Of Pylons and Pretty Paths
Posted on 12th November 2008 by Lynley
I returned to the valley after an absence of more than a year and had forgotten how beautiful it is. That’s a pity, because I’d spent the day before arguing that Meridian Energy shouldn’t be able to put pylons from their proposed dam on the Mokihinui River across the upper Waimangaroa Valley.
On our walk in through richly coloured vegetation, fog and sharp grey rock, we neither saw nor heard the vast coal mine a couple of kilometres away. But power pylons, no matter how skinny, would have ruined the remote and untouched atmosphere.
The camp in Happy Valley looked like the labour of love it is, everything was dry and in order with everything from spare gumboots to binoculars. Having so much gear already on hand makes it the perfect place to lug a baby into. I wondered why we hadn’t come for a week.
