Foggy Peak

The view from Foggy Peak

Thomas had suggested that we walk up Castle Hill Peak one weekend. I thought that sounded like a nice Sunday afternoon activity. Just going for a nice drive through the Canterbury Plains, and a casual walk up some hills to a lovely view. Little did I know, that my out of shape body would be put through a bit of a rough time, walking two hours up a steep mountain face, with no trees, no bush or anything sheltering me from the beating sun, and just a few tussocks and stones to catch my stride-or rather my shuffling feet. I made excuses to stop every so often, and take some photos, and to be honest, the view, as always, was worth it.

 
Having been away for about a year, I loved the idea of going for a drive. We left fairly early, around 9am, and had lovely views from the road. Passing Porters Ski Field and other places.

There were a few cars parked on the side of the road below Foggy and Castle Hill Peak. We placed Thomas' work ute along side the other cars and took our obligatory pre-tramp photo.

Lets do this!

To my surprise, there wasn't any real track to begin with. So a few other people and ourselves started off, but taking different routes. Some went to the left, we went to the right, and occasionally we'd cross paths and then keep on. Some times we walked through tussocks, other times it was just scree slopes. The scree bits usually had paths, but due to the angle, there were occasionally a few rock slides beneath our feet. It was incredible being on the side of the hill with the Southern Alps in the background, Lake Lyndon in the foreground and blue sky as far as you can see. 

As soon as it looked like we were at the top, it was just trick, and instead the peak was always in the distance, seemingly not within reach. I couldn't really bare the idea of going further to Castle Hill Peak, so we agreed we'd stop at Foggy Peak, and enjoy the views from there. We got to the top, elated at completing the hike, surprised that we were all alone, and in awe of the surrounding mountains and the view they provided us.

Stunning New Zealand

It was a peaceful place to have our lunch of avocado and cheese sandwiches and I even pulled out our well used Santa hats and we took our Christmas card photo. We seemed to be there forever, enjoying the stillness and the peace. Another couple arrived, and shortly after we decided to make our descent.

I thought the walk up was hard, but going down proved to be even harder. It wasn't as exhausting, but the sheer steepness of the mountain caused us to slip and slide and it put strain on my knees in particular. At least this time, we were facing the Canterbury Plains and the Southern Alps and had stunning views, when you weren't looking down at where you were walking.

We were happy to have completed our casual Sunday afternoon "walk" in just three hours. Thomas then had the idea of going on an adventure over to Lake Lyndon, where we stopped and had afternoon tea of fruit. Not a bad place to sit and relax, and rest our legs. We saw cars arriving from another road around the side of the lake, and Thomas decided we should follow that road around and see where it goes. The road winded around the mountains, with views of other lakes and hills, and soon we ended up at Lake Collerage. We parked our car, walked to the beach there, and sat, again all alone, enjoying the view.

We made our way back to Christchurch the long way, but really the whole day was an adventure. As is everyday in the lives of Thomas and Amy.

Merry Christmas!