South Island Safari

 All right, it wasn’t really a safari but we did see a couple of birds.

We flew over to Nelson, hired a car and then spent a week driving round the top part of the South Island. Normally we head way down south but this time we thought we would try out some different places rather than visit the same old haunts.

Crazy weather seems to be the norm these days and it didn’t disappoint on this trip. Temperatures were up to 10°C above average along with high humidity and the potential for torrential rain due to an “atmospheric river” coming down from the tropics. Severe weather wasn’t forecast for a couple of days so we decided to head down the west coast (which generally bares the brunt of any bad weather) and stayed in Greymouth. 

Greymouth is most definitely not a tourist town and is strongly associated with fishing, logging and coal and gold mining and consequently is a bit of an eye sore but we liked the place, warts and all. We stayed in the Cat Room at the excellent Noah’s Ark Backpackers. Using the town as a base, we visited Hokitika, the Hokitika Gorge and a place called Shanty Town.

In contrast to Greymouth, Hokitika is pretty and pretty touristy and a nice place to while away a few hours. 

The Hokitika Gorge was the real surprise and was superb. Getting there involved a 20 minute drive from Greymouth and an easy 1-hour loop walk to the Gorge.

The ShantyTown Heritage Park is exactly that and recreates what NZ would have been like in the early days of settlement (from a Pakeha point of view anyway). It also boasts a nice little train ride and café and for $8 extra you can pan a bit of gold. It cost $38 to get in which felt about right given that it, in best Kiwi tradition, it was all rather low key – Disneyland it is not! It was super quiet when we were there which made the experience all the more enjoyable, not least as the zombie hoards finally arrived just as we were leaving.

We also visited Coal Creek Falls which are about 10 minutes drive and then an hours walk from Greymouth.

After three days in Greymouth the forecast bad weather duly turned up so we headed off over the Alps to the hopefully more sheltered eastern side. The drive over the Alps in heavy rain was a bit dodgy but also enjoyable in a masochistic sort of way. It is amazing what a bit of geography can do and once we crossed over the mountains the weather quickly dried out and the temperature soared. Eventually we arrived in Hanmer Springs, where we stayed at the Kakapo Lodge for another three days

Hanmer Springs are famous (in NZ anyway) for their hot pools which are very good indeed and an absolute must do. For us though, the highlight was the wonderful Hanmer Forest which starts just a short distance from the centre of the town. The forest covers an extensive area and has a number of trails ranging in length from half an hours walk to a couple of hours. All the trails were well maintained and fairly flat with the shortest one having various wood sculptures scattered about. We did this trip during May and consequently many of the trees were resplendent in their autumn colours and this coupled with very few people being around lent the place an especially tranquil vibe.

We would happily have stayed in Hanmer longer but we had pre-booked the last two nights in Nelson at our favourite NZ hostel the Tasman Bay Backpackers with their complimentary chocolate pudding and ice cream.This did however mean heading back over the ranges and back onto the maelstrom.

I won’t say much about Nelson suffice to say it rained solidly for two days, but we enjoyed ourselves regardless.

Wedding (no, not mine)

 One of Neena’s nursing friends was getting married and we were invited to her wedding. Both the bride and the groom are Hare Krishna members so it wasn’t your traditional sort of wedding.

I have spent many years avoiding getting married and loath weddings in general so was somewhat reluctant to attend, but duty called.

The wedding ceremony took place in a barn on a farm situated in a stunning location in the middle of nowhere.

I could have done with a tad less chanting but, to my huge surprise, the wedding ceremony was absolutely charming with none of the stuffy formality of a regular church wedding. The people there were lovely and the whole occasion had a relaxed easy going feel. We had a cow sitting next to us and even she was well behaved and suitably chilled out.

Here’s wishing the married couple all the best.

Camping at Totara Flats

 To say it has been a bit wet is something of an understatement with biblical amounts of rain across the country throughout the summer, and this is before the devastation caused by cyclone Gabrielle. This coupled with some ill health last year and being busy in general meant that I haven’t done much tramping in recent times. 

