Goodbye Golden Bay

After four weeks the time had come to say goodbye to Golden Bay, cheerio to Collingwood and farewell to our new found friends at the Collingwood Camp Ground. Once again we could quite easily have put down some “feeder roots” and settled in for a few more weeks but we must keep this snail’s paced journey on the move otherwise we’ll have to keep adding months to the other end of our ‘grand tour’ of the South Island.

We have been spoilt by the weather, glorious golden sunrises, brilliant blue skies and calm settled weather week after week. We came north for winter and the Tasman District has served us well; 4 wonderful weeks in Kaiteriteri, a quiet week in Pohara and 3 fun filled weeks in Collingwood.

We've thoroughly enjoyed being honorary members of the whitebait crowd at Collingwood, we loved the camp camaraderie, the friendly banter & partaking in “Happy Hour”. We enjoyed looking on as motorhomes, caravans, cars, boats & trailers, all filled to the gunwales, arrived to set up camp and soon just about every patch of grass was covered with camping & fishing paraphernalia.

We watched the daily parade of boats & bikes, nets in all shapes & sizes, rods (for those quiet times) and people dressed in waders passing by our window. We admired the tenacity & passion (or is that obsession) that every whitebaiter possessed no matter the weather or the size of the catch. We loved the camp quiet time, when we had the place to ourselves, when all we could hear were the birds and the gentle lapping of the incoming tide. And then we’d look forward to the first vehicle rumbling back into camp signalling the end of the day’s fishing and the return of the “fleet”, we'd then be keen to hear how everyone did.

But best of all we enjoyed the precious little whitebait packages that arrived at our door & the secret language that went with any whitebait discussion. We learnt the lingo, “enough for a feed” could have been anything from a dozen fish to half a bucket full!

Our lips are sealed!

So thankyou Bill & Shelley for your hospitality and accommodating us on a perfect site. Bill you were right, there was no need to head to Wharariki, the best little camp was in Collingwood! And a big thankyou to Gerald & Pam, Sally & Ian, Diane & Ian, Ken, & last but not least Skin….(or was that Stretch) for making us feel so welcome. We look forward to our paths crossing again one day.

Devil’s Boots & Aorere Caves

We had one more walk ear marked to do in Golden Bay area before we left, the Aorere Caves & Goldfield Track which wasn’t too far up the Aorere Valley at the end of a farm track.

On the way we’ll pass the “Devil’s Boots”, I’d heard mention of the boots quite a few times and seen a few old photos of settlers posing in their horse & carts beside them so I was keen to actually see them in the flesh.

The Devil’s Boots are limestone outcrops & it was easy to see why they are so named! Two upside down boots sticking out of the ground, one on either side of the road. They are well named although they gave me a bit of a creepy feeling; “Picnic at Hanging Rock” kept popping into my head!

Once pass the Boots the gravel road becomes a narrow dirt track that runs alongside the Aorere River for about two kilometres before we arrive at a shut farm gate. There’s a multitude of signs on the gate warning of new lambs and to keep off the grass (this is a private farm & they need it for their animals).

We’re always very mindful of signs and have a healthy respect for private property, we're also very grateful that access is made available (even if the farmer sometimes has no choice in the matter). It is a privilege we don’t take for granted but there are others that do abuse the situation. In particular people on motorbikes & 4WDs moving off road cutting deep tracks into banks and across paddocks. It’s not only private land, we’ve seen some terribly rutted tracks over sand dunes, alongside rivers and in conservation parks too.

As part of the Aorere Goldfields there is quite a long 4WD track that loops around the reserve and continues on to come out on another road back towards Collingwood. We thought we might follow the track for a couple of kilometres to where there was junction with the walking track. We could then walk to the caves from there, saving ourselves some strenuous exercise!

But our plan was foiled, the 4WD track was just too rough and boulder strewn for our “shiny” so we returned to the grassy carpark and headed off up the hill, the caves were 45 minutes away, Duggans Dam, 1hr 20min. We allow at least an hour to the caves as we know from past experience that the DOC times don't allow for much leeway. We tend to stop often- for me to take photos, & to get our breath back. We also don't think DOC allow for older legs!

