Snow Photos- Canterbury

Catch-up

You wouldn't believe I've just had four weeks to catch up on blogs and photos and yet I'm still posting about Canterbury and the snow! 

Mt Hutt

We've been having a few weeks R&R, parked up at the Kaiteriteri Holiday Park in Tasman at the top of the South Island (actually that should be just one R, there's been very little recreation). It's been great to just relax and see out the end of winter, although the weather could have been a little kinder. It has rained often. One day it's fine and sunny, the next it's cold and wet. Back and forth it's swung on a very regular basis, much like winter for many New Zealanders this year I hear. It's been a funny old season all round. 

Mt Hutt Panorama (click to enlarge)

I actually haven't minded the weather too much, I feel guilty if I'm not out there enjoying the sun and exploring if it's shining. So it's fine (no pun intended) if I'm stuck inside on a cold or wet day, I always have plenty to catch up on. It took a good two weeks before I actually felt settled here though, I always have 'itchy feet' to get moving again after a few days, but this time I had to give myself a stern talking to. 

Mt Hutt Station

We've had a lovely time relaxing, meeting new people and catching up with others we've met on the road previously. But now with two pairs of itchy feet, the time has come to pack up and pull out. When you're on the road full-timers, you know it's time to move on when your doormat needs a mow, the ants are taking over the kitchen and the birds line up outside waiting for their breakfast every morning! Where to next? You know the answer to that one. Ask me tomorrow.

Rakaia Gorge

And now after that quick catch-up, back to the photos. I'm going try and do the next few blogs a bit more quickly because I really want to get up-to-date before we start exploring again. I tell you, it's a never ending vicious circle (not that I'm complaining of course!). So I'm planning on less words, more photos....well that's the theory anyway. Lets see how that goes.

I  took myself on a tikitour two days after the snow fall and several downpours of rain...

Before (above) and after the snow- Mt Hutt from Windwhistle at the top of Rakaia Gorge.

From Windwhistle, a fogbow- like a rainbow but with no colour.

The rickety single lane Old Rakaia Gorge Bridge, built 1880-82, crosses one braid of the Rakaia River...

...and this slightly newer New Rakaia Gorge Bridge crosses the next braid, just a few metres further on. 

Then the ever curious me decided to return to Mt Somers and head down the Ashburton Lakes road to see what I could see. Well, surely they'd be a lot of snow down there, right? The roads had been graded, there was a lot of mud and slush (and stinky cow poop mixed in too), a vision of David having to clean the ute flashed past my eyes...just for a second though. I kept on driving.

You have to watch out for flocks of birds on the road when the snow covers their usual food source- finches, sparrows, magpies & blackbirds are looking for bugs and things on the only clear area which happens to be the road you're travelling on at 80-90kph. You can see some on the road above, they leave it until the last moment to lift off too. 

Mt Barrosa and an old farm house.

More farm stations up a side road.

No. 8 wire kiwi ingenuity at it's best. We so need this on the van for rain fade!

And look at the historic Hakatere Farm buildings, looking picture perfect covered in snow and looking very different to the other day.

Uh-oh! The road has only been graded to Hakatere, the gravel road to Lake Clearwater is covered in snow. Hey, but there are tyre tracks....

But I'm not too sure I should drive it. I'm in 4WD. I have Diff-lock. I should be ok. Yeah, I'm sure I'll be ok. Do I? Don't I? I am sooo tempted but it looks very slippery and there's no phone reception if I get stuck. And how's David going to get here to rescue me anyway? Darn! I turn around and head back down the road....I so wanted to go up there. 

As I head back to Methven I see a fogbow again...I wonder if it's the same one, I'm about 40kms down the road. This time I shoot it with my wide angle lens so I can get all of it in.

And one last photo before I get home; North Branch Ashburton River/Hakatere near Pudding Hill.

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...

Westport- Beach Park & Tractor Trekkers

Just to let those that eagerly await my next blog post know, unfortunately cellphone & internet reception will be intermittant over the next few weeks as we travel the West Coast so there may be a few more days than usual between posts. 


The NZMCA (NZ Motorhome & Caravan Association) has over 50,000 members nationwide who are entitled to many benefits and perks including heavily discounted Cook Strait ferry crossings, discounts with a major appliance & electronics store and various other discounts elsewhere. The Association also has 27 NZMCA Parks located around the country in some stunning locations. For a very small fee ($3pp per night) members can stay in a safe & secure environment for anything from 3-7 nights per month depending on the park. Some parks have a dump station, laundry, most have rubbish recycling & fresh water. They are a Godsend for us and we always enjoy our stays.

