Silverpeaks call answered.

The call...

I enjoy a tramp in the hills. Whether it was wandering around my uncle's sheep run as a child, or growing up in the midst of bush and hills in Dunedin or being raised with stories of Ed Hillary, I long to get out in the hills. Unfortunately, apart from my Mount Cargill walks and the odd one up Flagstaff (back of Dunedin) I seldom get to do it. After the Annual General Meeting of the Church Sunday week ago, Jean and I decided to go somewhere for lunch to unwind. We went to the Orokonui Nature reserve cafe. As you sit in this cafe you have a great view of the surrounding country side. Silhouetted on the horizon are the mountains of the area known as "The Silverpeaks". I think they are called this because they are covered in Manuka bushes which have a little white flower at certain times of the year, and these give the hills silver look about them in the sun. As I sat having my toasted panini the hills beckoned me. I looked at them and just ached to go for a walk. I decided to take the Tuesday after Easter off (a day in leu?) and go for a walk. I was a little bit nervous. I had some guys saying to me "You can't go walking around the Silverpeaks at this time of the year, it is too dangerous, the weather changes quickly up there you know!" Another said, "We'll be out looking for you! People die up there you know!" Yes I know, I have heard the stories about lost lives in those mountains. I watched the weather and decided that today was settled enough to go. I walked a familiar track in the Silverpeaks. I don't know how to explain it, when I get out in those hills alone I am in heaven. Is it just that you are away from civilisation? You are alone with the birds, the bush, the weather and the track. You are challenged by hills, by mud and by your own endurance or fitness. It is, for me a real treat. I walked for two and a half hours and stopped amongst the rocks of a high peak. I ate my lunch and walked out again. (A strange thing to do???) As I came out I stopped to talk to a group of students who were tramping into Jubilee Hut for the night. They wanted to know if somebody had got there before them. I reported that I had seen a group head that way quite a distance in front of me, then I explained that I just went in, had lunch and walked out again. One student grinned, "It is a great place to escape isn't it?" He understood! I share some pictures. I love these hills!

Photos: (They are back to front)

* Bottom one... a view of the hills early on the track. For 360 degrees there are views like this.

* Part of the bush. It changes as you gain height. You get into tussock country.

* Looking back on a high point on the track on my way in. This is called "Pulpit Rock."

* Top Photo: Where I stopped and had my lunch.