Smiths Farm - Linkwater

Good morning everyone, I'm currently at work writing another post for you. Since I have joined forces with some other tour guides to start a carpool, it can happen that I arrive one hour early at work. But actually, it's quite nice because we not only get free lunch but also lots of pastries, fruits, and other extras that can be eaten in the morning. So I sat down at a table with my laptop and enjoyed my breakfast while writing to you.

As you read in the last post, I was on my way to Picton at the time. Along the 'nicer' coastal route or one of the fjords, there was a campground that is a mixture of a campground and a farm and allows visitors access to a private waterfall and glowworm path. So I also made a little stop there. My day trip to the waterfall was really great and I had the whole tour and place to myself. The nighttime hike wasn't quite what I expected - but more on that later.

The drive to the farm after my mussel breakfast was already a pleasure, as the road ran directly along the shore the entire time. When I arrived at the farm, I had a super nice chat with the owner and she explained and showed me everything. Funny story about this is that the owner also knew Dan (the owner of the campground in Christchurch) and when I told her about my New Zealand story and how friendly the people treated me here, she actually wrote to Dan the same evening and sent him warm greetings from me. New Zealand is just a small village. ;)

After settling in a bit and reading in the sun, I made my way to the waterfall, as it is only a 40-minute walk and I definitely wanted to do this hike in the dark with the glowworms. So I thought it would be good to explore the trail in daylight first. Said - done!

The path led me through the meadows of the family and the farm, and then through the jungle and thicket to the waterfall. It was very nice to walk, as the path is not walked very often and therefore remains very natural.

At the end of this path was the wonderful medium-sized waterfall. Not much water flowed over the waterfall itself, but because only a little water was flowing, the water ran directly along the stone wall, creating a kind of water curtain - simply beautiful.

After I had the pleasure of enjoying this wonderful place of peace alone, I made my way back and cooked dinner. The kitchen in this wonderful house was also equipped with a wood stove and I actually managed to get the fire going! I was very proud of myself and it was dreamy that the kitchen was also nice and warm because of it. After that, I went to bed and read a bit until it got dark.

The plan was actually to walk the path that I had taken in the morning again at night and look at the amazing glowworms. Actually is used in this sentence for a reason, because walking alone through the jungle in the middle of the night sounds cooler than it actually is, because after the first few meters, I already had a creepy feeling. After getting used to it a bit, I even turned off my headlamp so I could see the glowworms better. Let's just say: I have had better ideas. When I turned my lamp back on and continued walking, I heard a noise in the bushes... and on the path... there was a really fat possum! Fu**, that thing scared me. And after I poked the edge of the path a little with my safety stick (aka my hiking pole) and got hissed at, I turned around and walked quickly back to my car. At least I saw 2 glowworms - the rest of this trip wasn't quite as successful. :D

After the shock, I jumped in the shower and then happily and ALONE cuddled up in my bed and was glad that Fridolin-Christopher kept all the 'bad things' away.

The next morning, I continued towards Picton and settled into the campground there.

That's all for my dark adventure, and in the next post, I'll have some more successful hiking stories for you. I hope you don't encounter any possums or other scary creatures today.

Yours, Britta