The Otago Coast and Catlins

We are starting to realize that our time in New Zealand is running out so over the last couple of weeks we have not been able to visit everything that we want to. Unfortunately this means that we focus on the highlights that our guidebook presents and miss many of the smaller things that locals have told us about. At least we know there will be plenty to do on our next trip.

Our last stop in Canterbury before we ventured into Otago was the Timaru beach and rose garden. The rose garden has an incredible variety of flowers and most of them were in full bloom when we stopped by. There is also a wonderful aviary in the park with some incredibly colored birds in it. From there we drove into Otago and stopped in Oamaru to watch the blue penguins come ashore in the evening and check out Oamaru’s Victorian style limestone buildings.

 

South of Oamaru we visited the Moeraki Boulders and sampled the fare at Fluer’s Place before stopping in Dunedin. Dunedin has some incredible bookshops and a few breweries so our time there was very enjoyable. The hills in Dunedin are also an attraction in their own right with Baldwin Street being named as the steepest street in the world. If Dunedin were at elevation it would surely produce some great runners.

 

From Dunedin we drove along the coast into the Catlins. The Catlins are known for being and incredibly windy place, but we had two days of sunny, calm weather. In that type of weather the beaches there are absolutely incredible. We stayed at the Curio Bay Campground which has two main attractions. The first is a section of 160 million year old petrified forest that has a few Yellow-Eyed Penguins nesting on it and the second is Porpoise Bay where Hector Dolphins come in the summer to have their babies. It was incredible to see such rare animals up close and we both feel lucky to have had the experience.

From the Catlins we drove straight to Invercargill to stay for a night before catching the ferry to Stewart Island where we are now.

Wherever you may be, Merry Christmas from Stewart Island!

Kaikoura, The Banks Peninsula and Christchurch

We left Golden Bay and the Nelson area just before the heavy rain, flooding and landslides started and headed down the east coast of the South Island into Canterbury. Our first stop along the coast was in Kaikoura, a town known for its wildlife. You can whale watch, swim with dolphins or seals, visit bird colonies and eat crayfish (kai means food and koura means crayfish). We decided to focus on the seals and did a couple of walks in the area that went near the seal colonies. The first walk we did was a little north of Kaikoura at Ohau Point. We walked up a stream to a small pool at the base of a waterfall where seal cows take their pups to be protected from the ocean storms. At the right time of year the pool is absolutely packed with pups (check it out on youtube), but when we where there one lone pup had the whole pool to itself. The other walk we did was the Kaikoura Peninsula Walk. This walk took us along the cliffs overlooking the ocean at the very tip of the peninsula. At one point on the walk we were able to venture down the cliffs to the rocky beach where birds were nesting and there was a small seal colony.

From Kaikoura we drove through Christchurch to Akaroa on the Banks Peninsula. Akaroa was originally settled by French colonists who had come over in hopes of staking France’s claim to New Zealand. The town plays up its French past to get tourists to come, but the only French things left are a few street names and a flag where the settlers landed. We were told by a couple of French friends staying in town that the croissants from the bakery were not even the French style. In spite of not being as French as advertised, it is a lovely town and we spent an enjoyable day walking around, checking out the art galleries and eating local fudge.

After a relaxing day in Akaroa we made our way back to Christchurch. Christchurch is very much a city on the mend after two devastating earthquakes and an unbelievable number of aftershocks. We wanted to do our part in helping out by spending some money in the city, but this turned out to be much harder than we had imagined. The damage to Christchurch’s CBD is quite visible and the area has been declared the red zone and fenced off. We were hoping to find relocated businesses that had been in the red zone and shops around the edge of the red zone that we could patronize, but there was no place to get good information about relocated or open shops. We googled each business to get new locations and hours and were sad to find that most had not yet reopened.

We walked around the outside of the red zone to get a sense of the damage. It was quite sobering to see the spray painted messages left on the front of buildings by the search and rescue teams. Peering in the windows of some of the buildings on the edge of cordon gave us a glimpse of the days the earthquakes happened. Personal items are visible and in restaurants you can still see plates on the tables and broken cups on the floors. On the weekend a path into the center of the red zone was opened so we went in and took a look at Cathedral Square. Most of the rubble has already been cleared away, but it was easy to get a sense of the destruction that had happened. For us the saddest part of walking around Christchurch was seeing all the empty houses near the CBD. Most of the houses had signs on them that they were safe for occupancy however they were completely empty. A few had for sale signs in front of them, but many of them looked totally abandoned.

