Today's destination was Matai Caves. The "Walk Nelson" guide indicated that the walk is largely flat and 4 hours in length, so seemed a good choice, for what may be our last major walk in Nelson this year (the rain really is going to start tonight).
The walk begins just below the Maitai Dam (city water supply reservoir), so we set off up Maitai Valley Road, a wide road with one lane in each direction. Soon the road narrowed, then no more centre line, then down to one lane in total, then it turned to gravel. To plagiarize Arlo Guthrie, "on one side of the road there was a mountain, and on the other side, there was nothing". Luckily we didn't go into the mountain, or off the other side, in fact we did not see another vehicle on the 10 Km trip up the valley.
There are many trail options from the Maitai Dam, and all are well signposted and marked. Maitai Caves is 6.5 Km each way, and the sign tells us that we can get to the caves in 1.5 hours, rather than the anticipated 2 hours....good news indeed.
After crossing the Maitai River on a footbridge, the trail winds mainly through native bush, and although not steep, we definitely felt that we were walking up hill. Thankfully the day was somewhat overcast, and we were under the canopy of trees most of the time, but we still worked up a sweat.
The final 15 minutes were definitely steeper, and when we reached the caves we had gained 800 ft. of elevation. So much for "largely flat". The cave has a narrow entrance, and although we could see ropes inside, anchored to the rock, we chose not to venture inside, as the flashlight in my phone just did not cut it.
Instead, we sat and enjoyed our lunch in the peace and tranquility, until a shirt-less young man appeared, with a large backpack. He told us that he lives halfway up the valley and gets his water from the Maitai River, but comes up to the cave twice a week to collect "pure" drinking water from the stream at the bottom of the cave. He mountain bikes as far as he can up the trail and then jogs the rest of the way, returning with 15 litres of water in his backpack. He told us that it keeps him in shape for rugby. So now you know why rugby players are so tough. To complicate things, he doesn't like drinking out of plastic, so he brings glass containers to fill with water. I thought that I was listening to my son, Will.
I ventured into the cave, but did not attempt the descent to the bottom as the limestone was slippery and I wasn't willing to risk a broken neck (although our young friend could probably have carried me back to the dam). From inside the cave I was able to get the above photo of him filling his bottles.
The walk back to the dam was definitely much easier, and we made the round trip in 3 hours, including lunch and chatting at the cave entrance. We were both pleased with the power that we have developed in our legs.
Tonight will be dinner at the local pub, with a well-deserved libation, and then a more restful day tomorrow as the rain settles in.
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