We pass some old gold workings early in the piece and other than a water race further on that's about all we see of the old gold fields.

The track climbed steadily up & up & up some more passing through scrubby kanuka & broom for most of the way. It wasn’t steep, just an energy sapping-ly steady climb that went on and on. It wound it’s way around the side of a hill and every time we caught sight of the summit we’d think we’re not too far from it now but then it would wind it’s way around the other side. There wasn’t much bird life, in fact there wasn’t much of anything except scrub & boulders although we did see the overnight workings of a couple of wild pigs; the track had been rooted up quite bad.

Finally we hear water and the track disappears into the more usual lush native bush along side a rocky stream. A little further on we see that we’ve reached the end of a water race. Nearby is a short side track to Stafford’s Cave. It’s dark and overgrown near the entrance to the cave and I’m not keen to venture too far. There’s too many rocks to clamber over and the cave heads downhill through a narrow entrance. David moves in for a closer look and shines his head torch down into the blackness. It doesn’t appeal to him either so we return back to the track (mine is a hasty retreat!)

We continue on for another few hundred metres, the track is now following the water race uphill, until we come across the sign pointing the way to the Ballroom Cave. About 20 metres before the cave our way is blocked by a huge slip that has brought down a small forest of trees. Hmm….we don’t have a chainsaw in the backpack so we’re not sure how we’re going to get over or around it but I’m darn sure I’m not walking all this way to end up not seeing the "piece-de-resistance"; the Ballroom Cave.

In the end we fight our way through the hundreds of vines and thick ground cover at the end of the pile. Have you ever tried to get through a tangle of vines? The gaps between them are mostly too small to squeeze through, the vines don’t move much and you end up tripping over every one you try to step over. And your backpack catches the ones above! I can’t imagine how explorers & early settlers managed to find their way anywhere.

Finally we’re at the entrance to the cave, a humongous black gaping hole!

David disappears down the slope and is swallowed up in the blackness before I get a chance to put my head torch on. I call for him to come back to help me down the slippery slope which as it turns out isn’t slippery at all just worn by the hundreds of pairs of feet that have passed this way over the years. The cave was quite barren, we were disappointed not to find any cave wetas, or spiders or any sign of life. I've used the camera flash to lighten the cave in the photos below (except for the middle one).

The Ballroom Cave is reputed to have been used by miners as a venue for dances, hence it’s name. I think they must have been very sure footed, the floor is rough & uneven. And I’m thinking maybe they danced with each other ‘cause I can’t imagine many women would have wanted to come up this far and if they did it wouldn’t have been too glamorous! It’s more likely the miners met in here for a drink or maybe for meetings.

We fought our way back through the vines and over the fallen trees back to the main track where I convinced David that as we’d come so far we might as well continue on up the hill for another 40 minutes to “Druggans Dam” which was the old Slate River Sluicing Company Dam and where we could have some lunch.

The track followed the water race winding it’s way in and around the hillside for what seemed like miles. It wasn’t as hard going now but I couldn’t believe how long the water race (& the track) were, probably a good 2 kilometres. Along the way we had glimpses across the Aorere Valley to the Whakamarama Range and north to Farewell Spit & Golden Bay.

Collingwood is tucked away behind the hill on far right, part of the huge Ruataniwha Inlet can be seen at the end of the Aorere River.

Finally and not before time we reached the dam outlet, a tunnel cut through the rock with a control gate deep inside. With one last steep climb we finally reached Duggans Dam which turned out to be a little bit of an anti-climax. There was just one small clearing off the track beside the lake where we could sit on the ground to have lunch. The only bright spot were the small clumps of native clematis blooming here and there in amongst the gorse & scrub.

Nearby was the race intake control gate.

Not a bird in sight! Although we could see some swans far across the other side beside the rushes. I thought there might have been a few ducks at least.

It had taken us a good two hours to get to the dam & rather than continue on from the dam around a loop back to the 4WD track and then onto the carpark (which would have added another 30-40 minutes to the walk) we decided to retrace our steps back down the same way. At least we knew what the terrain was like, I was worried the 4WD track would have been too stony and rutted to easily walk down and my feet were starting to complain. Loudly. There were also ominous black clouds rolling in from the mountains.

