Snow Over Ashburton Lakes- Canterbury

Catch-up

So, the conversation the next day went something like this... "Lets pack up a lunch and go for a tiki-tour to find some snow......I know where there's a lot!"

Which is how I found myself  back at the snow covered road to the Ashburton Lakes for the third time in a couple of weeks! There'd been a fair bit of traffic over the road since yesterday, if it had looked like this I might have carried on.

A winter wonderland with snow as far as the eye could see. 

And we were worried the other week when there was a sprinkling of snow on the road between Lake Camp & Lake Clearwater.

Much of Lake Camp was frozen.

Here's a panorama shot of Lake Camp- click to enlarge

The village at Lake Clearwater also looked very different.

And Lake Clearwater looked absolutely spectacular, with just a tiny section yet to freeze.

We had lunch at the picnic table overlooking the lake and village... 

...watching families play in the snow...

...and tourists on this LOTR tour exclaim in amazement at the view and snow when they surrounded our picnic table for a 10 minute break. They couldn't have picked a better day to to do the tour to Mt Sunday. This is the vehicle we saw driving to Mt Sunday's lookout when we travelled to the end of the road.

We watched as a couple of ice walkers crossed the lake in one direction and then make their way back again. We held our breath when they looked to be getting very close to the unfrozen water on far side at one stage (See the tiny black dots dead centre? No? Then click to enlarge!)

I couldn't quite twist David's arm to head to the end of the road again so after lunch we headed back down the road...

...where I convinced him to take the 17km road to Lake Heron, another one of the Ashburton Lakes.

Well, we did have a bit of time up our sleeve and we hadn't been able to fit it in when we visited the Lakes the first time.

We had a short interruption when a NZ Falcon/Karearea flew ahead of us for quite some distance before landing on a fence post. I carefully crept up on him along a farm driveway, while David fielded questions from a lovely old gentleman who stopped to see what we were doing.

And then we carried on through some stunning countryside...

...past untouched paddocks of pristine snow...

...until finally Lake Heron came into sight.

We drove past a couple of cars that could go no further due to an icy section through some trees and then past Arrowsmith Station's Lake Heron camping site which is closed for winter. Which is just as well....brrrrr!!

And on past a fishing hut down in a dip opposite Arrowsmith's farm buildings and Lodge...

...and out onto the edge of the lake again, where David backed the ute into the snow and we sat on the tailgate having a cup of  coffee and taking in the beautiful white and blue landscape spread out in front of us. It wasn't long before another couple of vehicles decided we must have the best view and stopped too...

Once they left, I was able to walk to the edge to take photos of the lake including this 'bad' panorama of the lake- it doesn't have such a pronounced curve in it! Although someone must have liked it because it was 'Explored' on Flickr, my photo sharing website and had over 99,000 views!

More photos of Lake Heron...

Further up the road I spied a whole lot of what I call 'tussock sheep', a weird phenomenon we've seen several times before...

...but none with so much snow weighing them down.

While I took photos, David drove up the road to find a turnaround, unfortunately we didn't have time to drive to the top of the lake.

 We headed back down the road just as this side of the lake disappeared into the shade as the sun dipped behind the mountains behind us.

We had one more stop on the way out at another of the Ashburton Lakes; the Maori Lakes, a series of small lakes and wetlands that form a nature reserve and wildlife refuge. Going by the amount of rocks and broken ice we weren't the first to check them out.

And one last photo, can you see the car on the road across the way? Proving yet again that New Zealand is such a small place, it was driven by a photographer acquaintance of mine, Francis, who we last saw in Arthurs Pass a couple of years ago when he saw our rig parked on the side of the road and stopped to say hello. Today he was out taking photos with his wife and at first wasn't sure it was us because we weren't towing the 5th-wheeler. His suspicions were quickly confirmed though when he saw me get out with my camera!

And that was high country Canterbury, it was time to return to Christchurch.

Into the Interior- Ashburton Lakes; Part 1

Catch-up- July

After our initial stay in Christchurch we had to be back in the city three weeks later for another appointment so to fill in the time we headed to the interior.  High country Canterbury is one area we haven't explored in great detail and with winter in full swing we thought it would be a great chance to check out the scenery and hopefully experience some snow. Well, if you're going to do winter you might as well do it properly I say. 

Great signs to direct people around the farm buildings.

We'd had enough of  grey overcast nondescript days in Christchurch, so we headed south-west to Mt Somers first, with a plan to slowly move up SH77, known as the Scenic Inland Route (not to be confused with the temporary alternative inland route from Picton to Christchurch), onto SH72, around to Kaiapoi, and back to Christchurch. Well, that was the plan but you know us, our standby motto, when asked where we're off to next, is 'Ask us tomorrow'. Our plans are always fluid, that's what we love about this lifestyle.

