The walk itself is about 3 1/2 hours each way, and thanks to Alison, a friend of Pam and Brian who drove us to the start of the walk, we were able to walk it one way and avoid a round trip.
Cable Bay is so named as it was the point of landfall in New Zealand for the first international telegraph cable, when it was installed in 1876. The rate for the first 10 words to Sydney was 80 cents (8 shillings back then), so not much different to a 10 word text message to Australia today. Maybe our cellphone rates aren't all that bad, considering inflation?
The beginning of the walk was a very steep climb from sea level, through farm fields with sheep and cattle, but there were some great views from the top. In the first photo you can see the north end of the boulder bank that extends all the way from Nelson. The estuary on the right is actually filling from the right, around the back of the "island" in the foreground of the photo.
We paused along the way to watch the local farmer moving a flock of sheep using two sheep dogs. The farmer stood at the top of the hill and called and whistled to each dog in turn, and in no time the dogs had the sheep where they were supposed to be. It was amazing to watch how effortless it was (for the farmer).
The second photo shows Marlene almost at the top. If I had pushed the shutter release a little faster, or a little slower, the photo would have been of Marlene and Pam, but I managed to hide Pam almost completely behind Marlene.
After the first peak, the trail undulated through native bush, until we reached the second peak, where we had planned to stop for lunch.
It seemed that we would be sharing our lunch spot with 90 intermediate school children who were headed in the opposite direction, but thankfully they were almost finished lunch and moved on about 5 minutes after we arrived, leaving us to the views and peace and quiet.
The last photo shows the view looking south towards Nelson. The curved white line in the water is the boulder bank. You will notice how short and how dry the grass is. After 5 weeks with no rain, this area, like the rest of the country is hurting, and the entire North Island has been declared a drought area. My cousins in Napier have taken weeds, hedge clippings and vegetable toppings to feed their nephew's lambs, as there is absolutely no feed on their farm.
The balance of the walk was entirely downhill, following a farm track that wound around the hillsides, almost back to sea level, and then we headed back into town for the now customary coffee.
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