Camping at Lake Ohau, Waitaki District, Otago

Catch-up  March 2021

Don't ask. And yes, I know I'm waaaay behind with my blogs but I just don't know where the time has gone these past few months. And while I might not have caught up yet, I am making some headway through my backlog of  photo processing, photo queries and cottage chores amongst others on my long list of tasks. Let's hope I can do a few more regular blog postings before summer arrives & it's full on again. 

We spent a week in March at the Round Bush DOC Camp on the shores of Lake Ohau in the Upper Waitaki District.

The camp is off Lake Ohau Road, 26km from the main road turnoff, just south of Twizel, the last 3km are narrow & gravel. And while this is a great campsite don't be tricked by my tranquil looking photos. Lake Ohau is an alpine lake, it's in the mountains and the weather can turn on a dime, from calm & sunny to brutally cold with ferocious winds. There are also sandflies the size of helicopters!

The view from the front door. Straight across the lake to Ben Ohau, the small mountain at the end of Ben Ohau Range. Lake Ruataniwha & Twizel are on the other side of Ben Ohau.

We struck it lucky with only one day of inclement weather. David put the Takacat up, it was time to go fishing. Lake Ohau, like Lakes Pukaki & Tekapo in the Mackenzie basin are alpine lakes. They are big lakes and long. Very deep & very cold as they are fed partly from the snow melt off the Southern Alps. David said he felt pretty insignificant bobbing along in his little 3.4m inflatable.

How's that for a mirror finish? It's not too often Lake Ohau is as calm as this, we were lucky enough to have three or four windless days on this visit.

I was also lucky enough to catch the Southern Lights from the lake front one night. Initially I was disappointed that my southerly view was obstructed by Ohau Range and I was thinking I might have to drive back out towards the main road to capture the full width of the aurora. But after a few test shots I realised that the composition wasn't too bad afterall; with Ben Ohau & the Milky Way joining the Aurora Australis. 

Round Bush is surrounded by native bush & beech forest and is great for bird watching. The Lake Ohau area is also one of the highest ranked South Island priority areas for mistletoe conservation. The endangered native scarlet mistletoe flowers in early December and if visiting the lake then, the Southern Beech trees that host the mistletoe, have great splashes of red through them (I prepared a photo for you earlier). 

A rather 'flea-bitten' male Tomtit/Miromiro (top right) & a male Bellbird/Korimako (bottom right) made bird watching easy when they came in close to the camp. Then after hearing a NZ Falcon/Karearea calling to a juvenile nearby I tracked them through the lakeside bush until they flew higher up the mountain. On the way back to camp I came across this hunting/fishing lodge hidden away in the bush, I hadn't seen it on previous visits to the camp. 

Takacats rule!

While David went fishing (he caught a couple of catch & release trout), I drove further up the road to explore. I stopped to take a photo of one of my favourite South Island views; looking up the lake towards the Hopkins & Dobson River Valleys with Mt Glen Lyon in the centre. I have this scene on a canvas in Kahu Cottage, although I took that photo when the manuka in front was in full flower.

I walked across the road to check out the lake view and who do you think was tootling along far below me? Click on the photo to check out exactly how insignificant he really was. 

The view back down the lake was fabulous.

I drove down the otherside and onto a track that took me on a bumpy & rutted route through the manuka until I reached the lakeside. I zoomed in on the Dobson Valley side of Mt Glen Lyon. On a clear day you can see the tip of Aoraki/Mt Cook, NZ's tallest mountain, peeping over the top of the mountains (see bottom right). 

I carried on past Ohau Station until I reached the Maitland Stream where the main (single lane) bridge is being repaired. A narrow bailey bridge or a ford were my options to take if I wanted to get to the other side. I swear the bridge was far too narrow for the Ranger, even though a worker on the main bridge was beckoning me on; he didn't have to answer to David had I hit the mirrors, so I took the ford. And cleaned a bit of the dust off while I was at it. 

Taken from the other side after I crossed the ford

The road continued on up past the vast river delta of the Hopkins & Dobson Rivers.

I stopped at the Temple Stream bridge to check for fish & birds; the water was crystal clear and looked very cold.

Once across the bridge I turned left and climbed a small hill beside the stream. The road is narrow and there's nowhere to pass for a short distance through the bush; luckily the vehicle I met coming out was able to back up a short way to let me past. I wanted to check out the Temple DOC camp.

Temple Stream bridge

Once through the bush the valley opens up and the short track follows the stream to the bush line.

