As you already knows from the last post, we went on another track - The Gillespie pass Track.
I know that it seems that we are always doing tracks, but there is not much to do here except for tracks and there is a lot.
Being in the nature is the main activity for the kiwi person.
It also happened that the last month we have been in an area that most of the good tracks are located in. And for those of you who knows
Izick, if someone tells him that this is the BEST track, he must do it. Even though those 4 track we have been were THE BEST track.
So,
Roie, we are not in "
TERONOT", but it definitely
feels like it.
So, last week on Saturday we arrived to
Makaroa. I can't really say it counts for a town, since the total population in this area is 40 people. There isn't much over there, except for the motel / motor park we stayed in, and all the information about the activities in this place (which are mostly different kind of walks) are centralized in this place.
So, before even getting our room key,
Izick went right a head and asked about the track. We tried to reach the DOC, which is the high authority for all the tracks in New Zealand, but we were told they don't work on the weekends. Typically to the Kiwi's we thought, they don't have any business sense, closing the office for the weekend when all the tourists and the locals travels.
Quickly enough,
Izick found someone else to ask about the track. According to that person we had to cross some rivers in order to do this track. He asked
Izick if he had any experience in crossing rivers.
Izick, just jump and said "yes". I, on the other hand, told him that crossing the "
BANIAS" doesn't count for experience in crossing rivers, and I'm not about to do it.
The rivers in New Zealand look very calm, but they have very strong currents and people drown in them. (Just like they say in "ABA
GANOV" movie about the "
KINERATE").
Well, you already knows that we did the track, so you probably think how we overcome those obstacles. So, remember I told you there are 40 people in this town, and they all need to make a living. So, at the start of the track, we had a jet boat that took us to the start of the track.
The ride was quite fun and we really liked it. The end of the track is a completely different story and you will have to continue reading before you will know the end.
The first day of the track, was just like all the tracks we have done so far. we walked mostly in the bush, but this time we walked next to the river so the views were quite amazing. A little bit like Santa
croz, for those of you who have been in Peru.
There was one part of the track that I just freeze and from that point on just saying that I really don't understand why I'm still doing those tracks.
There was a track damage, which force us to lean on a cliff and passing it with no signed route and the only thing I saw was the river underneath and just
frightehen that it will be all over. Believe me, it's not something you want to do, and unfortunately I had to go thought something much horrible and terrifying at the next day of the track.
The next day was the hardest day of the track. We climbed to the pass which was about 1000 meter climb. The only way I can think of describing how the climb was is, if someone had hold a camera from way above the sky and filming me and
Izick, he would probably thought he was filming the next movie of
spiderman. The climb was so steep and weather was terrible and on top of the rain that we already got used to, there were some strong wind, and believe me, it didn't help us to get to the top any faster.
After 4 hours walk we reached to the top and just when I thought it was over,the snow has arrived. The mountain was covered with lots of snow, about 1-2 meter height. At the
Beginning me and
Izick tried to walk on it, but when we first fall, we realized that the best way will be to just slide it on our asses, and we did it all the way down. It was fun at the
beginning, but it was also very dangerous, since there was so many rocks and our asses didn't exactly point us to the right way.
After passing this part I thought to myself, hey, I can see the river down the hill. I'm probably very close, but it's never like it, the way down was long and hard for me, since my
knees are permanently hurts.
finally after 12 hours walk we reached the river flat, and from there we had an easy walk to the next hut. I must admit that the way was easy, but not when you are walking 12 hours and your
knees hearts.
Izick was truly a gentleman all the way. He stayed with me all the way down, even though he could do it in half the time, always helping me at those big rocks and roots we had to pass on our way down.
The next day was just like a dream.
Izick went with 2 other Israeli's to a day walk and I stayed at the hut to rest. It was unbelievable feeling to be so relax at the morning at the hut. Not waking up so early and knowing that there is no walk for the day.
Only the picture can tell, where
izick went. However, it seems that he really enjoyed it especially because this time no one slowed him down.
The 4
th day of the track was the last day of the track. As you remember from the
beginning of the post I promised to tell you how we crossed the second river. Well, this time we had a new adventure. From the hut we could choose one of 3 ways to finish the track: first, the old fashion way, just walking till the end and crossing that last river. Second, walk for about 3 hours and than catch a ride on the jet boat for about half an hour. Third, catching a plane from the hut, and after 10 minutes to finish the track.
Of course you probably already guess, what was our choice. Yes, we choose the plane.But, it wasn't that easy, the plane only arrives in good weather condition and only if people from
Makaroa took a
scenic flight from town. The thing is that the reason we had this choice is only because the plane brings people to this point to do what it called "The Siberian experience" and then returns empty, so he is willing to give people on there last day of the track a lift back to town (40$ each).
The night before we crossed our fingers that everything will go fine and a plain will arrive.
I woke up very early in the morning, checking the weather, it doesn't seem very promising. Still I didn't gave up and went to wake up
izick and those 2 Israelis, making sure all of us will be ready when the plane will arrive. At 9:00 the ranger came and told us there will be 2 planes coming today, one at 10:30 and the second one at 12:00, we all were very happy. You just can understand the joy a person can have when he is told that a plane can come and pick him up in the middle of the track, saving him 26 kilometers from the track.
At 10:15 we went to the landing area to waited for the plane. We still had to cross a river. We send
Izick to be the first one, and to check if we all can enter the plain (
Cecna plane has 3-4 seats).
10:30 already passed and were sure no one will come for us. And than, just at the last moment when I almost gave up, I heard an airplane in the sky. I'll make the story short, the plane has arrived, we all cross a river and we all (4 people) went on the plane and after 10 minutes we were back at the start of the track.
Happy that everything was behind us (especially me) we continue with our journey, and still on our way to the next city Izick make sure we had some more walks, so we climbed on another mountain - Hassat Pass. From this point we where on our way to Fox Glacier.
