A Walking Adventure to Cape Campbell

Catch-up; November 6, 2017

I have wanted to do the 14km (return) walk along the beach, from Marfells to Cape Campbell, for a very long time. Cape Campbell forms the south-eastern tip of Cook Strait and the top of the South Island's east coast. 

This photo was taken just past Mussel Point, from here there's still 6kms to walk to reach the lighthouse; that tiny dot on the end.

Before the earthquake, the walk was subject to the tide and I'd never quite made a concerted effort to time it right. Either the tide was wrong or the weather wasn't great, though I'd always watch wistfully as quad bikes loaded with families and/or divers, fishers and all their gear, disappeared around Mussel Point.

Looking back towards Mussel Point

Now that the 'quake has lifted the seabed, the tide doesn't have quite the hold over the coastline it once did. There are couple of bluffs where it does reach and one landslide that looks like it came down in the 'quake. You'd have to reach them right at the top of the tide for them to be a problem and if you did I would say you'd only have to wait 15 minutes or so before the tide turned and it cleared enough to pass.

It was a stunningly beautiful day for a seaside walk and I had the whole beach to myself all the way to the Cape. With not another soul in sight I took my time exploring the newly formed rock pools and checking out various shore birds in the driftwood and dunes above the high tide line.

I also found a seal resting in the warm sunshine, obviously the quad bike that was returning home just as I left camp had found it too, cutting in a bit too close for my liking. Amongst the Variable Oystercatcher and Black-backed Gull pairs there were quite a number of  Banded Dotterel pairs who were acting a lot like they had either a nest or chicks nearby- can you see one resting behind the driftwood? 

I left them to it and moved back down onto the smooth sand, where it was much easier walking. You can see where the tide reaches in this shot looking back to Mussel Point. There is a narrow dirt track just above the tide line that I suspect sheep have formed. I guess if there's a lot of wave action it might be a little harder to pass through here near high tide.

And speaking of sheep; how's this for living on the edge; ewes and their lambs right at the top of the cliffs peering down at me passing by.

And as I scanned the papa cliffs I found a few more resting on the slopes which are way steeper than they look here. I thought they were goats at first. Sheep have now gone up in my estimations, they are way more agile than I'd given them credit for. They're still crazy though (click the photo to enlarge)

As the kilometres shrink, the lighthouse grows in size. I zoom in and think I spot a couple of vehicles parked beside the buildings. Selfishly I think 'darn!', I'd have liked the place to myself. 

In this eastern corner of Clifford Bay and just before the Cape, the ocean current and wave action has dumped great piles of seaweed on the papa rock platform and up onto the gravel behind. The top layers have dried in the hot sun but underneath it's a smelly, slippery, slimy mess. And I think to myself that I'll carefully walk over it to the papa platform near the water, then cut the corner off to the lighthouse.

I know before I even hit the deck that I've stepped onto something even slipperier, wet papa rock that hasn't had time to dry in the late morning sun. I stumble forward, then sideways, one arm flailing trying to gain balance the other trying to keep my camera safe. I think I have it under control just as my foot slips into a narrow channel and I pitch forward landing on my knees, belly and hands. Bugga! 

My camera hand is buried in mud, the camera resting in my palm and just out of the muck, there's blood trickling from one knee and a massive scrape on the other. A few small sharp shells stick out from my other palm and I'm dripping wet (I've landed in a shallow water filled scrape) with odd bits of seaweed and driftwood stuck to my clothes. And I ache. 

Thankfully my pack is safe on my back, I remove it and find one lonely dried out wet-wipe to wipe the camera down (which I find has taken a small hit on the lens- double bugga!), clean my hands and then wipe away the blood and mud- all in that order. Even though I know there's no one around I still look to see if anyone has seen my little performance. I then feel eyes on me, I'm sure they're wondering what on earth I'm doing and I guarantee they're laughing under those blank stares.

I gather everything together and step forward....Yee-o-ouch!!!....my left foot can hardly take my weight, I've done something serious catching it in the channel. Until I moved I'd been unaware of how bad it was. Now what to do, there's no phone reception and I can hardly walk. I think I'll have to hobble to the buildings and if it hasn't come right, see if the people there can help me. I move cautiously forward, one small step at a time until I reach the lighthouse buildings.

I'm sure I saw two vehicles parked in front of the cottages, now there's not a soul in sight. They didn't pass me so where did they go?

I decide that there's not much else I can do except walk very slowly home. And yes I have a PLB (personal locator beacon), we always carry one, but this situation wouldn't warrant setting it off- I can still move and I'm not in any danger. And anyway I still have photos to take. Because I've come this far and the lighthouse is my target, I'll not let a bung foot stop me from climbing the stairway to it.

