Great Stone Top (right) and Little Stone Top, viewed from Levelwood

Great Stone Top (right) and Little Stone Top, viewed from Levelwood. The airport site can just be seen on the far left.

 

Turns out I suffer from acrophobia; a fear of heights. Not vertigo, as I had previously believed. Unfortunately, it’s the highest elevation that tends to offer the best vantage points for landscape photography, which had brought us to the 494m Great Stone Top; the top of yet another cliff, trying to hold the camera steady, with knees (mine) quivering.

 

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GREAT STONE TOP Post Box | Darrin Henry

This coastal post box walk measures about two crow flying miles to the south east corner of the island after starting from the eucalyptus forest of Bellstone, in the Levelwood district.

(2019 update: This is now one of our guided post box walks)

We parked the car and started walking a few minutes before 6am. Cloud cover had increased significantly since checking the skies at 4.30am, but we gambled it would clear again.

With the big zoom lens plus various camera accessories, we were hoping for a good view and picture of the new airport under construction, and Great Stone Top promised a good angle for this and other landscapes.

Levelwood catches sunshine from a thin break in the early morning cloud cover. This taken at 6.21am, soon after we set out.

Levelwood catches sunshine from a thin break in the early morning cloud cover. This taken at 6.21am, soon after we set out.

Creeper plants that are everywhere. This was taken on the return journey which shows the contrast in view of Levelwood from earlier.

Creeper plants that are everywhere. This was taken on the return journey which shows the contrast in view of Levelwood in distance, from earlier.

Wooden arrows point the way, although it's difficult to get too lost on this walk. The Great Stone Top post box walk.

Wooden arrows point the way, although it’s difficult to get too lost on this walk. The Great Stone Top post box walk.

 

Ringing The Trachyandesite

Generally, this walk is pretty easy; the outward journey anyway. It’s downhill to start with then level-ish for the long mid section. There are ‘ringing’ stones lying along the pathway, or trachyandesite to use its correct geological name.

The sudden ascent at the end of the walk takes some puff, as the coastal hill rises up suddenly. The trick we found were regular ‘catch your breath’ stops. At the top, the last 40m or so, the path runs right near the edge of the cliff. Spectacular views if you have a head for heights. Exactly 1 hour 18 mins after leaving the car, we were at the post box.

 

Water stop during the ascent. Little Stone Top is the peaked hill in the background, and Levelwood is beyond that.

Us at the top with Prosperous Bay Plain and the airport site in the background. The Great Stone Top post box walk.

Us at the top with Prosperous Bay Plain and the airport site in the background. The Great Stone Top post box walk.

The amazing landscape of St Helena - looking inland with Sharks Valley running below.

The amazing landscape of St Helena – looking inland with Sharks Valley running below. Peak of Flagstaff in the distant right.

Some of the plants found on the Great Stone Top post box walk.

Some of the plants found on the Great Stone Top post box walk.

Sharon brave enough to peer over the edge. Camera is out on a pole to capture this shot. The Great Stone Top post box walk.

Sharon brave enough to peer over the edge. Camera is out on a pole to capture this shot. The Great Stone Top post box walk.

 

Waiting For The Weather

Cloud still blanketed the sky, but it’s a fantastic view down to the airport site on Prosperous Bay Plain, so we settled in to wait a bit for brighter skies.

It was mesmerising watching the fairy terns and red billed tropic birds, tracing large, lazy circles below us as they hung effortlessly on the updraft of air coming off the cliffs. Even further below us a deep green thicket of wild mango bushes lined the narrow bed of Sharks Valley, snaking its way from below Levelwood in the distance, all the way down to the coast, out of sight below us. (As I understand it, sharks are rare around St Helena, so not sure how the name Sharks Valley came about).

 

 

Amazing Landscapes

Across a bay, a ridge and a valley, a mile and a half away, the airport site finally resembled an airport. For more than two years it had been little more than a red tinted, lunar landscape, mutilated by the excavators and heavy earth moving equipment that scurried around 24 hours a day levelling the area.

Filling the chasm that was ‘Dry Gut’ valley, had finally been completed, and now the tightly compacted layers of stone rose neatly out of the randomness, with the new runway perched precisely on top.

Beeping of reversing trucks and the drone of a distant generator made its way across to us. Otherwise the only sound was the surf on the rocks 494m below.

Passing time reading the comments others have left in the visitors' book. The Great Stone Top post box walk.

Passing time reading the comments others have left in the visitors’ book. The Great Stone Top post box walk.

The visitors' book. The Great Stone Top post box walk.

The visitors’ book. The Great Stone Top post box walk.

