Molesworth- Part 2; Cob Cottage Camp

Real-time

Continued on from Part 1

So that's where it got it's name... 

The DOC Cob Cottage camp is in a large paddock that includes the cottage. It's a basic camp with a couple of very clean long-drop loos and a water tap.  With the camp to ourselves we had the choice of sites.

We parked up beside the stream, back off the dusty road and away from the willows; perfect!

According to the Station cook (who visited a couple of times to give one of the farm dogs a swim), the Molesworth Stream is a very popular place to cool off in the summer. There's a nice deep pool called the 'spa pool' at the bottom of the waterfall (off to the left here). It's also the home of a few eels, while I was standing in the water on the edge with my tripod set up to take this shot one came along to check out who was disturbing the peace! Luckily I had my gumboots on and not my jandals!

There's also a reason to visit Molesworth in autumn too, across the stream and along the steep banks of the stream are dozens of wild gooseberry bushes! They have spread far and wide through the high country, I saw plenty of bushes along the Acheron River and Molesworth Road too. Most probably brought in by early settlers and spread by birds and hungry horsemen! 

The historic Molesworth Cob Cottage was built by a runholder as a single room hut in 1866 and extended several years later when it became the homestead for the station until the current homestead was built in 1885. For a long period the cottage provided accommodation for musterers and rabbiters, DOC now look after and maintain the cottage.

There are numerous information boards on Molesworth Station inside the two room cottage along with a few old furnishings. And several families of starlings, who frightened the life out of me as I opened the door into the darkened room- they made a dash for it, flapping and squawking, like a scene from Alfred Hitchcock's 'The Birds'!

There's a short walk up the hill behind the cottage, through the 'kissing gate' and across a paddock...

...which takes the walker to a viewpoint out over today's farm settlement nestled in a shallow basin below Mt Chisholm (1518m). Mt Chisholm was named in honour of the 1942-78 farm manager Bill Chisholm whose foresight and ability helped turn Molesworth from a severely eroded sheep run into a profitable and sustainable pastoral beef farm. The nearby Rachel Range is named after his wife.

This is as close as you can get to the historic farm buildings of Molesworth Station; it's working farm and the manager and farm workers need their privacy. Molesworth Homestead is on the far left, the cooks house is on the right at the rear (don't forget to click the photos to enlarge- use your back arrow to return to the blog).

The information board names the various buildings but you need to 'twist' it to the left 90% to place the buildings correctly. Some are hidden behind the mass of leafy willows above.

The farm's stockyards are on the edge of the camp...

...and as the cattle and calves had recently been mustered in for something major- they were in the yard paddocks for most of the weekend- cattle, farm workers and dogs passed by often. 

I was also lucky enough to take a ride with the Camp Host around to one of the farm cottages- called the Molesworth Ministerial- which is in the settlement, it's used for accommodation for DOC employees that are working on the Station. So I was able to take a few shots from within the compound down below.

The view back to camp from the lookout is spectacular on such a blue sky day; you can see the 5th-wheeler tucked in behind the poplars in the background. David is trying to track a number of skylark's that we flushed while walking up the track. Some of them are singing to us from way up above, others are back on the ground weaving their way through the grass trying to distract him from looking for their nests. 

Two beautiful horses spotted me from down below and came galloping around the edge of the hill looking for us as we disappeared back down the track. They were in great condition although they both needed a bit of mane work, it hung over their faces and down their necks when they stopped to for a pat. 

There is a DOC Camp at both ends of the Molesworth Road; Cob Cottage & Acheron House, and they are manned by camp hosts right through the season. Many of the hosts are RV owners and NZMCA members and they either stay in the Ranger cabins or in their own vans. The cabin is beside the gate onto the Molesworth Road; they keep an eye on the camp, vehicles coming and going, clean the loos, answer questions and lock the gates each evening. The road is open from 7am to 7pm.

It was on our first night (Friday) in camp that we learnt the road was closed until Monday, which was a bit of a shock. Of course we knew the road was closed at the Clarence bridge washout but we were only intending to drive to there and then return to camp. I had phoned the DOC office in Blenheim to double check before we had left too.  And while the person did tell me that there might be a bit of traffic on the road because they were undertaking a 1080 poison drop over part of the Station for Bovine TB possum control, they didn't say the road would actually be closed. 

