the suspension bridges, but though it might be a few metres higher than the Heaphy, and a bit hairier to climb onto, it's actually about 5 - 10 metres shorter in my estimation than the Heaphy. It does sag a bit more in the middle. If you've cracked the Heaphy and you keep looking at the far end, you're home. There's a massive wooden staircase at the other end dropping you down to river level.
Louise mentioned some heavy rain through here a month or so back that had the Lewis nearly up to the hut steps. the Gunner must have been running fairly high too, and it's come close to taking out part of the path. DOC warning tape points to a detour.
At one point a large tree has been uprooted and washed out, held in place only by its attached supplejack vines.
We continue beside the Gunner for a short way
Before we know it the Murray Bridge is upon us and it has the same rather awkward mounting procedure as the Gunner Bridge, requiring you to clamber up the wire cage in a semi crouch if you are to maintain a hold on the top wires, and wildly unstable underfoot if you attempt it without hanging on. Worse for tall people. I use Miranda's shoulder to stabilise for the first few steps after which I manage OK.
Miranda is getting blase about these bridges now, and even stopping to look at the scenery and wave. She would like to go back and do them all over again. I have a guarded tolerance for them.
Suddenly we're out of the bush
and we are confronted with undoubted evidence that civilisation as we know it is not far away. I mention this to Miranda later and we both had the same reaction - the magic was over. Like the lawnmower at the Heaphy hut it jars horribly with the previous few days experience. But sooner or later it has to end.
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