FLASHBACK: New Zealand's Karangahake Gorge, 04/04/10

We did a lot of hikes while in New Zealand and this one for me was the most adventurous. We ended up in this gorge, when it was getting to be pretty dark. Cameron set up this photo and then ran back to the bridge to be in the shot, in just 10 seconds. Of course, I just stood there and called out the rate of the flashing light to let him know how much time he had. It was great fun to watch.


This place was a huge gorge where they processed much of the adjacent mining rock. The valley's sides were steep, carved out by a small creek, and a road managed to wind through it.

Our hike took us on a couple of hours loop up and down the gorge. We explored along the creek a bit, an old railroad grade, and alongside the road. Little did we know, there were also some some impressive gold processing ruins including some stamp mills, cyanide processing plants, exploratory mine adits known as the windows & full of real glow worms (childhood flashback), and a 1.5k (15 min) hike in the complete darkness through an old railroad tunnel.

The geography of the gorge really made one feel small and these photographs don't do the area justice. If you have time, check this out on google maps, especially the street view. You can see the bridge in the next photo really clearly from the road. It used to carry railroads, but has been turned into a pedestrian walkway into the dark tunnel.


The tunnel was barely lit, and the lights that were there were quite dim. The old railroad bed had been mostly patched, but there were drainage channels on each side and it generally was an uneven surface. Basically one was in total darkness through about half of this walk and as another group approached you walking the other direction, you used voices to make sure everyone you wouldn't walk into each other. CRAZY stuff, this is what should be on the "only in New Zealand" visitor videos.


My favorite part of the hike was walking through the cyanide plant, literally following the process. Much of the buildings were in ruins, but with the aid of a former map, Cameron and I could easily pick up what was where in relation to what we saw. See, our education came in handy.

After the giant kiwi, I was always on the look out for unexplained, over-sized things in NZ and I was not disappointed to find this huge
bottle of Lemon & Paeroa or L&P for short and it's made in NZ. It was a tasty lemon pop that quenched my thirst. I gave it a giant hug.

NEXT FLASHBACK will be about the town of Napier and us sleeping in a jail converted into a backpacker lodge.