Diana’s Peak . . .

Last Thursday (being my day off), we decided to go and walk Diana’s Peak. It’s the highest point on the island at 823m. the walk itself takes in three peaks, Cuckold’s Point, Diana’s Peak and Mount Actaeon. The three peaks we walked are in the Diana’s Peak National Park which was established in 1996. As you can see from the notice boards, the natural habitat is threatened by invaders and human interference.

The day started off as many days here do: it was rainy and overcast. Linda said that this was no problem as it had been like this for weeks – and within a few hours the sun would break through and we’d be under blue sky and bight sunshine. She was quite right for that’s what had happened again and again. However, this day decided to do it differently and you can see how things developed!

We parked the car as recommended in the National Trust booklet on the island walks and met a group of people working on collecting seed for propagation purposes as part of the battle for keeping indigenous species. They raised their eyebrows when we said that we were going to Diana’s Peak, but we said it might be a bit misty but we’d be careful.

The walk is beautiful and start at a lovely big wooden farm-style gate with information boards telling about the walk and points to note.

The initial few hundred metres have lovely views down the valley towards Lemon Tree Gut and then it goes up! Thank goodness the rate of climbing eases off and we caught occasional glimpses of valleys we’ve been down, but here from a different angle. We rested for a bit at a shelter that also houses a room which the folks who work in the National Park use for their equipment.

We declined the invitation to walk to The Dungeon (the name for the cemetery – only the Brits could come up with such a name) and went on to the Peaks.

The mist that had periodically obscured our view grew more enterprising and became drizzly and finally it succeeded in turning into light rain. Those of you who know the weather know that this doesn’t mean it kept on raining, it meant it varied between light rain, drizzle, mist, and clear overcast.  It moved from one to the other in no particular order and kept us no end amused!

You can see from the wooden walk steps and platforms that the walk is well looked after – which is just as well, as you may not be able to see just how narrow the walk is in places and that is high up on a ridge and there are steep drops on both sides.

There are beautiful things to see all round to amaze you and just rejoice in the beauty of God’s creation.

The pictures show that we had no view at all – which may be just as well, as you know that I don’t do especially well on heights and so wasn’t bothered by any queasiness as I looked around!

We met a group of National Park workers after we had “done” the Peaks at their shelter as they were breaking for lunch. It turned out that the leader was someone I had met at Longwood on one of our walks! We got back to the first shelter where we’d rested and had our picnic lunch which Linda had prepared for us. We were soaked through and our hat and peak were sodden, but we had come out for a picnic and we were jolly well going to have one! We felt a bit cold when we started the walk back down but soon warmed up and got back to the car and then drove home after an enjoyable walk.