So it was off downhill at a fast and steady pace, we made good time and arrived at the last gate just as the first big fat spots of rain began to fall. By the time we had unloaded and were pulling out of the carpark the rain was torrential. We definitely timed that right.

Was it worth it? Well we both decided it was not the best walk we’ve ever done but we did enjoy the Ballroom Cave.

PS- And I did my part for Farmer Brown, once again rescuing a lamb on the wrong side of the fence. This one led me on a merry chase along the fenceline through two bits of boggy ground, across a stream and up a hill before I managed to catch him when he thought he could fit through a gap under a gate.

If You Can’t Beat ‘Em….

It’s been raining on and off for the last two days and it was especially heavy overnight. The jungle drums have been beating and today the camp has filled to virtual capacity, all the permanently parked caravans now have occupants and many of the cabins are occupied too.

The rain will flush out the river and send fresh water out to sea signalling to the whitebait that it’s time to take a run up the river. That is, as long as you don’t stick to the bank and end up in one of the multitude of nets strategically placed along the banks.

Today many of the camp whitebaiters stayed in camp to fish rather than head up stream where the river in spate was stained brown, reasonably clear but with a lot of debris. The photos above & below were taken from the rocks outside our front door, there are more fishers around the corner above.

What? Who is that? By golly, it’s David!

Our neighbour, Gerald, told David as he was heading to the showers at a reasonably leisurely hour, that he would set up a net for him below the van. “Great” thought David as he finished his morning ablutions and wandered back to the van to cook his breakfast. It wasn’t long before he wondered where Gerald had gone and when he was going to show him what to do.

Gerald had long gone, down the beach to set up his own net, he’d positioned David’s net and tied it down and shot through. I told him (half an hour ago) the tide had turned and he better get out there. David was like “What? How do I work this thing?

Gerald having more luck than David...

Just sit patiently and wait……and wait……and clear the net of all the floating driftwood.….and wait……and check…..and wait…..and check again…

Before long he had moved up the rocks a little more into the flow and then he was getting advice from our neighbour on the other side.

And then it was back to waiting…..

then checking……

....and double checking.....

and then checking some more, surely there’s something down there……wait, something's moving......

One bloody shrimp! He couldn’t even use the whitebaiter’s secret lingo of  “Enough for a feed”, *wink, wink* when asked how much he had netted. Not even enough for half a shrimp cocktail!

I’m not sure David will be out there tomorrow morning, after all it is a Sunday and Sundays are for sleeping in…..


Part 2- Anatori; End Of The Road will be coming next......

Golden Moon Over Golden Bay

Last night saw the second super moon in just over a month rising above the eastern horizon, it gave me another chance to take a few photos. Rather than the hit and miss affair of last month's shoot this time I was a little more prepared. I checked for the time of the moon rise (6.27pm) and also the exact bearing (east 92o) because it rises so fast that often it's cleared the horizon before I spot it. I had in mind to use the old Collingwood Wharf piles as an interest in the photos and with the tide out but on it's way in it was a perfect setting. Here's a selection, click on the photos to see them larger.

 

Sunset

 

Gotcha!
 

 

 

One last shot before the tide catches me, this one is over-exposed so I could show you where the tide is, see the first photos for how far out it was when I started.  I was there for just under an hour (6-7pm) with it being as dark as the above photo shows for the last 20 minutes or so. This was why it took me a few moments to realise why I could suddenly hear gentle lapping waves. Spooky!

 

Farewell to Old Wharves

On the way home from the Archway Islands we stopped to do the short 5 minute walk to Cape Farewell; the carpark was the end of a road we had passed earlier in the day and still part of Puponga Farm Park.

Cape Farewell is the most northerly point on the South Island and is located just west of Farewell Spit. It was named by Captain James Cook in 1770 - it was the last land seen by his crew as they departed on their homeward voyage.

The sun would now be perfect to shoot the Archway Islands but it’s totally in the wrong position for the Cape (hence the sun spots on my lens). I just can’t win! Morning, with the sun rising would be perfect here! I know that the Farewell Spit tour stops here on the way to the Spit & I’m hoping that when we do the tour I’ll be able to get some better shots.

