Wednesday July 9, 2014

Wednesday July 9 we leave early, are destination Kynoch Inlet.  Left behind is the drizzly days hunkered down in the main saloon with the old oil stove purring happily away.  The brilliant sun has us turn down the temp on the stove and it will now just heat the hot water for showers and keep the kettle just under boiling when we move it to one side of the stove top. THIS NOT CAMPING.

We head up Mathieson Channel towards FIORDLAND. There is no superlative to describe this passage in words. It’s what my eldest daughter would call “A real gobstopper”, (I am not sure what it really means?) It could mean 'to stop you in your tracks.'

Right there in the middle of Mathieson is an otter, only too happy to perform for us.

 

Hello There!

 

Hugin/Munin pretty small!

 

You cannot pass by the cascading waterfalls that tumble off the mountains tops without trying to capture the moment with your camera. It is a wild thing and wild things are impossible to tame without losing their essence, there is no capture. The honey brown water exploding into brilliant lace white foam on its vertical plunge to rejoin their kinfolks in the sea.  They dance together for a brief time at the water’s edge, co-mingle and are once again on they way to repeat the journey somewhere?



Culpepper Falls

We slow the boat at the entrance to Culpepper Lagoon to re-read the printed sailing instructions again and again to make sure a safe transit of this narrow and shallow passage. We anchor in the mouth of the Riot Creek. I hope to secure a foot hold in the shallow water in the creek cleft as the bottom plunges to 200ft just a short way from its influence.

 

Oceanaire off Riot Creek

 

Penny is not secure in this anchorage but the raw beauty of this location makes it impossible to leave, we persevere and manage to hit a sweet spot between the too shallow and the too deep.   This is a perfect bear beach as the creek runs from a high alpine valley passing through miles of timbered valley, but no bears.  I’m thinking they’re high up, noshing on blue berries, huckleberry, mountain ash, skunk cabbage and rolling old logs over and licking up the ants and grubs by the hundreds. GOOD STUFF, Ah. Oh to be a bear and dine on Pate Fragua` of the bush.

A Trillian miles away from these snow crested mountains glacier fed streams two World wars have raged on many years ago and there is nothing here showing the scars of it, or the bravery or the honour of the men and women.  No fields of Flanders to those who served this great country.  Here the name of CULPEPPER (Lagoon) is for Petty Officer Stoker John Arthur Culpepper, of Victoria, who served with the RCNVR aboard the corvette “Alberni”.  He was killed in action Aug 21, 1944, aged 29.The “Alberni” was torpedoed and sunk by a U- boat (U-480) SE of the Isle of Wight, with the loss of 59 men. Culpepper’s name is inscribed on the Halifax Memorial. This lagoon is worthy of his name, rest in peace Petty Officer Culpepper.



Culpepper snow fields