Even with all the destruction and change going on around them the people of Christchurch were incredibly friendly and welcoming. In the southwest corner of the CBD a City Mall has been set up using shipping containers to house stores. It is beautifully done and the attitude there is incredibly positive. The farmer’s markets are also in full swing, the museum had some wonderful exhibits on display and the botanical gardens looked incredible, especially the rose garden. We are sure it will take some time, but we hope that Christchurch is able to rebuild and maintain its wonderful character.

The Mussel Inn Area

The Mussel Inn Area is known to most people as Golden Bay, but for us the Mussel Inn was so representative of the area that we stopped using its proper name. The Mussel Inn is a brewery-café where business first, suit wearing, BMW driving people rub shoulders with vegan, dreadlocked, jalopy driving hippies. There is a pole covered in crucified cell phones and a sign that says, “Get the point?” The beer is brewed on site and the food is almost all caught or grown locally. The staff is friendly and their mood is contagious so if there is a bonfire burning or live music playing your are sure to make a new friend or two.

It is fitting that you have to cross Takaka Hill to reach Golden Bay because crossing the hill involves enough turns to make any San Francisco Street proud and makes you appreciate the effort that people go to live in the area.

Admittedly we did do more exploring in Golden Bay than just the Mussel Inn. We visited Farewell Spit, a 35km stretch of sand that includes some of the most important wetlands in the world. We intended to hike to Wharariki Beach to see its incredible rock formations and small seal colony and somehow overshot and ended up on Green Hill Beach. Finding our way from Green Hill Beach back to Wharariki Beach ended up being an off track adventure involving a few cliffs and a number of scratches on Jenni’s legs. We stayed at the Innlet and had an outdoor bath next to the creek before stopping at the Naked Possum for dessert. In Collingwood we bought chocolates from Rosy Glow Chocolate House where the chocolates are made not only with fresh ingredients right off the local farms, but also with love.

Takaka is the business center of Golden Bay, but that is a little like designating a rugby capital of the States. It is an arts and crafts town that does business because it has to. The incredible art galleries around town and relaxing atmosphere made us wish we were staying longer. We saw the clearest freshwater in the world at Te Waikoropupu Springs, visited the geological formations of The Grove and drove out to Tata Beach to find out why most people call the area Golden Bay.

We wanted to extend our time in Golden Bay to take up the rest of our trip, but the Nelson Saturday Market and other adventures dragged us back over Takaka Hill. If we ever come back to New Zealand we are going to make sure that our time in Golden Bay takes up a larger portion of the trip than it did this time.

If you get a chance make sure you try the Mussel Inn’s Happy Jackal Pumpkin Ale which tastes like pumpkin pie in a bottle.

The Heaphy and Karamea

As we headed north up the West Coast we kept an eye on the weather forecast to see if there was any chance that the rain might let up. When we got to Westport a window of good weather was being predicted so we decided to do the Heaphy track. The biggest challenge of the Heaphy track is getting from one end to the other before or after doing the hike. Driving takes over six hours and because of the taxi pickup times usually involves an overnight stay somewhere along the drive. Hitchhiking is possible but can take even longer because the ends of the track are in out of the way places. The quickest way from one end of the track to the other is flying, but it does cost a little more than the other options. The opening of good weather was not going to be long enough to drive so we decided to spoil ourselves and fly. We picked Jim, a Cessna pilot, to fly with because it was the cheapest option.

After making all the arrangements and picking up supplies in Westport, we drove up to Karamea to get packed and look around before our hike. Karamea has a number of interesting limestone formations nearby including arches over rivers and a variety of caves. We only had time to visit the arches over the Oparara River before getting organized for the hike.

In the morning we met Jim at the Karamea Aerodrome and took off for the northeast end of the track. Jim has been flying for quite a few years and knows the area quite well so he was able to show us some highlights of the track as we were flying over. We made a bouncy landing in a farmer’s field and were greeted by Jeff, Jim’s contact on the ground, who had a pipe hanging out of the corner of his mouth and drove us the five minutes past his place to the start of the Heaphy track grumbling the whole way about tourists and how busy it was becoming “out this way.” It was well worth the cost of the flight just to meet those two characters.

The shuttle bringing the masses to the beginning of the track arrives later in the day so we were alone on the start of the trail. The first day of the track is done through the forest, up a constant but gradual incline with very few views of the surrounding country. It may not sound that appealing, but we found the variety of bird and plant life along the way very entertaining. The few views that we did get along the way just whet our appetite for more and when we got to the Perry Saddle Hut, the views from their made the whole day worth it. It was a clear day so we decided to do the side trip from the Perry Saddle Hut up Mt. Perry. It is an unmaintained track which involves some scrambling over loose rock, but from the top (on a clear day) you can see Farewell Spit and Mt. Taranaki. There was a little too much haze for us to see Mt. Taranaki, but we did get our first look at Farewell Spit.

