I Am Happy.....

..... to report that we have finally reached our wintering over destination; Kaiteriteri in the Tasman District and right on the edge of the beautiful Abel Tasman National Park.

This is the view out our windows, across the road from a calm little bay and a golden sand beach. The lady in the office of the Kaiteriteri Beach Motor Camp said help yourself to a site, choose wherever you like, take two sites if needed. So we did, two prime sites, right on the front row. The winter rates are $20 a night for two people with a minimum of 7 days.  There are only a handful of other vans here & it's a huge park. I'm sure the beach and camp ground would be wall to wall people in the summer but so far we would have been lucky to see six people & two cars go past (luckily a dead end road)

We'll likely be here for at least two weeks, possibly more. We'll have a chance to recharge our batteries (human), I can catch up on my blogs & sort photos while David goes fishing. That's after a spring-clean of the vehicles, inside & out! We'll also do some exploring along the coast of the national park in the Takacat dinghy and walk part of the Abel Tasman Track, one of New Zealand's Great Walks & arguably the most beautiful. After that we may move over to Takaka for another few weeks.

Back to my catch up blogs soon....

Pinders Pond, Roxburgh

By the time we were ready to leave Clyde the weather had cleared & we were back to a beautiful sunny autumn day again. We have been very lucky with the weather since leaving Invercargill back in January (after having nearly 5 weeks of wind & rain there over summer). We’ve had the odd day of heavy rain but mostly just a little overcast & drizzly for a couple of days & then back to lovely sunshine. It is getting cold though, especially in the mornings and usually after an overcast day when it’s snowed up on the ranges. You can see there’s a layer of snow up on Old Man Range behind the 5th wheeler in the photos below.

On the main highway at Fruitlands, between Alexandra & Roxburgh, there was a historic stone cottage that I had wanted to have a look at. Except it wasn’t on the main road it was up a narrow gravel side road. We always approach narrow side roads with caution because we never know if there will be an opportunity to turn around. I’m not sure why, but David was quite confident we’d be ok when he turned into the road. I didn’t hold out much hope, there was nowhere on the flat & then the road started to climb steadily towards the range. On a sharp corner we met a guy coming down, he pulled into a spare space on the verge with eyes the size of saucers when he saw us. David wound down his window to ask him if there was a turning point anywhere up there. He laughed & said yes there was but he wasn’t sure whether we’d be able to turn & “man that is huge!”. No problems said David. And it wasn’t. Try doing this with the same size (9mtr) caravan.

Mitchell Cottage was built by gold miner Andrew Mitchell for his brother, wife & their 10 children. He began the project in 1880 but didn’t complete the job until 1904 (I bet because he had to keep adding rooms). The cottage is a Catergory 1 Historic place and is one of the best surviving examples of a stonemason’s craft in NZ (which Mitchell learnt from his father in the Shetland Islands) The cottage stands amongst large schist tors overlooking the beautiful Fruitlands Valley. Andrew even carved into one schist rock, a large sundial.

Mitchell Cottage isn’t the only old dwelling in the area. There are many abandoned and derelict cottages dotted around the landscape including this former rabbiter’s sod cottage on the main road.

The landscape is pretty impressive between Alexandra & Roxburgh, not only is the land covered in giant schist rock formations but the steep rocky gorge walls of the Clutha River are solid schist too. This is the top of Lake Roxburgh, which is, once again the dammed Clutha River. You can also see the recently opened (Oct 2013) 44km Roxburgh Gorge Cycle Trail weaving its way along the cliffs.This cycle trail runs from Alex to the Roxburgh Dam & includes a 12km jet boat ride in the middle (I guess the walls are too steep for the track) If I was so inclined this would be the one cycle trail I would definitely do. The scenery is AMAZING & the jet boat ride would seal the deal!

We left the main road and crossed over the deserted Roxburgh Dam wall. “No Stopping” signs didn’t prevent me from leaping out of our slowly rolling rig to take a photo or two.

Further down the Clutha and not far past the bridge back to the Roxburgh township we located our next camp site, Pinders Pond with its beautiful reflections.

And in keeping with all the gold mining history we’ve been encountering lately, Pinders Pond was an old hydraulic elevation pond (dredge hole) used in the second gold rush period in this area. At the Gold Rush peak there were up to 30 dredges working the Clutha from where the dam now is down to Millers Flat, a distance of only 25kms.

The pond which is just a few steps from the Clutha River, is now a popular picnic & swimming spot, although I didn’t like the look of the tree & weed debris I could see in the depths. Pinders Pond is also a popular free camping area where, as long as you are self contained, you can stay for up to 4 nights. We stayed for three and had the place to ourselves for two of those nights.

