Tramping in the Mountains

We spent a night in a town called Geraldine, where the only real thing of note that happened was an air raid siren went off. Dave had gone for a run at the time so I hastily looked out of the van windows to see whether anyone was madly rushing to do anything. Reassuringly the campers at the next caravan carried on with their chatting. Later we discovered that the siren was to call the volunteer firemen. Thank goodness it didn't happen at night! New Zealand feels very familiar in lots of ways but then something different sneaks up to surprise and delight us. As a small town, Geraldine was probably smaller than Saxilby but looked more like an American town. All the streets were about as wide as 3 lanes of the M1 but with so little traffic that when crossing the road you barely needed to check. In fact most of the roads so far are very quiet, often to the extent that seeing another car actually warrants a comment. Apparently the only native mammals are three species of bat so every animal that you see is imported and familiar. Cattle, sheep, horses, deer. As we moved down to Peel Forest we saw fields of deer ,and more sheep than we have done to date. Surprisingly there seem to be very few rabbits despite what seems to be perfect country for them. According to Kevin from Akaroa, even the grass had to be imported as the native grass was like our swamp grass ,with very little nutrition. Hence there also many familiar weeds such as dandelion, clover, buttercups and dock. That lack of nutritious food is probably why no grazing animals developed. According to one leaflet, in 1855 two partners started to clear land to create grazing and burnt off 20,000 hectares of bush in three days. There are lots of familiar birds, blackbird, thrush and sparrows, but then in the trees around the current campsite in Peel Forest, the morning chorus is full of strange calls and birdsong. So far sighting any of them has proved difficult. Yesterday we went into Peel Forest on a 'Tramping Trail' It was fun but a bit of a hard climb at times through massive Fushia trees (unfortunately not in flower) and huge tree ferns, all laced with long hanging creepers. .

The lower trails were well defined and maintained like park paths but the higher ones were mud tracks much like walking in Yorkshire. The forest was so thick that it was mostly impossible to see any views but occasionally it was possible to glimpse the flat plains and the Rangitata River. Peel Forest is on one of the typical volcanic upheavals that dot the flat alluvial plains. The camp sites are spacious and very well maintained. Most seem to have a kitchen area where you can go and cook if you wish, and all have lovely hot showers. Often there are cabins for hire too. Recycling is taken fairly seriously too even down to compost bins at some of the sites.