On the second day we walked from Perry Saddle through the Gouland and Mackay Downs to the James Mackay Hut. The downs are relatively flat areas covered in golden grass and shrubs. They look like they would be the perfect place for animals to graze, however when we stepped off the track and onto the swampy ground we quickly realized that it is no place for a farm. The Gouland Downs is the larger of the two and has a number of streams and rivers running through it which support an incredibly diverse ecosystem. On our way through the downs we saw the shells of giant snails, an incredibly large earthworm, a kea and a pair of blue ducks. The blue ducks were the highlight as they are an endangered species with a very limited habitat range.

Our third day of hiking involved descending from the James Mackay Hut to the Heaphy River and then along the river to the Heaphy Hut at its mouth. The journey down through the forest was similar to the first day although several of the tree species and birds that we saw were different. Our first encounter with the Heaphy River was crossing it on an 80 meter swing bridge. From there we walked along the river through the Nikau Palms, crossing several more swing bridges and stopping only briefly to eat lunch and be eaten by sandflies before reaching the Tasman Sea and the Heaphy Hut. The sun was shining through the palm trees onto the golden sand of the beach and the ocean was a sparkling blue. It looked down right tropical so we jumped in the river and were quickly reminded that a river mouth on the West Coast of the South Island is far from it. There was a beautiful sunset and as long as we avoided the water it was possible to imagine that we were in a tropical paradise.

Our last day was spent walking through the palm trees in the sun. The rocky beaches and waves that crashed with incredible ferocity were the only reminders that we were not in Hawaii. It was easy going and our shortest day of hiking, but it also felt like the most spectacular. We felt a sense of accomplishment tinged with sadness when we reached the parking lot at the end of the trail and caught the shuttle back to Karamea. That was quickly overwhelmed with sleepiness when we found a bed to fall into.

The next day we took a tour of the Honeycomb Hill caves just north of Karamea. They have restricted access because there are over 71km of caves that are full of Moa bones and incredible limestone formations that should not be touched. Our guide was a biologist who has been around the world working on different projects and he was full of wonderful information about the cave and its surrounding area. The only disappointment was that all of the Hast Eagle bones and most of the impressive Moa bones have been removed from the cave and taken to museums for study. After the tour we drove through the Buller Gorge to Nelson for a few days of rest.

Wandering the West Coast

On the Friday after Thanksgiving we said a sad farewell to the couple we had been staying with and headed north through Fox Glacier to Franz Josef. The main attraction at Franz Josef, much like Fox Glacier, is a glacier. While we were staying at the farm the clouds had kept views of the Southern Alps pretty well hidden so we decided to take a helicopter ride above the clouds to get a better view. On the morning we were supposed to go up it looked like the clouds were going to thwart us once again, but we waited patiently and they cleared just enough for us to get some spectacular views of Fox Glacier and Mount Cook.

From Franz Josef we continued north, stopping in all the small towns along or just off the highway before reaching Hokitika. Hokitika is known for it pounamu (greenstone or jade in the rest of the world) carving so we spent some time browsing the shops and the beach for our own piece of pounamu. We also visited the Hokitika Gorge which is fed by glacial melt and has an incredible turquoise color as a result. We were hoping to see some of the carvers in action on Monday, but it turned out to be the Westland anniversary day so shops were either closed or running on limited staff.

The holiday was also on in Greymouth, the West Coast’s largest city so we drove through without stopping. By the time we got to Punaikaki people were no longer on holiday because they celebrate their anniversary day with the Nelson region. It was all very confusing, but a good lesson on history and culture. In Punaikaki we took a look at the Pancake Rocks, but because it was a few hours before high tide we did not get to see the blowholes in action. The rain chased us farther north to the seal colony in Tauranga Bay before we landed in Westport. If the weather cooperates our next adventure will be the Heaphy Track.

Thanksgiving

We are happy to miss Black Friday, but we were not so excited about the prospect of missing Thanksgiving. Fortunately for us the couple we are staying with were happy to help us put together a Thanksgiving dinner so that we would not feel too homesick. We did not have all of the normal ingredients available because it is spring instead of fall, but we were able to find substitutes that work well.

For dinner we had mashed potatoes, roasted asparagus, stuffing, candied kumara and pumpkin (squash), rolls, cranberry sauce made from cranberries that came off of a cranberry bush and look a lot like blueberries and duck. For dessert we had blackberry, nectarine, pumpkin (squash) and kumara pies with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream made from milk provided by Frisky, the house cow.