I was a little worried as we followed the co-ordinates that I’d entered into TomTom for the Westport NZMCA Park. They led us through town and down towards the beach, onto a bumpy gravel road, past a swamp and rough scrub and out onto a sandy parking area that looked like an afterhours meeting place for the local hoons- in fact they used the wide expanse of beach at low tide to ‘hoon’ down. Freedom camping is allowed in this area and most nights there were half a dozen vehicles parked up. 

Down to the left of the sandy carpark a gravel road led to a large enclosed area with a firmly packed gravel surface and a locked gate; the NZMCA Park. What a great spot, right on the beach and only about 3kms from town.

The caretaker is obviously having a bit of trouble with visitors arriving at the park and not being able to get in even though they have the combination- I like his humour. I would have to admit though, that unless you read the sign board (and you don’t if you’re quite familiar with the routine) then you can get pretty frustrated trying to crack the code. And I would think you’d be especially peeved off if it was pouring with rain. Most combinations line up with the centre line on the padlock, not a top one (I didn’t even know they had a top line). While we were there (4 nights) at least 80% of arriving vans had trouble getting in.

But in the end it is worth the hassle, there’s not too many places where you can park up overnight so close to sea and watch the sun set below the horizon while you’re cooking dinner (or having a glass of wine).

I do think the caretaker should put up one of these signs though, 4 or 5 very friendly weka spend their day cruising around the park, resting under vans and fighting each other if someone throws out some food. Which is often.

As you can see the Park is a pretty popular place, most people using it as a base while they explore the top end of the West Coast. Those with caravans & fifth-wheelers were able to leave their vans in place while exploring each day; the motorhomes & buses had to take pot luck and find a new position when they returned each evening.

The beach was also popular with the Kiwi Experience tour bus. On our first night I heard a whole lot of chatter and laughter and when I looked out the side window a crowd of young people carrying supermarket bags of food plus wine & beer were walking along the fence line past us and over to the beach. They gathered up some driftwood and added it to a already charred fire pit, lit a bonfire and partied on for the next couple of hours. Now that’s a real “kiwi experience”. The same thing happened the next night but they were a little later and missed the sunset. The next night it was raining heavily.

It was a great surprise to find some friends from Tauranga parked up just along the fence from us. I was walking across the park and saw a couple of guys talking, as one walked off towards his motorhome I thought he looked familiar. I called out to him but he didn’t hear me and disappeared around the side of the motorhome. I was sure it was Ian so I followed him around the side calling his name. He still didn’t hear me and for a moment I thought I’d got it wrong but then he turned and saw me, and then Jess appeared at the door.

It was wonderful to see them. We had a couple of very happy ‘happy hours’ for the next two evenings and caught up on our travels, & gossip from ‘home’. It is rather strange that had I not seen Ian we could quite well have not known each of us were in the park. We often don’t see our neighbours as everyone comes and goes each night & morning.

The town of Westport is nothing to write home about, it’s your usual small provincial town (pop. 4000) with not much to offer. There’s a short main street with pretty hanging flower baskets on each side which add a bit of cheer, a number of restored historic buildings & plenty of empty shops and shops selling tacky imported junk. There are no decent clothing stores but a good number of cafes and a large i-Site that is always busy- tours leave for the coalmines & up the coast from here.

And then there is the most beautiful Municipal Chambers (former) building I have seen on our travels. It is absolutely stunning. It was built in 1946 and is coated in Motueka sand which gives it this beautiful colour- remember the sand from our time at Kaiteriteri? The Phoenix palms are the perfect accompaniment to the Art Deco style.

And what better place for a procession of tractors towing various forms of accommodation to be welcomed into the town. The convoy, 27 in all and called the Tractor Trekkers, are towing a range of pop-tops, caravans and wooden sheds around the South Island raising funds for the Westpac Chopper Appeal.

They were on their way to Karamea (at the end of the road) before returning to Southland (where they are from) via the east coast.

We passed them two days later as they were returning from Karamea, spread out like Brown’s cows along the highway. Which was just as well as some were moving along at a cow’s pace.

Sunset over Westport’s NZMCA Park.