It was just as well that we had no time constraints, we had planned to have a rest day on the Saturday after the drive in, then do the Molesworth Road on Sunday and head out a day or two later. So waiting one more day was going to be neither here nor there, although I was anxious the stunning weather we were having was going to break.

A few trucks and other vehicles passed through camp each day while helicopters flew overhead at daybreak heading for the drop zone. On Sunday afternoon once the drop had finished at least 25-30 vehicles headed back past us. We saw all manner of vehicles and trailers, large & small carrying so much equipment including 20 or so large hoppers and 2-3 small 'dozers. It was hard to believe there was so many people and so much activity happening in such a isolated area. 

As it turned out we couldn't drive the road until Tuesday because they had to walk a 6km section of the road that was within the drop zone, checking for and removing any bait that had landed on the road. The road opened about 2pm but it was far too late to attempt the return drive so we waited until the next day. 

In the meantime I made the most of fantastic scenery surrounding the camp...

I drove back up the road for the photo above and on the way spotted a couple of hares up to no good. One spotted me and hopped off (literally) before they both hopped away to hide behind some bare brambles. Realising that I could still see them they disappeared over the bank behind the fence.

I crept up slowly and looked over the edge...it didn't take this one long to decide he was outta there, the other one had already disappeared. We must have seen at least two dozen hares during our road time in the high country yet we only spotted two baby rabbits in all the time we were there. 

One morning I looked out and there were two big bunnies feeding on the grass outside the van, they shot off like scalded cats when they spotted me. I wondered about their babies, I've never see a baby hare (known as a leveret for the first year). Unlike rabbits, baby hares can run within a few minutes of being born so I think they must hide in the undergrowth until they are weaned. I do find them quite strange creatures, they just look too big for their bodies, wise beyond their years and cute but not really, if that makes sense. 

Here are some more photos from around camp, these ones were just down the Molesworth Road a few kilometres.

A hidden pond near the river

A much smaller Awatere River flows through Molesworth; you'll recall from the first blog, this is the river we followed all the way up the Awatere Valley (or is that down... the river flows down which is north but the valley goes up which is south...doesn't make sense).

The Molesworth Station airfield and buildings are across the river from the camp. The snow-capped mountains are part of the Inland Kaikoura Range.

I climbed the hill behind the camp and followed the fence along...

 ...to a bluff high above the river, looking across the airfield to the mountains behind.

I sat there for a long while soaking up the magnificent views, and the peace and solitude. 

David filled in some of his downtime by waterblasting the Ranger, he was very pleased with himself that he was able to blast away much of the dust that had coated the paintwork and filled every nook and cranny on the way in. He didn't mind that it was going to be coated again just as quick; at least he knew the first layers were gone. 

With the water blaster plugged into the generator, a small water pump running off the dinghy pump battery and the hose submerged in the stream he was able to give the ute a good going over without using too many precious resources.

As is often the case in the high country, the days are hot and sunny with clear blue skies, then as evening approaches the storm clouds roll in threatening thunder and rain...

...which also means there's a chance of a great sunset.

Then night falls, the wind drops, the clouds depart and millions of stars come out to play...

...and so did Shellie. I had the perfect location to do some night shots and have a bit of fun and games with light painting. 

Light painting is a photographic technique where shots are made by moving a hand-held light source (usually a torch) over or around the subject while taking a long exposure photograph. It's not as easy as it sounds and takes quite a bit of trial and error to get photos you're happy with.

The ghost of Molesworth Cottage- the trick is to not capture a shadow of yourself in the exposure, to get in there fast and back before the your outline has been captured; 

It also helps if your torch doesn't have a mind of its own and decides to switch modes to red flashing or pulsing in the middle of a shot. 

I also captured  a number of shooting stars.

As per usual, when I'm out shooting I lose all sense of time (it often gets me into trouble). At least this time David only had to look outside to find me....if he'd been awake. I went out just after 9pm and was more than a little surprised to find it was 1am when I stepped back in the door!

