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| Grandpa |
"Grandpa, I want to cross a swing bridge. I've just seen a poster at Macpac. Will you please take me tramping?" said my granddaughter, Arna, a few weeks ago.
Grandpa thinks to himself - blimey, it's mid winter, go easy on an old man!New Zealand, and in particular the South Island, has many swing bridges in remote back country places. They certainly have their place - on the mainstream 'popular' tracks they enhance safety and guarantee completion of iconic routes, irrespective of weather conditions - even dry feet sometimes! In other more remote situations, progress would cease if the bridges did not exist - such is the ruggedness of the terrain and the flow of the river below. You have to admire the DOC staff who install them.
So where do you take your 14 year old granddaughter for a good experience and getting the balance right - not too boring and not so terrifying as to put her off for life!!
We settled on part of the St James Walkway in the Lewis Pass area, a two and a half hour drive from Christchurch.
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| Arna mastering her first swing bridge |
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| Mission Accomplished!! |
"Three" I replied.
"Is it a round trip?" she responded.
"No, in and out"
"Then how come there are three bridges? Are we going to cross a river?"
"Might be," I grinned. "We'll come back down the valley a slightly different route."
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| Magdalen Hut |
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| Arna with wet and very cold feet!! |
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| The walk out on Day Two - and getting the feet warm again |
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| Fly Past of Canada Geese |
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| Bridge #3 - and looking like an old hand at it |
A perfect tramp - the weather gods were kind, we had the hut to ourselves, the firewood was dry, the meal was great, the morning frost was big (-10C). And the company was awesome.
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