‘Pelorus is a nice place for a day trip from Nelson,’ our house swap host had told us. ‘There are lovely bush walks beside the river and there’s a great little café there too.’
We thought we’d try it. I checked the map; there were just a handful of places marked along the 100km stretch from Nelson to Picton and Pelorus Bridge was one of them.
I didn’t see any signs to Pelorus on the way and if we hadn’t had to cross the bridge we’d have missed it! It was literally a bridge over the river, a car park with a plaque showing you the various bush trails and the café. Lovely and so NZ! (see photo gallery)
New Zealanders don’t go walking or hiking they go ‘tramping’.
The derivation seems to be from Middle English (1350-1400) ; a verb meaning to “walk with heavy footsteps”. I am not sure why New Zealanders were reading 14th Century English, but I have noted that books cost more in NZ than in the UK…
So if they ask you in NZ if you like tramping they are not suggesting that you may want to make yourself homeless. They are merely asking if you like walking.
There seems to be a plague of them this summer. They are noisier than ever before. They make a noise similar to a garden sprinkler whirling around – castanets with an occasional clash of maracas.
There are about 42 different type of cicadas and the noise is that of the male trying to attract a mate. It is certainly very noticeable as we walk around in the garden, bush or local park.
