4 November 2007

Old Coach Rd

(Wellington)

page 3

I love the occasional evidence we come across here and there of the friendships found in walking, the odd memorial plaque here, and a bench somewhere else,

and I find myself back for a moment or two with my favourite walker, Rex Fairburn, in the poem he dedicated to Douglas Robb - To a Friend in the Wilderness. Far too big to reproduce here but so much shared walking and companionship implicit in its lines.

We carry on over the brow of the hill

Behind the sign is the poled Skyline Track heading south to Karori

Over to the left is Johnsonville. Miranda, who used to ride her horse up this road as a teenager, is astounded to see that the houses have crept so close.

We head up towards the next pole, but the wind is fierce and we turn back. Occasional drifts of cloud are thick enough for the poles to disappear altogether, and we do not know the area. I am beginning to think that the reason dogs are to be kept on a leash is the strong possibility they will be blown away.

More unshorn sheep with straggles of fleece hanging off them.

Alice leans into the wind

and so does Miranda.

People up here, however are used to the force of the wind and have built accordingly.

Down we go again.

I'd love to return and do this on a clear day, but the wind and mist are something of an adventure and today they feel about right.

Somebody needs to grab the farm manager and push his face right up close to the back end of these sheep. This is bloody awful. And the thistles are not ones we want blowing around the entire valley either.

Yes, well......

I have been seeing this wildflower/weed everywhere south of Wanganui, and I wonder what it is. Looks like a wild aster of some kind.

This one is still alive, but I doubt it will see morning.

So on this note we close....

It's been great and it's been horrible, and suddenly in the van the wind is no longer tugging at our clothes and blowing in our faces. We put the kettle on and take our coats off.