Masterton to Castle Point.
Not a big trip , just 70km on a sealed road.
What is different , is that there are no towns, villages , shops or service stations.
There are a couple of names on the map , such as "Carswell" and "Tinui" but they are now only intersections , the villages are long gone.
The farming is a mixture of sheep , beef and forestry.
The grass has a tinge of green from some recent light showers but there is no growth.
The stock has nibbled it down to ground level and the drought like conditions mean there will be no growth untill there is meaningful rain over a couple of weeks.
The long view forecast offers no relief.
The contours vary from silt flats along the valley's to steep , rugged hills and mountains.
Some paddocks on the flats are irrigated and are growing feed crops.
The brilliant areas of green are a direct contrast to the brown hills that surround them.
There was very little stock to be seen.
The road left the valley flats and steadily climbed upwards .
It was quite a long climb , over 15 km.
The Pine plantations were both sides of the road.
Young pines at first , 5 to 10 years old.
We had been on the road for just over an hour and had been very mindful of the truck and trailer loads of logs that where heading towards Masterton .
There was a load every few minutes and a few
They were not wasting any time and they took up more than their fair share of the road.
Which we let them have - no questions asked.
The log loading site was real busy.
Good quality logs from 25 to 30 year old trees.
Two loaders were constantly working to fill the truck and trailer rigs.
The air was enriched with the scent of the pine bark , sawdust and resin
We went over the brow of the mountain range and started the long decline to the coast.
The pine plantations , of various ages , continued for just on 16km.
That is a long way when a guy has a sling of seedlings over his shoulder , he plants one then takes two steps , plants another one , takes two more steps ..........
He does this 5 days a week for the Spring planting season , tough guys !
With little warning we had arrived.
Just one and a half hours from Masterton and we were at on of the remotest places on the Wairarapa Coast.
