GEOLOGY

I did the full Reotahi walk today followed by up and over Mount Aubrey.

This is easy if you are fit

Not so easy if you are fat

I've been a bit lazy recently so I'm more in the fat camp than the fit camp. As a result it was a bit of a slog going uphill but the views as usual made it worthwhile.

Easier going down this side

At the top of Aubrey, as I was a bit stuffed, I spent a bit more time than usual investigating the strange rock formations, especially the spot where one fell off last year. A 1000 tonne boulder that had previously been one of the upright 'sentinels' fell off, slid down (fortnately didn't roll) and came to rest 40m above a house.

The joker on the right inadvisedly leaning on the boulder shows the scale of the thing

Mount Aubrey, like may of the hills and mountains around the Heads has strange, sentinel like rock formations on them.

The most striking one is Mount Manaia but Aubrey has quite a few as well.
I checked out the spot where the big boulder came from and realised that it didn't just come loose from its setting but, like a rotton tooth breaking, the top actually sheared off leaving the bottom and back bits still embedded in the earth. I climbed down to the spot which was a bit scary as bits kept coming away and loose rocks tumbled down, but I found that I could pull chunks of rotten rock away from the remains of the base. Water over the years must have gotten in through fissures and weakened it.

Looking up I saw the remaining sentinels towering above me and decided to get out of there, particularly as it was starting to rain.

Sometime in the future it is a given that these and other rock formations will tumble down. I only hope it is a long way in the future because our house could be in the firing line if one were to bulldoze its way to the sea.