All of a sudden the weather started behaving itself and with the promise of a fine weekend and no pressing commitments on my part it was time to stop making excuses and dust of the tramping gear,

These days I prefer companions to walk with but don’t like the strictures of tramping club trips so usually walk with a one or two friends. On this occasion no one was available but I thought to hell with it and decided to go anyway. I had also just brought a new hiking tent and thought this would be a good opportunity to test it out. The new tent would also mean that I didn’t have to stay in any huts which can get uncomfortably busy at this time of year. The tent by the way was a 1-person trekking pole tent called a Lanshan 1, which acquitted itself very well.

The target of the trip was Totara Flats which is located in the local Tararua mountain range. The flats are just that and are surrounded on all sides by steep mountains and are the largest such area in the Tararua range.

I set off from Wellington on Saturday but due to some terrible traffic and general disorganisation on my part didn’t arrive at the Holdsworth Roadend until 3pm which was much later than I had intended. The weather was lovely and warm with not a hint of rain.

I set off up the aptly named Gentle Annie Track which climbed around 400m and after an hour and 20mins I arrived at the junction to Totara Flats. I don’t like walking in the dark so had a quick drink and a handful of scroggin and set off down the track. The terrain from here was rather boggy for a while before becoming drier but much steeper and more gnarly. After about 40 mins and 400 vertical metres the track abruptly stopped descending and started gently ascending again. 

 Near the start of the walk at the bottom of the Gentle Annie

This next section was my favourite stretch of the track with easy walking through lush primordial vegetation. I would like to have lingered a bit more but was conscious of the time, so pressed on. I did meet one lady on this section of the track who said that a party of about a dozen or so were heading towards Totara Flats Hut which made me thankful for having a tent.

The easy walking was never going to last and sure enough the track started heading steeply down descending around 400m until it arrived at a swing bridge. I do like a good swing bridge and this one didn’t disappoint and must be one of the longest in the Tararua’s. 

From here the track flattened out and followed the side of the river for a while before arriving at yet another swing bridge crossing the Waiohine River. This bridge was much newer than the previous one and looks to have been built only a few years ago. 

From the bridge it was only a short walk to Totara Flats Hut which is situated in a wooded area close to the river but which also has a few nice grassy tent pitches. The hut was already busy and this was before the large group arrived so I thought better of it and decided to walk another 10 minutes or so to the flats proper which is a nice broad grassy area and found I had the place to myself.

All in all, it took about 4 hours to get there. It was starting to get dark so it was time to set the tent up and get dinner going. It took a couple of hours for the adrenaline to subside and for sleep to kick in but eventually it did and I slept like a log.

The next morning I was up at first light and was greeted to a beautiful crisp autumnal day and quickly set about my daily caffeine fix.

I wasn’t in the best of moods the previous day but a good nights sleep and no time constraints put me in a much better frame of mind which was further enhanced when I was serenaded by a couple of wonderfully inquisitive Fantails. The birds were to be a feature of the day.

Compared to previous trips I noticed a marked increase in birdlife and birdsong which was wonderful to behold. I can only put this down to the ongoing 1080 poison drops in the area. These drops are rather contentious with some people and doubtless cause some collateral damage but the baits effectiveness in keeping predators down is there for all to see.

I walked out the same way I came in so there were two gnarly climbs instead of two gnarly descents, which certainly got the heart pumping.

Again, the weather was delightful and I took plenty of tea breaks on the way back. At each stop Fantails would make an appearance and were most entertaining.

After around 5 hours I arrived back at the roadend and the conclusion of the trip.

Both days were fine but I enjoyed the second day much more than the first simply because I had more time to appreciate the scenery and wildlife, which for me these days, is what it's all about.

The Forgotten World Highway

No sooner had we got got back from our Xmas/New Year trip when my mate John and I headed of on a three day motorbike trip taking in the Forgotten World Highway.

We rode up to Taumarunui where we camped for the night. 