 

There are large water filled potholes & it's quite rough in patches but doable in a smaller campervan or if you take your time perhaps you'd make it in a larger motorhome. The DOC campsite is large & flat and would be a great place to camp, there are plenty of sandflies here too. There are several day walks and tramping tracks up the two branches of stream; North Temple Valley & South Temple Valley.

I walked to the junction of the two branches and as I moved in and out of the bush I caught a glimpse of movement & colour way off in the distance. I zoomed in with my camera & was surprised when I caught sight of two trampers & their pack horse disappearing up the south branch (bottom right). Other than Mavora Lakes, I've not seen people with horses in the conservation parks.

I had my lunch at one of the picnic tables in the camp and them did a bit of bird watching in the bush along another track. I found another male tomtit, looking in a very much better condition than the one back at camp, and several Rifleman/Titipounamu, New Zealand's smallest bird. Unfortunately they were on a food finding mission and didn't stay still long enough for me to photograph.  

From Temple Stream I carried on further up the valley, passing mobs of merino sheep and crossing several cattle-stops along the way.

Mt Glen Lyon stands proud and alone at head of the lake. Back in Twizel, the cottages are on Glen Lyon Road. It's 40kms from the cottages up the other side of the lake to Glen Lyon Station, both named after this mountain.

And it's also 40km up this side of the lake to the end of the road. Well, the end of the council maintained road that is. 

A 4WD track continues on up the Hopkins River valley providing access to the Huxley River catchment and many of the tramping tracks and huts in this area of the Southern Alps. I am tempted to check the track out but decide this will be as far as I go. Today. 

I turn around and head back to camp.

And then convince David to take me back up there the next day. 

He decides to take the bailey bridge over the Maitland Stream. I'm sure only because I get out to see him through (and I wanted to see how close it was). Of course there's plenty of room but you know how it is when you're inside and the rails look so close. I will add that he decided on the ford on the way home; much more fun! 

Once through the road end gate & onto the track, the river valley opens up ahead of us.

There are a few muddy bogs to cross near the entrance and then several large rock slides further on. An approaching ute waits for us to cross a gnarly patch over the top of a section that has had a few washouts (that's his vehicle disappearing over the top in the bottom right photo.)

What doesn't show in the photos is the gale force wind that is whipping down the valley stirring up dust and sand. You can see a some of the dust clouds in the photo above.  

After 4-5km we reach a very large and wide rock slide with deep channels and decide that this is far as we'll go today. We could have inched our way across it but as is usual for us when we're exploring 4wd tracks we don't push the boundaries. The ute tows our home, any damage or breakdown and we're stuck where we've parked the 5th-wheeler for however long it takes.

And if you're wondering how large is large, can you see the vehicle approaching us from the other side? Click on the photo to enlarge. We wouldn't have had to just cross the slide but drive up it as well to find the track to continue on. 

Another two vehicles pass us heading out of the valley while we were stopped; hunters who had been staying at the huts further up the river. The 4wd track goes quite a distance up the river, crossing it in places too. These hunters told us they only made it to the first of several huts; Monument Hut.

We find a relatively sheltered spot behind the matagouri and out of the wind to have lunch. Afterwards David scans the mountainside looking for his elusive deer & tahr (one day he'll spot something) while I take a few more photos.

And then we head back to camp. Ahead is the vast shingle flats where the two rivers; Hopkins & Dobson meet, the grazed paddocks of Glen Lyon Station show along the base of Ben Ohau Range.

There was a spectacular sunrise on the morning of our departure from Round Bush. I couldn't believe my eyes when I looked out, as I do most mornings checking to see if there's going to be an interesting sunrise to photograph. It's not too often I strike it like this though. 

The famous Canterbury nor'west arch cloud formation was stretching across the sky high above the lake with a fiery orange colour just starting to stain the far end. It was a mad scramble as I grabbed my camera gear, threw on some warm clothes and rushed outside to take photos. 

The colour grew more intense as I hurried along the lake shore and around the point to take photos looking up the lake. A storm was brewing in the mountains at the far end of the lake. 

And instead of the usual subtle rosy pink behind me it was brilliant oranges & yellows (I am always telling people to look behind when they take sunrise shots, often the scene is just as spectacular).

I needn't have hurried (this time), the colour lasted for well over 20 minutes and I was able to take a few dozen photos while the fiery colours gradually bleached out of the cloud as the sun rose higher...

