Palliser, Putangirua Pinnacles & Kaitoke

A recurring sentiment: the limitation of words and images to convey experience. There is no tool to capture the sweet elusive scents of spring in the cool, deep bush; no way of following the rush of wind along the barren straits, softening over the land into a gentle accompaniment for Tui songs. Even memory degrades them. The best one can do is to tell stories. . .

And so we set out for the southeastern-most coast of the North Island. Martinborough, a quaint town gaining renown for its fine red wines, is gateway to this region. We arrived briefly at the old Martinborough Hotel to reserve a room and set aside our things, then headed down to Palliser Bay, where fur seals teem in the coastal waters. Spring means seal pups, and we counted many curled drowsily on the rocks or playing the the shallow, sheltered coves. Perched at the end of the road (literally) and atop 250 steep steps is the Palliser light house.

The view from the top is magnificent. The coastal road can be seen hugging the black, seal-laden beaches at right, an in the middle horizon the snow-capped peaks of the Kaikoura range on the South island are easily visible on a clear day (clicking on pictures will enlarge).

A few kilometers back up the road are the Putangirua Pinnacles, a sort of mini-badlands formed over millenia of erosion. For those who are fans of the Lord of the Rings films, this was the setting for the Dimwalt Road which Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas take to summon the dead army as Mordor's armies lay siege to Gondor (Return of the King). The gorge itself is quite difficult terrain, and nearly impossible to photograph with any sense of scale. In the movie, the camera reels up the pinnacles or is set above them looking down into the dry river bed.

On the way home, we stopped by Kaitoke Park, which in a sense is our "local" park, as it is less than an hour's drive from downtown Wellington. Kaitoke consists of thousands of hectares of pristine alpine bush, and is the watershed for the Hutt River, which provides half of the region's water. Kaitoke was the setting for Rivendell in the Fellowship of the Rings. We halfheartedly attempted a few photos, but none caught the feel of the place. Perhaps we will try again soon.