Even though a few of the ingredients were new for us, the result was the same. Everyone overate and fell into a deep food coma after dinner and there will be plenty of leftovers for tomorrow. We hope everyone at home has a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Jenni the Farm Girl

Between rain showers (some of which have lasted for a full day) we are still farming on the West Coast of the South Island.

Thanks to Rina for the photos. You can purchase her photos here.

The Wild West Coast

It was a long drive from the top of the South Island to 50km south of Fox Glacier. Unfortunately we did it on a rainy, cloudy day so we did not get to see much of the Southern Alps as we made the trip.

Even though the ranch we are staying at is just off State Highway 6, it feels like it is located at the end of the road. The nearest large town is 2.5 hours away and it has just over 3000 people. Being so isolated means that the people in the area are very self reliant but are also willing to help their neighbors whenever there is a need.

The West Coast is a place that is hard to describe. Time has moved more slowly here so people still do things in a more traditional way It is a place where cowboy boots look like gumboots. The State Highway was originally a cattle trail and it is still used that way today. It is a place where hunting is not a sport, it is a necessity to supplement your food supply. Horse riding is not a sport, it is still a work activity. It is a place where closing time is just a recommendation. The rain here is measured in buckets rather than millimeters. It is a place of incredible beauty.

We have been doing various tasks on the ranch including fixing fence, milking the house cow, hunting, making ice cream, feeding animals and moving stock. The ranch we are on is a Hereford Stud which means that it produces bulls that other farmers buy to use to impregnate their cattle. The rancher who owns the place is the fourth generation on the ranch. He knows his herd so well that he can tell you the mother and father of most of his stock without consulting his breeding book.

On Wednesday we drove over the mountains to Christchurch so that we could attend the Canterbury A&P show. It is similar to a fair in the States with rides, junk food and stock judging. There were also dog trials and commercial farm equipment vendors at the show. We were mainly there for the livestock judging and had a great time talking to the other ranchers who where at the show. We even met one farmer who held shearing classes in Roseburg, Oregon and knew several guys from Myrtle Point (my home town). We spent the night near Christchurch and the next day we went to Kaiapoi to pick up some semen. We got some from the company and then drove down the road a short distance to get some from an independent dealer. Only in New Zealand would a deal done on the side of the road between the back of vehicles be for semen instead of drugs.

On our way home it was a clear day so we got some incredible views through Arthur’s Pass and of the Southern Alps as we drove along the West Coast.

The woman we are staying with, Rina, is a wonderful photographer so if you want to see some better pictures of the area we are staying in check out her Flickr photos here. One of our favorite photos of hers is this one.

Abel Tasman

After leaving Nelson we spent a couple of days in Motueka taking in the sights, eating at Up The Garden Path and packing for our upcoming hike. To be honest there is not much to see in Motueka, but it is a good place to relax and enjoy good food. Up The Garden Path is a small café owned by friends of friends who serve delicious food made from local ingredients. If you happen to being going through Motueka, it is worth a stop and make sure you try their dessert.

The Abel Tasman Coast Track is one of New Zealand’s great walks and is located on an eastern facing coast in the northwest corner of the South Island. After the rest and relaxation in Motueka our first day on the trail was a little bit of a shock to our systems. That was mainly because we opted Dylan forced us to do our longest day on the first day when our packs were at their heaviest. We parked our car near the water taxi office (more on why we needed a water taxi later) and hiked the 1.5km from there to the official start of the trail.

On our first day we hiked from Marahau to the Bark Bay Hut. We had decided to stay in a hut on our first night because we knew that we were going to be a little tired after hiking 23 kilometers (14 miles). We were disappointed to find that the hut was well away from the beach and the campsites were right on the beach. The afternoon was spent on the beach watching waves crash on the golden sand and digging up shellfish. By dinner we had quite a collection, but were not sure what the harvest rules were inside a national park so we left them all on the beach and headed back to the hut to cook up what we had packed. When a hut warden showed up we asked him about the shellfish rules and were disappointed to learn that we could have had a much tastier dinner.

We made the trip from Bark Bay to Awaroa on our second day of tramping. It was a short hike with a small crossing that is done most easily at low tide. The Awaroa hut has incredible views of the estuary, but we had booked a tent site that did not have a view. After setting up our tent we sat in front of the hut watching the tide go out. The tidal zone in front of the Awaroa hut is over 2 kilometers long so the scenery changes significantly from high to low tide. When we got to the hut we asked the DOC worker there about collecting shellfish and were told that it was fine so at low tide we walked out into the estuary and collected cockles to have with dinner. They certainly did not compare to Bluff Oysters, but they were good with marinara sauce and pasta.