...leaving behind a just as spectacular dark & brooding nor-west arch. 

It was just as well we'd planned to vacate anyway & we pulled out just before the storm arrived.

Abel Tasman Walk- Part 1: The Boat Trip

There’s a range of options available to walk the Abel Tasman National Park Great Walk. The whole track can be walked as a multi-day(3-4) tramp staying in DOC huts overnight along the way or in your tent if you have carried it with you. Or there are multiple day walk options available where you select the section of the track you’d like to walk and then catch a tour or a water taxi to the start of that section, walk it and catch a water taxi home.

We decided on a tour with Abel Tasman Sea Shuttles and to do the walk from Medlands Bay to Anchorage, an 11.5km walk that included a number of points of interest along the way.  Before we were dropped off at Medlands Bay, the tour took us up to Totaranui, which is the furthest north the tour boats go and nearly to the top edge of the park.

Along with seven walkers, & four people on the boat for just the tour, there were eight overseas tourists doing a kayak/walk combination. Their kayaks were loaded in the back of the catamaran and we off-loaded them not too long after, at Apple Tree Bay, one of the first big bays in the park.

Our boat tour started with a visit to the Adele Island seal colony. Of course we had already seen the seals when we visited in our dinghy a week or so ago but it didn’t matter, I can never get enough of seals & especially seal pups of which there were quite a few on this visit (with their funny faces) . Most of the adults were out fishing & the pups were out sunning themselves and playing in the water. Looking back towards Kaiteriteri as we crossed Astrolabe Roadstead to the island I could see that there was snow atop Hoary Head (Mt Campbell to the left) which are both in the Kahurangi National Park.

Further on into the park, it was a surprise to see many holidays homes dotted along the bays and in the bush. Even though this is a national park there are quite a few areas that are still privately owned. These are only able to be accessed by water and now it makes sense that there is a sea barge permanently moored in our little bay; its how supplies are transported to these houses. I’ve seen various household goods being loaded on the barge while we’ve been parked at Kaiteriteri including beds, mattresses and a kitchen sink!

Just yesterday we watched as three Devan tanks were loaded onto the barge. Now that brought back memories. Today they came back on the barge with a "Pete's Takeaways" truck full of ........ unmentionable stuff. They must be cleaning out the septic tanks somewhere up the line.

As we passed through Torrent Bay the skipper pointed us in the direction of the entrance to the estuary and told us to take note of where we were in the boat; quite close to the beach. Because the next time we would see this bay the tide would be out, the estuary empty and the bay totally exposed. The tidal range on the Abel Tasman coast is one of NZ’s largest and can be up to 5 metres (around 15 feet).

The sculptured granite Tonga Arches are one of the highlights of the coastline and a destination for kayakers and tour boats. A few weddings have also taken place in the largest arch- at low tide I hope!  Approaching the headland, it looks like any other along the coast.

But as we move in closer the arches are revealed.

Must have been a small wedding party….…..in fact the wedding takes place out on the exposed sand (at low tide) in front of the biggest arch.

We passed many Spotted Shag rookeries along the way, many of them perched on near vertical rock faces like the ones we saw on Adele Island from our dinghy.

Large granite boulders and rocky headlands separate each of the many golden sand bays that make up the park but this one was a whopper! It looked like a rock in waiting, waiting to be Spilt Apple Rock II.

“I’m the king of the castle” says the Black Backed Gull atop the cairn someone had left on the boulder.

Totaranui Beach DOC camp was our turn-a-round point on the tour. The camp at Totaranui is DOC’s largest & most popular camp in NZ and can hold over 800 people at the height of the summer season. It is accessed from Takaka via a very winding & narrow gravel road. It sounds a lot like the road to Port Jackson on the Coromandel in the North Island.

It’s also one of only a few DOC camps that are not on our DOC camp pass. Once we move over to Golden Bay we are hoping to stay at the camp for a few days(or do a day trip if we can't get the van there) so it was great to see the area, if only from the water. There is also a large estuary at the far right end of the beach and a few more day walks that can be done from this end.

Our next stop after turning around and heading back down the coast was our drop off point, Medlands Bay, a tiny little sheltered cove in the corner of the bigger Bark Bay. All seven hikers aboard were doing this section of the walk, as we disembarked two of our fellow walkers had already removed their boots & rushed down to the water to have a paddle & splash about. Obviously pleased to have arrived in this little piece of paradise, even if the water was ice cold!

To be continued…….Part 2