“Always have a Plan B”

We woke up to seriously gray skies and rain, as well as being very windy. As expected, our heliflight was cancelled. We rescheduled, again, for the next day.

Now we had an entire free day at our disposal we hadn’t planned on. We decided to drive to Clifden Caves, an adventure we had originally intended to do on our way to the Catlins. As we drove, the rain let up a bit and patches of blue sky could be seen. We noticed a light dusting of new snow on the mountaintops that must have come down during the night.

The caves were less than an hour away and a few geocaches were between here and there. We stopped at Rakatu Wetlands, which had an incredible view as well as the historic Clifden Suspension Bridge. When we arrived at the caves, we geared up with two sets of headlamps each, and a fannypack with spare batteries. The caves were easy to navigate. DOC has replaced the orange triangles with reflective tape, making the markings easy to see. You do require a bit of agility, as there are places you are on your hands and knees and other places you must scramble on all fours. The most challenging of these was at the pool. It was a very narrow passage and a long drop. Getting around the pool was yet another challenge. I had read that you are best to go to the left because there is a ledge about ankle-deep. But there is nothing to hang on to and you really hugged the wall. No telling how deep that water was, but neither of us wanted to find out.

We emerged from other end of the cave about an hour later and never needed the extra headlamps or batteries.

With plenty of day left we took a couple of short hikes that were mentioned on the Southern Scenic Route brochure. At Lake Monowai, there was a Peninsula Lookout Track. Nice track, but the lookout was very obscured by trees. Nearby was the Borland Nature Walk. Both were pleasant walks, but nothing special to go out of your way for.

However, the detour was complete when we were driving down the access road and were flagged down by a lady in a pickup truck. She asked if we would kindly pull over to let their sheep by. They were being relocated to the paddock behind us, about 1000 of them! It was an amazing sight and Fred got great shots.

Closer to Manapouri, on Weir Rd, we had noticed a magnificent stag with the largest antlers I have ever seen, sitting in his paddock. We stopped to take pictures. He put on quite the show for us.

Strange as it might sound, he started urinating, bowed his head between his front legs, and washed his face with it. Then he sauntered away towards the back of his field. The paddock behind had a herd of females. I suppose that’s how a buck gets ready for an evening with the ladies.

We returned to Manapouri and walked along the shore trails from Pearl Harbor to Frasier Beach. Nice walk to end the day.

The Adventure Continues>>>