Tuesday Mar 7, 2023 - Banks Trak Day 2

 

Breakfast this morning was oatmeal and blueberries, coffee and tea. I think coffee and tea are written in the New Zealand Bill of Rights as every place we stay in it's provided. Plenty of room and everyone slept like kings after yesterday's long haul. Today was the easy and picturesque day and it was pure magic. This section was billed as 8 km and not too much climbing. It rises out of Flea Bay and then meanders around the ocean front grassy meadows. Milo is the oldest and also the slowest but we pass each other during lunch breaks and there is a part of you that does not want to hurry and not fully absorb the views. Last night in Flea Bay we saw one penguin nesting in a hole in the bank. Today we caught some seals with their young in Seal Cave. We also saw a lot of seals as we came into Stony Bay this afternoon. They were on Stony Bay beach in a small "kiddie pool" made of stone on one side of the bay.

It was beautiful weather and breezy. New Zealand is "tropical" since they are surrounded by water and the humidity is mid to high and the temperatures do not vary much between day and night. Lots and lots of vegetation, kind of rain forest like in the valleys, and wide open grassland (for the sheep to nibble on} everywhere else. We must have crossed a dozen fences today going from one pasture to another. 

Milo's personal quest today was to search out new and different sheep droppings. They are everywhere so you have to watch your step.

Stony Bay Cottages are so cute it is ridiculous. As you walk in you think you are entering a hobbit village with tiny little hobbit houses and firewood stacked everywhere. The shower is built into a tree so you hang your clothes on the tree and get real hot water with propane powered heaters. There is no electricity here so each of our little hobbit houses has candles. There is a wood stove in the middle of the lawn that became the social circle in the evening. There is a small store where you can buy food and drinks on an honor system. We picked up some sausage, potatoes, and peas, and the meat was grilled on a communal barbecue grill (thanks Kathy) and we boiled potatoes and peas in our little house. Each house has a two burner gas stove (match light). There were two shared toilets with funky wooden "Yes" and "No" tags to tell folks it was occupied.

There were two wood fired bathtubs and they got at least one working so a few had wood fired baths. In addition Stony Bay offers an outdoor pool table, badminton net, and fruit trees {including a ripe apple tree, a peach tree with almost ripe peaches, and kiwi vines).

We sat around the wood stove until 8:30 or so sharing goodies, and a bottle of dark rum was consumed as was most of a bottle of Fireball. Each night we get to know our fellow hikers a little more and they are all wonderful. A perfect day.