Once we had set up camp we drove into Roxburgh to check the town out. Roxburgh is famous in NZ for it’s fruit growing; hot dry summers & crisp cold winters are perfect for growing fruit especially apricots & cherries although apples & pears are also grown in abundance too.

My all time favourite canned fruit is Roxdale Apricots, and when I heard the factory was going to stop canning locally grown apricots in Roxburgh back in the early 2000s, I bought about a dozen cans of apricots to ease the pain of losing that distinctively sweet apricot flavour forever. After slowly working my way through eleven of the cans I kept hold of the last can for another few years, not wanting to end the era. I finally opened that can just before we shifted out of the house in 2011 (when I was packing up the pantry). It had long expired & the tin had started to break down inside so while I had a quick sip of that unmistakable sweet Roxdale apricot syrup & a nibble of a slightly discoloured apricot half I wasn’t game to eat the whole can. I even took a photo of the occasion for posterity!

The main road in and out of Roxburgh is lined with fruit orchards and dozens of old ramshackle & quaint roadside stalls which I know in summer would be packed with delicious fruit for sale. There were still a few stalls selling apples & pears. I wanted a photo of the orchard colours, the rows of trees were in the last stages of losing their autumn colour and when I couldn’t find the ideal spot to get an expanse of colour, David suggested we drive up the range behind and see if we could look down on the town at some point along the road.

The road was actually a dirt 4WD track called “The Bullock Track” that followed an old pack track up through private land to the Old Man Range behind the town. The views were stunning but unfortunately the weather was closing in again and the sun had left the valley floor. This is looking towards the Roxburgh Dam.

As we were winding our way up the track, I suddenly spotted a set of antlers silhouetted against the light. This wasn’t a deer paddock (which has high fences), it was planted out in stock feed, so we’re pretty sure he wasn’t a farmed deer. The roar had probably brought him down from the range to try his luck with the girls in town. At least he had a decent food supply but I’m not sure how he was going to get out over the netting & barbwire fence.  He was very alert and had moved out of the thicket below a rock overhang where I’d first spotted just his antlers above the scrub. He moved off out of sight not long after I took these. David wanted me to climb over the barb wire fence and creep up on him to take some close ups. I decided I didn’t like the look of those antler spikes (nor the barbwire spikes)!

As we climbed higher the town and the orchards came into view, unfortunately the light was fading and I couldn’t pick up the colours too well. But you can still see the many squares of orchard colour nestled along the river terraces.

Never mind, the next day I managed to get some good close up orchards shots.

Finally we were just about above the town, the views down the Teviot Valley were spectacular and across to the high country farmland on the other side, high country that we’d get to see close up in a few days time.

It was about now that the cloud rolled in and it began to rain. Also, the track had become deeply rutted in places, spongy & wet, with muddy bogs here & there so we decided this “shiny” had gone far enough and turned around and headed for home. We were amazed when we caught up to a “people mover” on the way down, they hadn’t quite made it up to where we had but had travelled a fair distance. It was a local family & they were collecting mushrooms!

We stopped on the way down to see if we could spot the deer again & sure enough he gave himself away, this time a side view of those antlers and now we can see that he is a Fallow deer. Amazing to think that without the antlers he would be invisible to passing traffic. I just hope a hunter doesn’t spot him.

We arrived back at the Pond, pleased to see “Out There” parked up safe & sound and waiting for us after another great afternoon exploring.

Out & About Around Wanaka

I’ve gotten a bit ahead of myself with my blog posts lately, so while I’ve had a bit of time (due to the fact that the strength of the cellular network in the Arrowtown area is beyond a joke & I couldn't upload a brass razoo) I’ve written up the missing blogs. Hopefully once I get these all posted I’ll be right up to date!….. That is until tomorrow when we’ll no doubt be off on the next adventure.

We went up to Wanaka a few days before the airshow and while we could have stopped in a number of camp sites located very near the airfield we decided we’d get back on the grid, charge the batteries, do the laundry and see a bit of Wanaka at the same time. We stumbled on the Lake Outlet Holiday Park, a traditional kiwi campground, just like they used to be. In fact the drive in on a gravel road through a pine forest and what looked like sand dunes (can you have sand dunes on a lake?) reminded me of driving into Opotama Holiday Camp at Mahia in Northern Hawkes Bay where I spend many childhood holidays.

Even though the camp ground was just 6kms from Wanaka town it felt a million miles away, a secluded and quiet spot on the shores of Lake Wanaka right beside the Clutha River outlet. The same Clutha River that we picnicked beside in Balclutha very close to it’s mouth. So we’ve been at both ends of the river but not travelled the middle yet! The camp ground was terraced down to the lake edge with many of the sites partitioned off by kanuka bush. Quail roamed throughout the campground and at nights the rabbits came out to play. It was no wonder there was hardly any grass.

