Annual westcoast recon trip part2

Scout leaders can read - right?? naturally, but we always reserve the right to investigate any dubious claims, and besides what depth does the water have to be across the road?? 1 cm?? 20 cm?? Anyway - we found out that the sign was there for a reason after all - as it dips below the level of the lake next door and when that floods - there is no road left to drive on . . . . . more like a canoe track . . . .
It did make for some interesting return travel out. 
Message to self - pay more attention to the local signs . . . .

Check out these cool hillibillies - ready for a days of tramping in the rain!!  We decided to go anyway  and check out plan B route seeing that the planned route A - to Cave creek was a wash out.  Funnily enough by the time we got started the heavens stopped crying and we almost had sunshine!! Vinnie - you're a darl!! Had I taken Brodie with me on this recon trip, we would have been doused I am sure - and I really didn't fancy a fresh outdoor shower.  Anyhow the track we went on is a 3 hour loop track around Punakaki and has some fantastic scenery. I would regard it as a easy grade track.  

Sometimes when life gets too much, you just have to go back into your bear-cave?!!!? 
Well looks like it, however this was just one of the many interesting places on the track - walk literally through the rock face. The steps help of course, but you had to bend down and Sir G.h.  had to stoop quite low.  A new experience for his Lord ship perhaps ?  ? Anyhow this particular gem had fallen over the track a long time ago and left a natural tunnel to walk through. Magic

I have a friend in Austria who would drool over this scenery and a simple 3 hour track would probably take more like 6 hours - photo-stop at every 5 paces.  Stitch did good on her walk - we took only some 200 pics ourselves.  Anyhow, a short story long - this is a very typical wild and mossy bush-walk scenery to enjoy. Luckily for us there was a track to follow - imagine having to bush-whack through here.  ^^    

We got to the half way point and made a rudimentary shelter - using two half hitches on the corners and strung the ropes on some trees.
Ahhh our good old scouting skills do come in handy!! Funny thing was, we ended up sitting
O U T -side the shelter, but we proved that the area selected would comfy hold a group of 10 under a larger canvas.  Time to build a campfire (sadly on gas) and get the billie boiling, ohh and lets not forget the lunch meal.