Untimely

I read a fascinating article after hearing about the repurposing of the unused railway line, from our friends who we'd lunched with this week, so of course I had to explore. We were also told not to go alone and preferably have some male company. Erm, that's a little trickier. But my (newly) local friend agreed to join myself and Zureida on the walk so after a quick lunch at the BeeJuice Cafe we set off.

Google maps isn't the best guide for walking in our country so after some twists and turns we decided to head towards the backpackers lodge as they were sure to know the route. Unfortunately we were told that's not really safe without a male escort so by now I was beginning to doubt the exploration. We walked along the train track towards the beach and I needed some help over some scary bits. Luckily my friend's 12 year old was on hand, lol. I seriously don't know how I walked over the Pyrenees mountains on my Camino.

We reached the beach and there was another sign warning us off. Decision to abandon the tour was made so we walked on the busier-than-I-have-seen sand and headed towards the railway bridge just for a look. A unanimous decision on ice cream made us accept the non-tour. We chatted under the tree over how to fill the afternoon.

Unfortunately time wasn't on our side because the waterfall hikes were 3 hours long, the other canoe option closed soon so we decided to visit the big tree. After a stunning drive we found those gates too had closed 30 minutes before our arrival. The website probably unchanged since pre-virus days. Secretly glad that no further walking in the heat was required ( I had dressed for a cooler town), we ended up sharing a quiet drink in the Hoekwil region. It's truly beautiful with the mountains and fields looking lush and green, providing great snacks for the curious cows ( real ones, not me this time lol)