Weekend Update! On Saturday Alexis and I caught the bus down to the Sign of the Takahe for a hike. It was a beautiful spring day, with clear skies and a friendly breeze. We hopped off the bus ready to go, then realized that we didn't know where we were going. After a moment's deliberation, we struck off uphill. I was practically bounding with excitement. You know how much I love a good hike! We walked for quite some time before reaching the trail head and a map. The map showed one meandering hiking trail amid a tangle of mountain bike paths that braided their way down the mountain, all meeting in one place and interlacing as they radiated out from the start of the trail. Five options were arrayed before us. We chose the middle one, looking over our shoulders at every noise in an effort to avoid falling victim to speeding mountain bike tires. However, we had nothing to fear, as we were soon assured when we came upon a set of stairs.
The views on the way up the trail were amazing. It didn't feel like we were gaining that much elevation, but each break in the trees revealed that we were climbing higher and higher. The trail was nice and clear, with little underbrush. Naturally I was excited by everything I saw, and now my camera is full of pictures of trees. But I guess that's not all that unusual!
We reached our goal, the Sign of the Kiwi, more quickly than we had expected. Of course I insisted that we continue up Sugarloaf Reserve, which was the crest of the nearest hill and the highest point in the vicinity. That walk was definitely more tiring than our earlier hike, mainly because there was nothing between you and the sun. There were no trees, only tussock grasses. All that openness paid off however, as there was nothing to get in the way of the phenomenal views at the top!
The view to the South
Christchurch with the Southern Alps in the distance.
Once we were on Sugarloaf we walked around a bit to make sure we had seen all there was to see. We felt like quite the adventurers!
A Word on Birds
On the hike back (after a brief snack) we took the flatter trail that followed the road. It seemed to be the more frequently used way. On the way down we couldn't help but notice how vocal the birds were! Their songs were loud and quite pretty. I captured one of the unique songs in the video below. We also were excited to meet a couple of fat wood pigeons along the road. Sunday morning I heard another bird that actually produced a pretty catchy tune, but I couldn't get my camera out before it flew off! Perhaps in another post I'll have more to tell you about that!
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