A couple of years ago, when Gayle was in America for two weeks to visit his mother for the last time, the children and I went to Waiuta for a picnic and to explore the fascinating former gold-mining area. On one of our last lockdown Sundays, we went back there. We had been going down to the riverbed for a picnic every Sunday, but we wanted to do something different after five or six weeks. We cooked some sausages and wrapped them in a towel to keep them warm, and took a few other things for lunch. After lunch, we took off on a walk. The first time, we thought about going down the trail to the Snowy River Battery, but Mr. Intellectual had a twisted ankle so we decided not to walk much. This time, we went down that trail. What a hike!
Before we started down the Snowy River track, we did a little exploring around the site of the village and the mine shaft area. These little holes were in a bank beside an old tunnel that went into the hillside. We were curious what kind of creature made these holes, but we couldn’t figure it out.
Esther carried Miss Joy for awhile. Later, when we went down the Snowy River track, Mr. Intellectual took her. This baby is popular!
This is some of the scenery we enjoyed!
These boys went off on their own exploration, and then ran to catch up with us. Actually, I guess it’s not all boys—I see Little Miss there, too!
I took this picture to show Little Miss the cloud I was trying to describe to her.
The trail down to the river goes down very steeply, through a dense forest. It is beautiful! There are trees very thick on both sides of the trail, dripping with moss, and you can hear, though not see, a small creek flowing over rocks off to the left.
After awhile, you come out where you can see a little farther. The river is at the bottom of this canyon.
Finally, we got to where we could see the rest of our party. They were WAY down there! I zoomed in about as far as my camera can go to take this picture. This was the Battery, where they crushed the quartz that the gold was in, and extracted the gold.
Looking down the Snowy River from just above the Battery. The old Powerhouse is down the river somewhere. Two of the boys went down there and back up a different track while we reclimbed the trail we came down—all 222 steps plus much more steep, slippery mountainside.
Some of the lichens I saw along the way.
There is moss everywhere. I loved this soft, fuzzy moss!
It was getting dark as we went up the mountain. When we emerged at the top, though, the sun was still shining.
More moss and ferns. The variety of those plants on this Coast is amazing!
It sounds like a fun day. I love your beautiful pictures!