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Dalhousie – brake pad free zone
Another hilltop retreat on the map of places to see– but there is nothing here! The most exciting thing about Dalhousie (pronounced Dalhodgie) is that our brakes failed on the way – in the Himalaya’s that is a bad thing.
Dharmshala – Home of the Dalai Lama
Dharmshala, or to be more accurate, McLoid Ganj 7km up the hill, is a popular little touristy town, made famous as the home of the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan Government in exile and many robe wearing Tibetan refugees. The place is alive and buzzing with monks, flags, bells, markets and shops, all in the backdrop of the snow clad peaks of the Himalayas. It is very picturesque.
Long and winding road to Dharmshala
Shimla to Dharmshala is about 160 miles – it took 10 hours of solid driving on single track rough roads to cross the various mountains. With 3 kids, that is like torture, but they all managed admirably in the end. Luckily watching the scenery change, the clouds and thunderstorms roll through and then the sun coming out over the rain drenched tea plantations was better than watching TV. It was still a long way though.
Doi Inthanon and Princess Diana’s umbrella.
For a change of scene we opted for a standard issue Toyota Pickup and headed through the traffic out of town. The thinking was that the bigger the vehicle, the more likely we were to have right of way – it seemed to work. First stop the natural hot springs and geysers of San Thaempang.
North west coast – driving heaven
Rather rudely, I have lumped the North West Coast into one – it is not that it is not pretty, but that we made the most of the driving, and dispatched the area quite quickly. To give it credit, the west coast is pretty stunning. Whilst the “attractions” are well spaced, it is one of those places where it is about the journey and not the destination.
Inter-islander ferry – voted one of the best ferry rides in the world.
The previous few days, whilst sunny, were really REALLY windy. This set the more nervous passengers amongst us into dizzy dilemmas about what form of travel sick pill to trust. Luckily, we woke up on the morning of the sailing to clear blue skies, no wind and perfect flat calm water. The Cook Straits have a fearsome reputation, so flat calm was a really good result.
Waihi – Heart of Gold.
After a couple of average holiday park campsites, we decide to hit the DOC (Department of Conservation) campsites a little harder. We find a lovely little site by a river in a secluded valley called Dickey Flats. The place is idyllic and a great base for walking down the gorge to Karangahake gold mining town. The signboard suggested torches and before long, we were in dark wet and narrow tunnels cutting through the gorge, much to Jo’s displeasure. Even the glow worms hanging from the ceiling didn’t cheer her up.
