The Copland track is a one day tramping track on the west coast. I got there by bus on the main west coast highway, the picture on the left made me laugh as I can't imagine anyone in the UK moving cattle in a pick up truck down a main road.
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| Walking up through the valley in a proper rainforest |
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| Getting darker |
The walk started at 3pm and took 5 hours so some of it was in the dark.
There were only a few streams to cross on the way there and a few
bridges. by the time I got to Architect bridge it was pitch dark. It is
made of fence posts wire and fence cabling. The light reflected off the
metal so I couldn't see anything below and when I tried to look over the
side the bridge swung quite a lot. Much nicer to cross in the daylight. |
| Terrifying bridge |
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| Possum eyes glowing red in the light. |
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| Mmmmm nice warm water |
The walk was quiet except for the possums and the morporks (a type of owl). The possums were really cute right up until one woke me up the next night. I went in the beautiful hot pools and soon scary bridges were forgotten. I did get out of the hot pools long enough to take a few scenery photos.
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| Copland River |
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| More Copland river |
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| Me in the hot pool relaxing |
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| Water bubbling up from the ground |
The water in the hot pools have taken 200 years to warm up and reaches
the surface at 55 degrees C however once it has run over the rocks it
cools a little. Depending on where you sit in the pool. When it rains
heavily the water can cool to 37 degrees.
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| Bridge over the Copland river |