Mt Somers Village is the gateway to the Ashburton Lakes, nine lakes that are part of the vast 60,000 hectare Hakatere Conservation Park which is bordered on two sides by the upper reaches of Rakaia & Rangitata Rivers and includes wide sweeping valleys, beautiful tussocklands, beech forest, wetlands and rugged mountain country. 

Twenty three kilometers of sealed road takes us through established sheep country and newly converted dairy farms, right to the edge of the Hakatere Park and the historic restored farm buildings of Hakatere Station. The buildings were bought by the National Heritage Fund in 2008 and are now managed by DOC in partnership with the Hakatere Heritage Committee.

The singlemen's or shearer's quarters (top left, below) was built in the 1870s and was added onto as the need arose. Between 1960 & 1980 up to 14 men lived in these quarters at any one time. Other buildings included a farm cottage, the cook's house, a killing shed and chicken house.

The stone cottage was built in 1862 and is thought to be the oldest building in mid-Canterbury. It was once the home of the 'head shepherd' and then became the 'married quarters'. It wasn't always lived in, it was once the post office for the area and then later used for storage.

I was excited to find behind the buildings an authentic 'Bitches Box'. I've known of them in the past but ever since the Kiwi stage show (held in woolsheds around the country) of the same name brought the name to the forefront I'd wondered if  I'd ever actually see one on our travels. 

Being brought up on a small (in comparison to today's) dairy farm, there was no need for a 'bitches box' with just one farm dog, but on a large sheep station with dozens of dogs, there would be every need. And in case you're wondering what the heck it is, it's exactly what it says- it's where the bitches (female farm dogs) were locked away while on heat. To keep them out of harm's way. I didn't know they were up on stilts though, but I guess that makes sense, any passing (or escaped) dogs couldn't break in. Poor girls, I hope the front dropped down so they at least had a view.

This old dinghy was displayed in one of the yards too. It was used for recreation and lived most of it's days beside an old hut at Lake Emma (one of the Ashburton Lakes).

Click on the photo to enlarge if you'd like to read more about the dinghy. I wonder if the 'blue duck' that is mentioned being shot is the same Blue Duck/Whio that we know of today, and that this is one of the reasons they're no longer found in the Canterbury high country and critically endangered elsewhere.

After exploring the farm buildings we headed off again, we're now onto gravel and we still have another 30kms to travel. Our destination is much further inland, right at the end of the road, towards those beautiful mountains in the background.

Our next stop is at Lake Clearwater for lunch. Just before we reach the lake the recent snowfall becomes obvious with snow still lying in the shadow of banks and trees and on the leeside of the nearby hills. The road just before the lake is covered in compacted snow and ice and it's lucky that there are some tree fellers (3 fellas) with heavy machinery that have stirred up the surface in places which makes it easier for us to cross.

There are actually two lakes here in this wide mountain valley; Lake Camp on the southern side of the road...

...and beautiful Lake Clearwater on the north side, with snow covered Mt Potts towering behind.

Lake Clearwater and the surrounding conservation land are the summer playground of many Cantabrians and there's quite a large village of baches and holiday homes overlooking the lake.

Other than the tree fellas we have the whole place to ourselves, it's a beautiful sunny day but there's a ice cold breeze blowing through. 

We have a welcome hot soup and a sandwich at a picnic table overlooking  the lake (another perfect lunch spot) and once I've finished I wander down to the lake edge taking a few photos of the baches along the way. 

Being a conservation area and also a wildlife reserve no dogs are allowed inside the park, there's  a very large sign back near the Hakatere farm buildings and several reminders along the road.

Powered boats are also not allowed on the Lake Clearwater but are allowed on Lake Camp. 

In the perfect spot down at lake level there's a camping ground, it's $10 per vehicle which you place in the honesty box, there's no power and limited facilities. I guess it would be a great spot in the summer, but now it's very cold, the water supply has frozen and the ground is covered in snow.

The village was so photogenic it was hard  to stop shooting but we still had a way to go, a couple of exciting places to visit and the afternoon was marching on... to be continued; Part 2

I've saved this Lake Clearwater pano for the last photo on this blog (click to enlarge). It's to mark an occasion or perhaps that should be an achievement. This is my 700th blog post! Phew! Seven hundred posts and most of them several screens long (that's computer speak for pages). That's one hell of a lot of writing and just as much clicking (and one patient husband). It's just lucky that I enjoy what I'm doing. And many, many thanks to my loyal readers, you make it all worthwhile. Here's to the next 700...