Licking Trees - July 19th

Washpen Falls

Group shot at the Cave

A fine day for hike and so we did.  Destination, Washpen Falls, which lies an hour southwest of Christchurch toward Mt. Hutt.  The hike offers good climbs, caves, views of the falls and high atop views out over the entirety of the Canterbury Plains and on a really clear day all the way out to the Pacific.  While we did have a fine day with no winds, we did have a little cloud so the view was not to the ocean.  Still decent though for our lunch time at the top.

Lunch high above the Canterbury Plains

Along the way, we also got to sample, straight from the source, honeydew which is harvested from an interesting location on beech trees.  Scale insects eat the sap from the tree and secret the honeydew out their back ends.  Bees and bellbirds eat this highly nutritious secretion and bees turn it into honeydew honey.  To taste the honeydew, some of us licked the trees.

Tasting Honeydew

We even got to learn to row a boat near the end of our hike before heading back to town with an afternoon tea time on the way.

Boating now that we are facing the correct direction in the boat.

Tomorrow our crew leaves for points South (Dunedin), Southwest (Queenstown and Milford Sound), and on the North Island as we explore on our own for our free weekend.  Stay tuned!  Cheers, Mark and Meryl