We had a great spot at the end of a top terrace looking up Stevensons Arm & overlooking Dublin Bay & the river outlet. Everyday a range of motorhomes and caravans arrived, mostly just for the night, although in the run up to Easter these two tiny caravans arrived for a few days. David called them the hobbit caravans, they again reminded me of our childhood holidays. Once, a long time ago Mum & Dad hired(or borrowed) a two berth caravan for our family (4 kids) to holiday at Bay Park at Mt Maunganui. I think it was called Ocean Beach & it was right beside the old speedway with huge pine trees dotted throughout.

How do you fit a family of six in a two berth caravan? Mum & Dad inside, two kids in the awning & two kids in the back of the Holden stationwagon! Us kids had turns at sleeping in the awning & the car, that was until my brother went missing. After a frantic search he was found a fair number of metres away curled up in his sleeping bag fast asleep under one of those huge pine trees with a pile of pine needles for a soft mattress. He’d wiggled out under the awning and gone sleep walking. I think he was locked in the car for the remainder of the nights.

Central Otago badly needs a decent amount of rain, the lake level is very low which would have made it hard for us to launch the inflatable if we had decided to get it out. As it was the weather wasn’t the best, a little cold & overcast although the sun shone at some stage most days. All around this area, right from down Cromwell way through to the lower slopes of the mountains west of Wanaka are thousands of briar bushes growing over the barren & dry ground and in amongst the native scrub. And of course at this time of the year the bushes are covered with brilliant red rosehips (or are they called briarhips?). A fruit eating bird’s paradise I would think and probably the reason why we have seen so many hawks, dozens & dozens of them. Between the smaller birds & the rabbits they would have an endless supply of prey.

Around the lake edge especially near the town centre in Roys Bay were dozens of poplars looking splendid in their many shades of gold. I visited the area a couple of times but didn’t managed to get a blue sky to offset the beautiful colour.

There is one particular tree, a very small willow that is quite famous amongst photographers, both here in NZ and overseas. It grows on a mound all by itself surrounded by water near the lakes edge. It makes a great subject at sunrise, in stormy weather & also with its autumn cloak on. I say surrounded by water because it usually is, but not now that the lake is so low. Never mind, that shot will have to wait until we next visit.

I thought I’d give the willow a black & white treatment, I was quite pleased with the outcome. So now I can add this one to many different interpretations out there (no pun intended)

Across the river is Dublin Bay, a DOC conservation area so one day while out exploring we drove down to the lake edge on that side of the river to explore. The area was quite isolated and and looked a little dubious going by a couple of burnt out car bodies, some wheely tracks & these skins on a fence! We didn’t stay too long.

Nor pigs.......

Further down the Clutha, past the airfield & just before Luggate, the road branches off heading east, and crosses the river on the historic single lane “Luggate Red Bridge”. The bridge was built in 1914 and features a 66 metre Baltimore span.

Warbirds- Part 1

Warbirds Over Wanaka is well over and we have returned to Lowburn for a few days. We have had a fabulous time not only enjoying the airshow but enjoying the company of many like-minded people. We invited the other Ultima owners over for "Happy Hour" on Saturday night along with a few of our other neighbours.

On Saturday, David & I, along with many of the others watched the airshow from up on the plateau where we had a birds-eye view of the displays.

On Sunday, David & a few of the men spent time talking "shop" & comparing notes. I went down to the show to take some close up photos from the runway fence line (we all had tickets as part of our parking package). And look at that blue sky! While most of New Zealand battled a "weather bomb", we had a hot sunny day.

 

I won't say how many photos I managed to take over the three days, suffice to say that other than the "good" ones that I've pulled out as I skimmed through the pile, I don't think the rest in the folder are going to see the light of day any time soon! And I'll take this opportunity of apologising for the number of photos that will be posted, especially if you are on limited data. It was just about impossible to choose which shots to run with.

I'll start the photos with this beautiful & graceful bomber (can a bomber be graceful?)

The extremely rare Avro Anson; this aircraft is the only remaining airworthy wartime Avro Anson MK1 in the world.

 

 

 

 

I'm still having trouble uploading photos & posting to my blog so I'll keep this one short & hope I can post more tomorrow.

Continued on in Part 2

Athol in Autumn

Once our van was repaired & good to go we were keen to get back on the road after our unscheduled stop in Te Anau. Funnily enough, we had the most beautifully appointed & large motel unit at Radfords, but we both commented that we felt trapped in an unmovable square box, albeit a box with a luxury spa bath! Life on the road has definitely worked its way under our skin and travelling is now firmly in the blood.

