It is not unusual to wake up excited at 5:00AM on Christmas morning, which I did today. What woke me up wasn't visions of gifts or sugar plums, but rather a complex symphony of bird songs and calls (audio will be coming soon) and a brightening of the sky over the mountains. For a few minutes I lay in my sleeping bag on the front porch of Onuku Hiking Hut. Listening to the symphony expand in diversity and in intensity (Listen to the birds by clicking on the link below.) I watched the Akaroa Bay change from gray to blue in the changing light.
Onukuhut
Onuku Farm Hiking Hut
The bird songs were not the normal background noises we hear in Texas (or anywhere else I have been) but more like your IPOD set to medium high volume blasting a complex mix of bird songs into your headset.
After a quick cup of tea and oatmeal, I pulled my backpack over my shoulders and headed up the mountain to see what's on the other side. At the top I find my first view of the deep blue Pacific Ocean.
Meand Harbor
Akaroa Bay and Pacific Ocean Beyond the Cliff
On the other side, I hiked through open mountains spotted with sheep, fern packed forest with rushing streams and waterfalls, and I traveled along the edge of 200' cliffs with the Pacific crashing on the rocks directly below.
TreeFern
Tree Fern
Hiker
Hiker on Cliff Edge
Cliffs
Pacific Ocean
Gazing east across the Pacific I wonder if I dove in and started swimming east where and when would I make land fall?
Fence Crossing
One of Many Fence Crossings
About 10 miles after I started, I reached the Stony Bay Hiking Hut where I will spend the night.
Stony Bay
Stony Bay and Hiking Hut
I met up with another hiker and we spend the evening swamping stories, and playing Trivial Pursuit and Scrabble.
I have had some very memorable Christmases (Is that a word?), this was definitely another one.