HIKING OR NOT HIKING THE PINNACLES

This is what happened after the ‘Fucked up Thames‘ adventure.

As the Big Pinnacles Day is coming, so is the rain. Anaïs and I are starting to feel a bit pessimistic about the Pinnacles hiking thing. Whatever, let’s just go to the DOC centre to get some advice about the hike (the Department of Conservation, which is caring about hiking tracks and flora and fauna preservation in New Zealand – there are DOC centres everywhere in the country.)

(Lis cet article en Français, bébé!)

The nice counter guy at the DOC is strict: there will be no Pinnacles today, not with that heavy pouring rain coming. The track will be muddy and very slippery. He can see on our face how disappointed we are. So, he’s talking about other tracks around here, some less dangerous hikes, which are also way shorter, yet worth seeing because we will be able to see Kauri Trees.

Kauri Trees are endemic New Zealand trees, they are gigantic and can reach 50 meters high. If they’re not the tallest trees in New Zealand, they’re definitely the largest, with a record of 8 meters in diameter. They also can live up to 2000 years A long time, they were plenty of Kauri Trees in the forests, but since the Polynesians arrived, and then the Europeans, most of them were cut off for wood and gum. There aren’t so many lefts in New Zealand, especially since a special soil disease is threatening them.

This is why you have to clean up your shoes before walking the track. You can even find a sanitizer pistol to spray your gear at the entrance of the forest! The path is enchanting, amongst huge ferns, Fantail birds, little bridges, some slippery slopes we have to climb… And eventually. Kauri Trees. Huge, gigantic, majestic Kauri Trees.

As we finally get to the Cookson’s Kauri Tree, the rain starts to fall. We shelter ourselves under a tree stump, staring at the huge tree in front of us, and we keep talking. About our lives, because as a matter of fact, we’re still getting to know each other, and I think that’s exactly when and where happened our ‘love’ at first sight.

The rain is pouring, with no signs of clearance whatsoever, so we start walking again, to get a glimpse on the second Kauri Tree, before heading back cheerfully to the carpark. We’re sinking in the mud, our clothes are dripping water, and that’s quite a relief when we finally get to the car. And that’s the place, this lonesome carpark in the middle of nowhere, where we have to remove our clothes and dry ourselves inside the car with the heater on and some sandwiches to eat.

At this moment, giggling loudly, dripping rain, that we decide that I will be Anais’ travel buddy on her road trip to Northland.

Of course, we don’t know it yet, but this epic Kauri-Tree-Adventure under the rain is just the beginning of a long saga of epic and amazing adventures!

LET’S GO THERE !:

Cookson Kauri Walk,  the track starts at the Wainora Park. More infos at the Kauaeranga Valley’s DOC.