To be continued... (and the one you've been waiting for, The Road) Part 3

Teddy Bear & a Road Trip

We’ve just arrived back in Winton after a very busy few days catching up with family in Dunedin. I have plenty to tell you about but unfortunately once again you’ll have to wait until I catch up to-date, which, at the rate that is happening, will be sometime mid year!  I mean, for goodness sake, I haven’t even got to last Christmas yet. We need to stop doing things and I need to stop taking photos- I also need a solid couple of weeks to do totally blog business and nothing else. Like that’s going happen anytime soon. Not.

Here's us parked up at a busy  NZMCA Park in downtown Dunedin - we had great weather except
 for the wet and stormy hour that passed just before I took this shot. 

And it’s about now that I need to tell you that this is likely to be my last blog post for a couple of weeks. For two reasons (actually three). 1- we are heading to Stewart Island for a break and it’s likely to be a very busy time, 2- my laptop is being sent away to finally (and hopefully) have a fault sorted, and number 3- I broke my phone in Dunedin. Don’t ask, but I blame my sister and a ‘Premier Margarita’  for that!

So here is another catch-up blog from our time parked up at Lake Ruataniwha in the Mackenzie Country.

If you have been following the blog for some time you’ll know that I’ve been chasing(literally) a close up photo of the hares that we keep seeing racing off around the countryside. And you’ll also know that I’ve taken to calling them ‘teddy bears’ because of this post.

Well, in the end I didn’t need to chase a hare, he came bounding along the track towards me. He stopping so close to the front of the ute that I couldn’t get him totally in the frame for a minute. And that’s when we saw why he was unaware of the danger he could have been in. This poor old boy was a bit moth-eaten, he only had one eye and I suspect he couldn’t see much out his other one either.

He sat there for a moment, twitching his nose before deciding there must be trouble ahead…

…and bounded off up the hillside, stopping to recheck his surroundings for a second before disappearing over the top. I felt rather sorry for him and wondered how long he would last.

In the pond beside the track the hare approached us on, there were also some ‘ugly ducklings’- these are baby Australian Coots (slightly blurred I wasn’t ready for them) and they have got to be the ugliest babies I think I have ever seen.

It’s no wonder the parents hide them under the rushes and they scatter when disturbed. Poor darlings, but at least they grow into something more acceptable.

We left Kelland Pond behind and headed south down the main highway turning right into Lake Ohau Road. Thousands of people pass this sign daily on their way to and from Christchurch & Queenstown and I wonder how many think ‘what’s down there’ or ‘I must have a look down that road some day’.

Today it’s our turn to explore it. Our target was to at least get to an ‘historic stone cottage’ we saw marked on one of our maps.

It’s not long before the stunning and beautiful turquoise Lake Ohau comes into view…

…with the prominent & huge monolith Ben Ohau (1522m) standing proud across the water. There’s a dam on the far right of Ben Ohau , it’s the first dam of the Ohau A, B, and C hydroelectricity canal system and downstream (or should that be downcanal) is Lake Ruataniwha. Actually there is still an Ohau River which flows beside the canal and empties into the lake too, but it’s at a much lighter flow than it used to be.

It was a surprise to find a historic site beside the road- this is the remains of a controversial boundary fence and spade line between Canterbury & Otago. The boundary line was drawn using a ruler, it didn’t allow for natural features or the rights of established runholders.

Click on the photo to enlarge if you’d like to read more about it. We could faintly see the spade line, a depression in the ground, off in the distance.

The road skirted around the edge of the lake and another much smaller lake came into view, well actually it’s more of a puddle in comparison to Lake Ohau. This is Lake Middleton and it looks like it’s used a lot for water sports and fishing. There’s a basic DOC camping ground along the water edge and although it’s rather sloped, there are a few flat areas in amongst the trees. There’s also a couple of closed-up caravans parked on the best sites, ready for the holiday season I would think. At the far end of the lake there’s a huge house(top left photo) which looks to have been recently built, we passed it’s pillared gates and large barn/shed at the beginning of the lake. It looks totally out of place and I wonder who owns it, somebody rich &/or famous perhaps…

The campground extends to the other side of the road where there are leveller camping areas and amazing views across Lake Ohau to Ben Ohau. A basic amenity block is also on this side of the road.

