Our route toward Lake Tekapo took us past Rakaia Gorge, a bit of which we walked in
2014. This time, despite intermittent rain, we walked a bit more, although I can't say the views change or improve much. More impressive than the little gorge is the river itself, now in mid summer flow, carrying tons of glacial flour and other debris down from the big mountains to the west. After Rakaia, we shopped a bit in the pretty village of Methven and then carried on to a DOC campground named Arundel.
Arundel was founded in 1067 by Roger de Montgomery, one of William's pals, and has for the past 900 years been the traditional stronghold of the Dukes of Norfolk. Wait; no....
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| Typical DOC signage; if nothing else, New Zealand is very well signed |
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| The river |
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| Massive old tree, undercut to hold two sizable shelters |
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| Environs |
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| Glacial flour |
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| We walked on another 30 minutes or so |
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These two trees must have been oozing sap or something; both
were covered with buzzing
honey bees |
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| Big sand and gravel beach |
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| Rooby at Arundel; that's Vicki's yellow poncho drying out |
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| Not a long white cloud, but just enough to catch a bit of rainbow from the west |
2 comments:
Explain "glacial flour."
As the glacier moves, it grinds up the rock under and around it, into a dust finer than sand; thus "flour"; turns rivers a milky color, depending on the color of the rock.
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