I cautiously hobble across the grass to the bottom of the stairs and then slowly haul myself up them one at a time. 

It's hard work and I make sure I hold on to the rail at all times, it is rather steep.

I stop often to rest my foot and to take in the views below and back over Clifford Bay.

Finally I reach the top and I shuffle around the side of the lighthouse to find a step or something to sit on to have my lunch and rest awhile.

When I look over the otherside, I spot the two vehicles from the cottages heading south towards Cape Campbell Station. The farm actually owns the lighthouse cottages now and hire them out for self-catered stays. They also run the Cape Campbell Walk, a 4 day trek through the farm and around the coastline, staying at various farm cottages along the way.

The cottages can be accessed via the farm and when I zoom in on the people, I see they have a TV camera and big fluffy microphone; perhaps they're doing a doco on the earthquake; they have just walked back from off the rocks.  The other vehicle's occupants have closed the gate and headed off around the far point. I'm now definitely on my lonesome.

Although it's a nice surprise to find out that I now have phone reception so I call David to let him know that I've had a small fall and while I'm OK, it might take a while for me to walk home. So don't panic. He wants to come and get me and while the beach would be fine to drive down, we both doubt he'll get through the very deep and soft pea metal back on the camp side of Mussel Point. I assure him I'll be OK, I'll just take my time.

I also get the usual "Oh no, not again, weren't you being careful?" "Yes, of course I was being careful, do you think I do this for the fun of it? Grrrrr.....

I have my lunch and then take a few photos of the lighthouse; I'm getting quite a collection of lighthouses now; like swingbridges, cribs and churches they make interesting subjects.

I change to my wide angle lens so the lighthouse doesn't fill the whole shot and I can see the surroundings...

...and I can take a wide angled shot of the Cape. Cape Campbell is in the middle of Ward Beach and Marfells Beach and much of this rocky platform would have been under water before the 'quake too; the green algae is the new low tide zone.

That's the North Island across the water, centre right and the Marlborough Sounds to the left. I really wanted to clamber down and out to the point in front of me so I could get a shot looking back towards the lighthouse but I managed to restrain myself.

I gave David one last call to say I'd be on my way in 15 minutes, just so he could monitor the time, then I carefully made my way back down the stairs, stopping to take some photos of the cottages before carrying on.

The lighthouse and cottages were used in the the film 'The Light Between Oceans', based on the bestselling novel by M. L. Stedman. Here's my photo and a screen shot from the film's trailer-

I carefully hobbled along the driftwood strewn gravel track and made my way around the outside of the pesky seaweed pile (the cause of all my problems) back to the smooth sand. I knew once I reached there it would be a lot easier going and I could get into a less painful walking rhythm that might not be fast, but would get me home at a steady pace.

I hadn't dare take my boot off back at the lighthouse, in case I couldn't get it back on but I could certainly feel that my foot was swelling up inside. It looked like the weather was about to change too, hopefully I'd get back before any wind or rain arrived. Wait.....is that......yes it is! It's a vehicle and it's heading my way. My hero!! (click to enlarge)

David made it through the pea gravel- after a chat with, and a few tips from the camp host- the art is to somehow just keep the vehicle moving. He also threw our large rubber mats in the back in case he had to use those to drive over to get out. He could have let the tyres down a little too but thought he'd risk them as they were. 

What a relief it was to see him. I'd managed to cover about 2kms but I was beginning to think the task ahead of me was going to kill me....ok, well not kill me, but certainly damage my foot.

A mirage? 

It was heaven to lower myself into the front seat and have David navigate our way back home. Although I had a tinge of disappointment knowing I couldn't complete the 14km round trip.

We both had a bit of a 'hold your breath and egg the vehicle on moment' driving back through the metal, I think I even closed my eyes as the momentum died and we very nearly ground to a halt but David managed to just keep it ticking on and inching forward until we were free. 

And that was how I found myself at the Blenheim Hospital A&E the next day having an x-ray (heavily sprained), wearing a moon boot (no half or small sizes left) and being told to rest my foot for three weeks. Yeah right, didn't they know we were heading to Tauranga to catch up with family and prepare for Christmas. The boot lasted all of two days, I did rest my foot as much as I could over the next few weeks. I tried my best to not rush around and eventually, after 4 weeks it returned to normal. 

Hi-de-Hi Hanmer

We stayed the first three nights at NZMCA’s Hanmer Park which is located about 6kms before the village and very near the Waiau River. The first night we parked near the road as there were a few others on the other side of the park. I was thinking “sleepy little resort, not much traffic”. Wrong. The rumbling started at about 4:30am, delivery trucks & cars zooming pass on the road just above our heads!