The next day we rode the Forgotten World Highway which runs from Taumarunui to Stratford and then on SH3 to Whanganui. 

The first half of the highway was sealed but very tight and twisty with liberal quantities of mud and rocks to keep you on your toes. Just when it looked like it couldn’t get any worse the road turned to gravel and this along with some washboard sections made for a few buttock clenching moments (my R Nine T has very stiff suspension and is not at all suited to this stuff). After 10km or so of gravel the road became paved again and we rode through the very photogenic Moki Tunnel. Shortly after this we entered the self proclaimed Republic of Whangamōmona and then onto lunch at the Whangamōmona Hotel.

The republic doesn’t take itself too seriously having had a goat and a poodle elected president in the past, which is perhaps a model the USA might like to consider.

From a biking perspective the rest of the road was much better with some lovely sweeping bends although one always had to be mindful of the often very bumpy road surface.

All to soon we arrived in Stratford which marks the end of the highway. This also marked the point where the weather, which had been threatening all day, really turned and we had a very soggy ride to Whanganui where we stayed in Johns partners palatial and very posh riverside apartment.

The next day we had another soggy ride back to Wellington but that didn’t detract from what was a fun trip.

Xmas/New Year Trip

With no family around Christmas is a quiet time of the year for us and a good excuse to hit the road and do some exploring.

We did do the sociable thing on Boxing Day and had a rather fine lunch with one of Neena’s friends only to find some fucktard had left a not so fine dent in our car. No note, so no surprises there then, although at least the car was drivable. 

We drove up to Hamilton and spent four days there. The city doesn’t have the best of reputations over here with the town centre being particularly dire but it is also home to Hamilton Gardens NZ’s best botanical gardens and also the majestic Waikato River, so well and truly redeems itself.

After much botanicaling we headed up to Auckland to visit friends. Again, I am not not a big fan of the city (or cities in general) as it is way to busy for my liking but at this time year most of the population heads to the beaches and consequently Auckland is nice and quiet and a lovely place to spend a few days.

Blue Eyed Hooligans

 With cat sitting successfully arranged by bribing our neighbours with chocolate, Neena and I flew down to Christchurch, hired a car and set off on what is fast becoming our annual South Island road trip.

We headed south and after an uneventful few hours ended up in Oamaru where we stayed for the night. The town is one of our favourite places and has many fine stone buildings, a steampunk museum, an absolutely cracking brewery/pizzeria (Scotts Brewing Co) and blue eyed penguins.

 Oamaru Botanical Gardens...

We have visited the town a number of times but have never seen any penguins so we thought we would put this right. It turns out that the birds spend the daylight hours at sea and return to their nests at night. With this in mind we stuffed ourselves with pizza and beer and then once it got dark headed off to the nearby penguin colony. On arriving there we found the majority of the colony was behind a fenced off area which was run by a company who were charging an exorbitant fee to see the birds. Being the tightwads that we are we hung around close to the colony hoping to see the birds coming home to roost, but after a considerable amount time all we had seen were a couple of seagulls, so we trudged off in abject defeat. As we were walking back into town, to our considerable surprise, we spotted three penguins waddling along the path looking like they were out for a spot of bother. Neena and I stayed dead still and they came within inches of us, which was a magical experience. As we walked back to our accomodation we must have spotted at least a dozen other penguins who it seems often nest under the local buildings. If you find yourself in Oamaru in a penguin frame of mind my tip is to wander down to the seafront turn right and then explore the next kilometre or so which is where we saw all the penguins.

 Blue Eyed Penguins

After Oamaru we headed south again eventually arriving in Dunedin which true to its Scottish heritage was cold, wet and miserable. Misery aside, we love the place and have visited the city many times so it was very much a case of the comfort of familiarity of visiting our old haunts, notably the Corner Store Cafe and the Botanical Gardens. 

After a couple of days of sampling the delights of Dunedin we could take no more and headed to Wanaka and the promise of better weather. You cant really go wrong in this part of the world and the drive there was fantastic, as was the weather. We stopped off along the way in Cromwell and Roxburgh for coffee and cheese rolls and as you do in this part of the world promptly bumped into one of our neighbours.

