Yesterday afternoon we decided to walk up to this local rock formation known as the Organ pipes.
The track is only a short distance from town but we haven't been for ages, not since the kids were little anyway and when I was walking up I remembered exactly why we don't go often, it's so steep!! The first part of the track is wooden steps and then there are rock steps , and after the initial very steep part it flattens out somewhat, well flatten isn't really the right word, I should say it got less steep.
The organ pipes when we got there aren't nearly as impressive as they used to be as there have been rock-falls (earthquake caused perhaps). The area is the site of a long extinct volcano and these basalt columns are the result of what is known as columnar jointing -something to do with the lava cooling at different rates and then cracking. Some of the columns are almost perfect hexagon in shape.
The track we were on continues right up to the top of Mt Cargill -the mountain that overlooks Dunedin. On our way back to the carpark we were passed by two obviously very fit guys running up -it made me feel exhausted just seeing them.
No comments:
Post a Comment