After everyone had left the next day we moved over to the other side but not just up against the bank as the others had parked, up on the old road which proved to be an ideal spot for us as it was nice and level and we had a grandstand view of the park and traffic coming & going. After 3 nights (the maximum allowed) we moved on to the Pines Holiday Park which was very handy to the village and just opposite Jacks Pass.

The one way 135 year old historic Ferry Bridge, over the Waiau River, is the gateway to the Hanmer Basin. Thrillseekers Adventures run a number of activities off, under & around the bridge; bungy jumping (there’s a jumping platform in the centre on the far side), jet boat rides up the river (you can see a jet boat tied up beneath the bridge). There’s also rafting, quad bikes & paintball available.

I mentioned in the previous post that we were in Hanmer so David could celebrate a special birthday, he was especially looking forward to a massage. Unfortunately we overlooked the fact that it was the school holidays and Hanmer was a very busy little village with many families enjoying a holiday in the alpine resort. The cafes & restaurants were full to overflowing, the thermal hot pools had a queue out the door everytime we passed by, there were a mass of kids & adults at the two Putt Putt Golf courses in town, every second car had bikes attached to the towbar or riding on the roof. And of course along with all the holidaying families there were the regular tourists & their motorhomes crowding the streets. It was a very hyped up little place.

Added to the mix were these cycles, the Village Cruisers were everywhere, pedalling around town, down the forest roads and passing by the camp site at Jacks Pass. I think they were quite hard work to pedal especially when there was just one adult, the kids had stopped pedalling after a few minutes. I took these photos all within about 15 minutes as I waited on a park bench for my phone to update at a telecom hotspot. 

Initially David was going to have a massage at The Spa, part of the thermal pool complex but we found a couple of others places that also did massages and he selected one that he was happy with and booked with them. We were also going to have a swim in the hot pools at some stage but after seeing how many people (and children) were filing into the pools we decided we might just have a swim in a private pool. That was until I saw it was going to cost $60 for 30 minutes! I’d rather find our own natural hot pool on the side of the road than pay that much for a swim! There are a couple near the road through Lewis Pass but they’ll have to wait as we were headed in the other direction when we left Hanmer.

On David’s birthday, which was on a beautiful sunny Sunday, we walked into town and had a lovely brunch at the Powerhouse Cafe, one of the many busy cafes in the village. Every available table inside & outside every cafe was taken with families enjoying the winter sunshine.
We then had a lovely birthday dinner at Restaurant No. 31, one of the few fine dining restaurants in the village and one without a child in sight! No. 31 reminded us of our favourite restaurant back in Tauranga, Somerset Cottage.

One morning during our stay I took myself off on a walking tour of the historic buildings around Hanmer Springs and in particular through the hospital grounds that surround the thermal pool complex. Along with the fresh mountain air, the thermal springs were part of the therapeutic environment which helped patients recover.

Click on the photo to enlarge if you wish to read the information boards.

The Chisholm Ward for “female patients suffering from functional nervous diseases”, later it became a treatment centre of drug & alcohol dependency.

Next door was the Nurses Hostel, a large imposing building with a very small front door beside which the sign read “Out of Bounds to Clients". I can understand that. There could be quite an emotional attachment from patients towards the nurses especially in the state of mind that some would have.

The Soldiers Block- a convalescent home for the treatment of shell-shocked servicemen.

 

This building is of significant historical value, as one of only two similar hospital buildings of this design, it is the only one that remains on it's original site.

And as I wandered on further through the large park like grounds I came across this building which looks like another type of dormitory hospital block, but it wasn’t until I walked around to the back that I saw a sign saying “Private Property, No Entry” It looked like a military building of some sort which has been abandoned. I’ve been unable to find out any information about it so far. 

In the centre of the village is The Heritage Hotel which is located in a beautiful Spanish-style building that was originally built in the 1930s as a lodge catering to the increasing numbers of tourists to Hanmer Springs “taking the waters”.

While David was having his massage I visited the Hanmer Forest Park which was just down the road (everything is just down the road in Hanmer) where there are numerous bike trails. When we came over Jollies Pass the other day I had spotted this unusual stand of conifers with their trunks all on a lean.

I did a few in-camera abstract shots too.

These could be the Ents from the LOTR film. David offered to put his black beanie on and  peep around the various trunks. I could have done multiple shots and merged them. But we didn’t get around to it.

So that was Hanmer, we did have a lovely time but next time we’ll make sure we don’t coincide our visit with the busy school holidays. We left Hanmer Springs after a very cold night, snow had settled on the surrounding mountains and on the grass around our camp site. And as we pulled out heading for Kaikoura, it started to snow again.