It’s fascinating seeing all the coloured rock layers in the cliffs that surround the Cape. There are a number of faultlines running through the area & I wonder how long the arch will last; a few dozen years or hundreds of years or perhaps thousands? Although it’s a wonder it is still standing, what with the wave action and earthquakes.

While standing on the platform looking over the edge we could hear seal pup cries from far below. It took a few moments to find them, frolicking about in the water and resting on rocks. One pup was having fun all by himself surfing in on the waves; he’d surf in, swim back out under the waves and surf back in again.

We walked up the hill a short way and looked over the edge of the cliffs as far as we dared. If we brought the grandkids here, they’d be tied to our sides!  “ Hey look Nana, I can do roly-polys down the hill!” Oops. Plop!

The walk up to Pillar Point Lighthouse looked far too strenuous, I think I can safely say we won’t be saving that for another time!

And with that, we can now say we have visited both the most northerly & most southerly points of the South Island. This is Slope Point at the south end of the Catlins which we visited back in January.

And now for a few random shots from the road trip;

Near the Cape carpark,  the iconic New Zealand Cabbage tree (alive this time).

This friendly peacock greeted us at both ends of the Archway Island walk. He was looking for hand-outs, poking his head inside the car door as soon as I opened it and following me around when he saw I was eating food. It’s hard to believe how magnificent the colours & patterns are on a peacock, how can nature produce such finery.

You’ll remember the whitebait couple we found beside the tiny stream on our way to the Arches? We had stopped to see this flock of Royal Spoonbills (Kotuku Ngutupapa), numbering 27 (or 28, we couldn't quite decide), this is the largest flock of spoonbills we’ve seen on our travels. They were very obliging and I was able to move in quite close. That was until I slipped off the log I was quietly sidling along on my behind. Then they took flight.

The tide was all the way out by the time we made our way home along the Golden Bay shoreline and the sand flats fully exposed, making for some interesting colours and patterns.

We stopped at Puponga (near the beginning of the curve to Farewell Spit), where I’d seen a sign post indicating there was an old wharf somewhere nearby. With the tide out the piles of the old Puponga Wharf were now exposed. The Puponga Wharf was used early last century by colliers to cart coal away from a number of mines in the area.  Because of the shallow bay the wharf was over half a mile long and was thought to be the longest in the Southern Hemisphere at the time. And even with it being so long, the channel had to be constantly dredged to give access to the 1000 ton ships. Eventually silting in the bay overtook the wharf, the mines closed and the piles from the wharf have slowly rotted away.

While I was taking photos of the wharf piles I could hear a low rumble off in the distance. Far out on the edge of the of the water I could see tiny little specs moving about. David had seen the movement too and was looking through the binoculars. I zoomed in on them to see that there were a couple of jeeps and half a dozen quad bikes towing trailers about. This is a zoomed in shot.

It was then that we realised that they must be harvesting cockles commercially. I’d seen a programme awhile ago on Country Calendar and when I checked it out I found that a company based nearby were collecting "Littleneck Clams" or what we used to call cockles. The harvesting looked pretty intrusive, a scoop collecting the mud, transporting it up a small conveyor belt of sorts, spitting out the cockles into a bin on the back. The quad bikes had a row of trailers on the back with the fast filling bags. This is the zoomed in shot now heavily cropped! And that's part of Farewell Spit in the background on the left.

And finally here are two more old decaying wharves. That shallow Golden Bay has a lot to answer for!

This is the old Collingwood Wharf, it’s located on the ocean side of the town, by the 1930s the wharf was “high & dry” (this is at near high tide). A new wharf was then built on the inside of the town in the estuary but that also silted up fast and by the mid 1940s could no longer be used commercially.

Back towards Takaka is the tiny settlement of Onekaka which was once a major industrial area. During the 1920-30s local iron ore was turned into pig-iron and iron pipes at the Onekaka Ironworks and shipped from Onekaka wharf. Between 1922 and 1935, over 80,000 tons of iron was produced, with up to 180 men being employed. These rusting & rotting piles are all that remains of the wharf built by the Onekaka Iron & Steel Company.

There are other remains of old wharves in the area which I haven’t managed to visit. Yet.