After a busy two weeks in Milford doing so many different activities we decided to head back to Athol for a few days to “re-group” and get some R&R in a familiar place. You will remember we stayed in Athol while we waited to do the 4WD Safari over Nokomai Station. We parked up on the same site as before with the great view over the paddocks and river and beyond to East Dome, although this time the grass was a little drier & the willows had started to turn colour & lose their  leaves, autumn is definitely in residence & rain is badly needed. When Pam (our host) arrived later in the day she exclaimed “:You’re back!, I knew as soon as I saw the van from down the road it was you guys”

For the next few days we relaxed a little, did a couple of short tiki-tours around the district, David went fishing & I continued catching up on my photos and blog posts from Milford; it was great to just relax & enjoy the sun.

You may also remember my blog post on the Vege Shed. Of course we couldn’t pass without calling in again to stock up on free range eggs, vegetables, lamb & venison. As you do. We also heard that on the following Sunday, Trailer SixtySix, an iconic Airstream food caravan was setting up outside the Shed serving coffee & light meals. We marked that down in our busy schedule and headed there for lunch not long after having our regular cooked Sunday brunch!

The coffee & food were superb, I ordered the Slow Cooked Shanks in Red Wine Sauce & Ciabatta Roll & David had the Slow Roasted Lamb Sandwich.  We had a great hour or so chatting to all the locals that were calling in & then the caravan owners who were English migrants who had come to NZ from London about 6 years ago and settled in tiny Garston.

Bart puts his order in-  "Ummmm......I'll have the....the crispy, streaky bacon.....no wait, a venison slider......."

The owners are hoping to set the caravan up in Garston where the National Cycle Trail will pass through the township. They should do good there along with their B&B in the same settlement. The cycle trail is following the old Kingston Flyer rail corridor and all along the road we could see ground works & preparations going on. We could also smell the preparations; every morning in the cold still autumn air a pall of smoke rose high into the sky drifting along in the breeze from the bonfires along the path as they burnt the cleared undergrowth.

The signs of autumn were everywhere, roadside bushes dripping in berries and rosehips, the ground under the chestnut trees was covered in husks & nuts, & on the dull days the beautiful golden elms brightened up the gardens.

Under the autumn coloured trees in a roadside reserve near Garston were dozens of bright red & orange toadstools.

Garston’s claim to fame-

Once David had fished the section of the Mataura River which ran behind the campsite we drove up past Garston to Brightwater to check the river out up there. He found a couple of guys on the riverbank enjoying a beer. They were from Auckland & on a fishing holiday & not having too much luck. But they did tell us about the Brightwater Spring which was just over the river and through the paddock.

We waded across the river and scanned the paddock, it looked to reach right over to Castle Hill without a break. We followed the fenceline across the grass for a few hundred metres until we came to this beautiful stream that cut across our path and joined the river further down. The water was very cold & gin clear, the stream bed was a mass of small coloured stones and the water plants (I don’t like to call them river weed they were so beautiful) were an array of brilliant greens gently swaying in the flow. The odd trout that we spotted quickly hid.

We turned up the stream and followed it for some distance looking for the source. We found a couple of fairly large areas where the water was bubbling out of the ground & joining the stream but we kept going hoping to come across the actual beginning of the water flow. Unfortunately boggy ground and a heavy barb wire fence halted our progress.

Part of the spring

We decided we couldn’t go any further so turned back towards the river taking a more direct route across the grass. And that was when we found dozens and dozens of horse mushrooms. Individuals, groups of 3 or 4 and huge fairy rings to match the size of the mushrooms. I didn’t have a bag with me so I filled the hood of my jacket, pulling the drawstring firm to hold them. There were so many that I could afford to be selective, only taking the buttons, which looked more like door knobs, and the large new clean ones. Mushroom soup for dinner that night, followed by chicken & mushroom casserole the next & mushroom tart on the third. You wouldn’t guess that I’m not that fussed on mushrooms but I can’t miss an opportunity of making use of nature’s bounty.

We didn’t need to get our feet wet again when we got back to the river further downstream. This old "bailey stock bridge” was in place, it made for a great photo subject. I’ve never seen one quite like this before, I would think the farmer would have to shift it before heavy rain or winter arrives. It could quite easily be washed downstream.

Just north of Garston I spied this rustic woolshed which looked great against the backdrop of Castle Hill.

Right next door were a large flock of sheep looking very white against the green grass, they’d obviously just been shorn.
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The next day when we came past the woolshed yards were alive with more shorn sheep. A classic & iconic New Zealand scene. I joined a carload of people who were taking photos too.

And finally it was time to hitch up and say goodbye to one of our favourite camp sites. The campground is closed over winter due to the cold conditions and the water freezing in the pipes but Pam has said we’re most welcome to park over anytime as we can use our own facilities. I’m sure we’ll be back again but I have a feeling it won’t be during the winter.