Lighthouse trail

After seeing the cove, we started heading back towards the car and came across a sign that said "Extreme Trail. Use Caution. Lighthouse Trail 1.8km". Were we up to the challenge? I decided it probably wouldn't be that extreme, we should give it a go! So off we went.

It started off steep and just kept getting steeper! There was a rope to hang on to, which was just as well. We happily trudged our way up to the summit and were rewarded with incredible views of Bay of Islands!

We stayed at the top for a while having a wander and a trail bar, dreading the steep decent. Then we saw trail markers continuing along the ridge... so we followed. Assuming it was an 'out and back' trail, we didn't want to go too far and have to return. Lunch was in the car and although the pancake breakfast was still going strong, it was 3pm.

Every trail marker looked like it would be the last as we decended the ridge, the trail getting steeper and steeper and more icy as we were now on the north side. We could see something by the shore below and thought we should go there, having come so far already!

The trail was insane in places - sheets of icy snow we decended on our bottoms, rocky sections that forced us to cling on to the rope whilst heading down backwards, like a treturous ladder. we heard growling in the woods amd saw some paw prints in the snow. We were easy pickings for any wildlife on that ice... try not to think about it. 

Still wondering whether the trail would end and force us to go back, we headed down through the trees to... the (rubbish) ruins of a lighthouse! The trail continued past it and we hoped to be lead back to where we started. So icy and slipperly, the last 0.5km took ages! But when we popped out of the trees and saw the car, we jumped for joy and sighed with relief at not having to retrace our steps.

We celebrated our successful mission completion with a 4.30pm lunch in the car, overlooking the beautiful bay.