Our third day of hiking started at 8:00am so that we could make it across the tidal zone near low tide. After the crossing, we put our shoes back on and walked with a few Germans to Totaranui. Totaranui is a large campground in the park that is accessible by both road and sea. Most people stop here and get picked up by a bus or water taxi to return to Nelson or Marahau. After a brief stop in Totaranui we continued north. The track went across a couple of absolutely stunning beaches on the way to separation point. Our lunch on the point was shared with a bunch of frolicking seals before we finished the day by hiking to Whariwharangi hut. The hut is a converted homestead that was built in 1897. It was an incredible spot only a couple of hundred meters from the beach, but protected from the wind by bush.

There was no tidal crossing to worry about in the morning and the rain was pouring down so we took our time getting going. We hiked back to Totaranui over the Gibbs Hill track. There are some incredible views from the trail on a nice day, but we saw mostly white. We could have continued on the inland track all the way back to Marahau, but instead opted to get on a water taxi in Totaranui for the quick ride back. On the boat trip we met a couple from Hawaii who told us about their experience kayaking along the coast. After hearing about it we are thinking about returning for a couple of days of kayaking when the weather improves.

Today we are headed south to a Hereford farm near Fox Glacier.

Things we wish that we would have known before we did the hike:

We used Marahau Water Taxi, but Abel Tasman Aqua Taxi costs 2 dollars more per person and saves you almost a kilometer of walking before the trail.

Do not skip the Anchorage Bay area. It is supposed to be one of the most beautiful parts of the park with Te Pukatea Bay ranked as one of the top beaches in the world. We were in a hurry on our long first day and passed it by.

If you are staying at Bark Bay the campground has a much better location than the huts.

If you are staying at Awaroa the hut has a much better location than the campground.

You can arrange to kayak the first day of the trip and then hike the rest if you want which would give you a good feel for both the land and sea.

When the park was formed people who had property within the park were not forced to sell it so you walk through two almost residential areas along the hike and pass a huge lodge with an airstrip. Those parts are not very park like so try to ignore them.

The track is accessible by sea from a lot of different beaches so people come out and do day hikes all over the trail. Beware the hordes of day hikers that start in late morning.

Journeying South

 

After our hike around Lake Waikaremoana we drove down to Napier and found a local brewery so that we could treat ourselves to a well deserved cold one. Napier is located in the Hawkes Bay region of New Zealand and is known for its art deco buildings and wineries. We spent two days walking around town and driving out to a couple of wineries to have a taste. The highlight of our stay in Napier was the evening we got to spend with a woman we met on the Waikaremoana hike. She owns a nursery and works as a rural reporter so she had a lot of interesting information about New Zealand for us.

From Napier we drove down the east coast to Porangahau to try to get a white bait fritter at the pub in town. It turned out that the kitchen in the pub was not open on the day that we were there so all we got was a beer and a fun conversation with the locals. The next day we drove down to Wellington. Being back in a city was quite a shock to our system. Our guidebook says that “negotiating the inner-city one-way system is like the Krypton Factor on acid.” We will testify that they are not far from wrong and that the parking and narrow streets makes it even worse.

In Wellington we met up with our friends from Alaska, Emily and Jason. They are on a short trip to New Zealand so we wanted to make sure that they could get as much out of it as possible. We took in the sights around Wellington including the botanical gardens, Te Papa (The Museum of New Zealand), Old St. Pauls, Weta Cave, the wineries in Martinborough and a couple of pubs that serve local beers.

 

Our ferry ride from Wellington to Picton was wonderfully smooth and the passage through the Queen Charlotte Sound was beautiful. After landing on the South Island we drove straight to Blenheim. There is not much to do in Blenheim except visit the Marlborough region wineries and that is exactly what we did. We went on a full day tour of the wineries in the area with stops at a chocolate factory and a liquor store thrown in for good measure. In the evening we watch the Rugby World Cup final where New Zealand beat France 8-7. It was amazing how exciting such a low scoring game was. Emily and Jason flew out of Blenheim to Queenstown and we continued on to Nelson.

Nelson bills itself as the sunniest place in New Zealand so of course it has been raining on us. Nelson is an arty city and we made it into town for the last day of the Urban Art Show and walked around town looking at all the objects that had been covered in knitting. We have been relaxing without any real plan, but we are hoping to do some hikes or find another helpx spot in the next few days.