We take a side road up onto a small plateau and into the alpine village of Lake Ohau. It’s small and consists of mostly holiday homes and a few permanent residences. We stop at a tiny reserve with a huge table to have lunch and David decides this could quite easily be the place to retire to if we ever stop wandering (he might have second thoughts on a less than perfect day of course).

We’re high above the road and looking down the lake towards the Southern Alps and the views are magnificent- here’s a slightly distorted pano from my phone.

Our next side road detour takes us to the beginning of the Ohau Snow Fields road and the Ohau Lodge.

This photo, taken back at Lake Middleton, shows the 10km snow field access road zig-zagging up the side of the mountain. We decide to leave that road for another day; perhaps when there’s snow at the top.

We carry on around the lake edge, the road has now turned to gravel, and dips and climbs along the bottom of the steep slopes of the mountains beside us. There are a number of avalanche warning signs highlighting the very steep areas where snow builds up and slides off the mountainside onto the road below.

Further on and another DOC camp comes into view. This is our type of camp; remote, lakeside, bird life, boat ramp and scenery to die for. Roundbush also has big sandflies. I talk to a couple of tourists who are hiding out in their campervan, they’re not sure they’ll last the distance.

We continue on, the scenery is breathtaking and I wonder if it could get any better…

We’re getting near the top of the lake now and can see the wide open deltas of the Hopkins River to the left and the Dobson River to the right…

and the houses and farm buildings of Lake Ohau Station.

And one of those buildings happens to be the historic cottage we were looking for. Hmmm….I’m not too sure who was the most surprised, me or David. I don’t know why (because it is usually ruins) but we were both expecting to see a cutesy fully restored stone cottage. Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

We drove on past the station homestead, slowing to let the farmer and his wildly excited pack of noisy sheepdogs cross in front of us. The road continues on into the Ruataniwha Conservation Park where there are a number of tramping tracks. It’s rugged and remote and I’ve since heard the road has a few washouts in it. It’s 4WD country even if you can get through.

We stop at the Maitland Stream road bridge and decide this is as far as we’ll go today.  We scan the stream bed for birds, nothing.

But far across the otherside of the valley I spot a very long swathe of colour- hundreds of thousands of lupins. Lupins that are tracking up the valley towards the river sources and the mountains.

It’s about now that I realise actually how serious and widespread the lupin problem really is and will be, in the years to come, unless something drastic doesn’t happen soon (which is highly unlikely). Most people only see the lupins around the tourist hotspots and along the main roads but here they are, dozens of miles away and encroaching into conservation areas. Not only do our vulnerable high country river birds have to avoid introduced pests but they also have to compete with lupins taking over the open stony braided river bed habitats they need for breeding.

With that sobering thought in mind it’s time to head for home…

…and stop along the way to admire at least one successful conservation project- possum control has allowed the endemic mistletoe to survive and flower in the lakeside bush. In amongst the deep green of the Southern Beech trees there are dozens of bright splashes of brilliant red. This is the rare and beautiful New Zealand Mistletoe. Some of you will remember the photos I posted of the mistletoe in my Christmas blog post, this is where they came from. 

Here’s what I wrote about it then- ‘the name ‘mistletoe’ is given to plants that use specially adapted roots to extract water and nutrients from the stem tissues of their host plant. Unlike some mistletoe species found in other countries, New Zealand mistletoes usually do not harm their hosts. There are eight unique species of mistletoes in New Zealand, the three Beech mistletoes (Green, Red & Scarlet) are now uncommon in many parts of New Zealand.

One last close up photo of Ben Ohau. To give you an idea of how large it is, you can see a road running right along the bottom edge of the mountain. This is Glen Lyon Road and it’s another road we’ll need to explore sometime; it runs even further up the valley on the otherside of the lake (past those lupins) and on up the Dobson River.

Back onto the tarseal and home to Lake Ruataniwha…