Murchison Bushwalks

Before breakfast, I took Paddy and Oakly for a drive hoping to find somewhere they could have a walk. Boo wouldn't come with us - she wanted to stay in bed with Bernie.

I found a quiet road and parked the ute. It was threatening to rain so it wasn't a long walk but at least the dogs got to stretch their legs and get some fresh air.

I went for a drive to find any places suitable for walking the dogs before heading back to the rig. There are some beaut swimming holes around.

The township has a few heritage buildings scattered around, we'll go to the museum tomorrow and find out some local history.

Murchison can lay claim to where the world's first suicide bombing occurred. After a long standing dispute between two farmers (Walter Neame and Joseph Sewell), the two men went to court in an attempt to settle their differences. Sewell strapped himself with sticks of gelignite and blew himself up outside the Murchison Courthouse on the 14 July 1905. It was reported worldwide an the 'Murchison Tragedy'.

We had several visitors during the morning and by lunchtime the sun had come out. Charlotte (who we met last night) left to go to Nelson so we waved her good-bye - she drove off as though she'd driven her bus for years.

After looking online for some walks in the area I grabbed the camera and set off.

The first walk was 'Johnson's Creek Track'. It's located 6km along a gravel road called Matakitaki West Bank Road (1km west of Murchison). The track follows a creek to a big slip which was formed in the 1929 Murchison earthquake. At one part of the track an orange marker on a tree indicates to cross the creek. Due to the amount of rain recently the creek was too high to cross so I had to turn back.

On the drive back a wild, black cat streaked across the road. I stopped and searched for it but it was nowhere to be seen. Probably a good thing I couldn't find it - 3 dogs and a feral cat might be a bit challenging!

Luckily these twin kids had their mum not far away or they too might have been encouraged to come home with me.

The next walk was the 'Skyline walk'. It also starts off from Matakitaki West Bank Road. The track is 3kms and zig zags uphill through native bush to the skyline.

I had a couple of feathery friends to keep me company along the way.