The mighty Clutha River at Roxburgh

Cheese rolls are very much a south island thing and the further south you go the more ubiquitous they become. They are not like your regular cheese rolls, and depending upon the recipe, consist of swiss roll style rolled up sliced bread with a filling consisting of among other things cheese, evaporated milk, onion soup mix and mustard with the whole lot then being toasted - very Kiwi and if you are down south you have to give them a go.

You know you want to...

We arrived in Wanaka to glorious weather and quickly made plans to go paragliding, and also in my case, do my first via-ferrata. It was not be however as the weather gods were playing up with rain forecast for the next few days. Plan B was to climb up to Roy’s Peak which literally has some of the best views in the world from the top but it turned out that even that was closed due to the lambing season. I actually wasn’t too upset by this one as I have climbed the peak before and wasn’t looking forward to the murderous 1500m slog to the top - Neena was gutted though.

 Looking over Lake Wanaka (our hostel was at the top of the short steep road on the right)

We killed a bit of time and saw The Good Boss at the Cinema Paradiso (both terrific) and generally moped around Wanaka for a couple of days. At this point I thought to hell with the rain and embarked on a solo trip to Rocky Peak in the Diamond Lake Conservation Area. For me, this turned out to be one of the best days of the trip and it felt so good to get out into the hills and stretch my legs. The first part of the track was great but the second part a little gnarly and exposed in places and made worse by the wet, but to me, this just added to the fun. The cloud was kind enough to lift from time to time and I managed to bag a few decent shots.

  This rather fine waterfall is near Wanaka and also where is was going to do my via ferrata

  At the start of the Rocky Mountain walk

   Heading up here...

On the way up...

    Past the bluffs

Yours truly on the summit of Rocky Mountain. This picture was taken by a friendly Chinese lady who I got chatting to on the summit. We were the only two mad enough to have gone out in the foul weather.

Diamond Lake. I took loads of pictures on the way down but the only usable one was this as unbeknownst to me until this point the camera lens had got rather wet and all the other images had come out blurred.

After 3 days in Wanaka we set of on the long drive back to Christchurch. For both of us the road trip is a major part of the experience and we frequently stop for coffee and cheese rolls or to just admire the scenery or both. Our route back took us through Tarras and then over the dramatic Lindis Pass accompanied most of the way by snow capped peaks, of which there were more than usual this year as it had been a snowy winter in the South Island, unlike the North Island mountains, which saw little snow.

Christchurch suffered major damage due to earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 and is still in the process of being re-built. This was the first time Neena had visited the city since then and was keen to see some of the new developments, of which there have been many. 

Some of the new buildings such as the art museum are spectacular but to my mind most of the developments in the city centre have resulted in a soulless sea of chrome and glass and yuppie wine bars. In all fairness there are still a lot of vacant lots and ongoing construction, so in the meantime, I will assume the worst and hope to be pleasantly surprised.

Christchurch Art Gallery

On the positive side, the parts of the city that were nice before the earthquakes are still jolly nice which for us means the Botanical Gardens, Hagley Park and the River Avon which after the disappointments of the central city were where we spent most of our time.

At the entrance to the botanical gardens

The botanical gardens are very extensive and we spent a good few hours wandering around. This particularly interesting tree is a Giant Redwood which I somehow expected to be tall and thin rather than looking like something out of Lord of the Rings.

We had an enjoyable couple of days in Christchurch but the weather was uncomfortably (and unseasonably) hot at times and it was almost a relief to fly back to Wellington and its bracing climate.

Our cat Libby was beside herself on our return and was super smoochy and clingy and it was nice to see that she had missed us, although she was back to her mercurial self soon enough.

We hadn’t intended it that way, but we ended up staying exclusively in hostels (in our own room), all of which were perfectly acceptable. Kiwi’s by and large prefer motels and cabins, which is all well and good, but they come at quite a premium and have shot up even more in recent times, but then again, what hasn’t.