 

What The Other Lot Said

Waiting (hoping) for the clouds to clear, we passed the time reading and laughing at the humorous comments in the post box visitors’ book:

1 April 2013 – Hungry, hung-over and happy! Amazing views and the spectre of an awesome night at Donny’s. Happy Fools Day! Glen Westmore & James McCabe. (no date) – Paul Williams, Post Box Supervisor. My daughter Megan moaned all the way up. I expect the same all the way down. She is only 15. Kids are so unfit. (no date) – Martin Warte, seasoned walker. Is it really necessary to put people’s lives at risk by placing yet another post box in a dangerous position? Come on guys! Isn’t it enough to have climbed the peak?

Hikers From All Over The World

Two lots of walkers had been here on New Year’s Day 2014.

Sheila & Chris Hillman from Blue Hill, and Graham and Sandra Sim & Cassey. People from Kosovo, South Africa and Sweden had written in the book.

We scribbled our own message; always a pressure moment that, trying to come up with something original. I bet most walkers had spent many minutes pondering their entry. The effort to reach the post box and the amazing views seem to demand something more profound than we can manage. Oh well, “good walk, great views,” it is then!

St Helena's airport under construction on Prosperous Bay Plain. The Great Stone Top post box walk.

St Helena’s airport under construction on Prosperous Bay Plain. The Great Stone Top post box walk.

 

All Done In 10 Minutes

Finally, more than 2 hours later, after a few false starts, the cloud burned away enough for some reasonable photos. It’s always a challenge to capture the scale of a landscape in a single picture. The incredible height and ruggedness of the cliffs in front of us, condensed into the three inch display on the back of the camera. Ten minutes later all the pictures were done. Having lugged the telephoto lens up it wasn’t needed; we were close enough to the airport site that the 24-70mm filled the frame as required.

The true scale of the landscape is difficult to capture in a picture. The Great Stone Top post box walk.

The true scale of the landscape is difficult to capture in a picture. The Great Stone Top post box walk.

The airport site with The Longwood Barn in the far distance. The Great Stone Top post box walk.

The airport site with Flagstaff and the Longwood Barn in the far distance. The Great Stone Top post box walk.

This is Little Stone Top in the foreground, on the way back. Levelwood and central peaks in the distance. The Great Stone Top post box walk.

This is Little Stone Top in the foreground, on the way back. Levelwood and central peaks in the distance. The Great Stone Top post box walk.

 

The Colour Of The Earth

It was nearly 10am by the time we started the walk back; the sun was out and it was hot.

Colourful marl gouges in the hillsides are my favourite landscape features around St Helena. About the halfway point on this walk there is one such spot, looking up toward Levelwood. The red, blue and brown earthy tones contrast spectacularly with white chalk like seams. It had been dull on the way out, but these marls were lit up on our return journey.

My limited research has suggested these hues are created by deposits of clay and silt, rich in lime. This proved too tempting a photography excursion, despite our desire to get out of the increasing heat. Fifteen minutes of sliding around in the soft ridges later, we were homeward bound once more.

These amazing colours always get me. Can't resist. The Great Stone Top post box walk.

These amazing colours always get me. Can’t resist. The Great Stone Top post box walk.

This shot of me scrambling into the marl gives a good idea of scale. The Great Stone Top post box walk.

This shot of me scrambling into the marl gives a good idea of scale. The Great Stone Top post box walk.

 

Back To The Bellstone

Dragging ourselves up the long hill back to the car, we met a group of four walkers just starting out on the same route. Our frazzled appearance from the heat didn’t deter them, however, and after a quick chat they headed off into the shimmering haze. (We later found out they had completed the walk and enjoyed it, but one or two were a bit sore from the sun).

Nearly five hours after setting off, we arrived back at the car and the cooling shade of the Levelwood eucalyptus trees.

Sounding Off

A final obligation; to ‘ring’ the Bell Stone. Lying on a slight incline, like a huge turtle shell, the trachyandesite stone has become a tourist attraction, even having a local wine named after it. The stone gives off a sonorous sound when struck. It’s a surprisingly rich ringing noise, not at all what you would expect from a large stone. Upon hearing it for the first time you tend to do a double take, almost to check it’s not a lump of metal being struck.

Like many before us, the ringing ‘bell’ signalled the end of another St Helena post box walk.

 

Reference material used to produce this blog post:

            

‘A Description of the Post Box Walks of St Helena’ by the St Helena Nature Conservation Group

 

Sharon ringing the Bell Stone at the end of the walk. The Great Stone Top post box walk.

Sharon ringing the Bell Stone at the end of the walk. Note her left arm with post box stamps on them! The Great Stone Top post box walk.

 

Gear we recommend for hiking on St Helena from Amazon UK

 

Disclaimer: The information in this article is not intended as to validate the safety or otherwise of the walk route. Trails on St Helena are subject to change depending on weather conditions, plant growth and natural erosion. Walkers unfamiliar with the walks on St Helena should seek the assistance of a competent local guide.