Ida Valley & the Cheat’s Rail Trail- Part 1

Another brilliant sunny blue sky day; winter down south isn’t so bad after all…..well at least I think so, David has a slightly differing opinion. Yes, there are heavy frosts, occasional snow and often a bone chilling wind blowing but most days are clear and sunny.  I have worked out what the key is, to surviving the extra cold days, it’s getting up late! By the time we step outside, the frost has mostly gone and there’s a hint of warmth from the sun, if we stick to the valley floors we miss most of the wind, and arrive home before the sun disappears you’d very nearly think it was a summer’s day. Very nearly.

We are always toasty warm in the van and in fact too warm sometimes, it’s very well insulated and the diesel heaters have certainly earnt their keep. We mostly only run one of them at a time as it gets too hot, and very rarely run them overnight unless the prediction is a -11 degree frost as it was the other night in Ranfurly.

We’ve been criss-crossing the Otago Rail Trail often since we arrived in Central Otago and have been visiting many of the points of interest along the trail while exploring. We’re doing the cheat’s rail trail; no aching muscles, no sore butts, no weather worries, no time frame, no crowds, and home-cooked meals and a comfy bed each night. We’re not cycling the150km route but we’ll see many of the stops and attractions along the way, in fact we’ll see a little more than the cyclists as we explore further afield.

Before we left to explore the Ida Valley one morning, I walked across to the Omakau Rail Goods Shed to take a photo and as luck would have it two cyclists appeared. They were from Wellington and were doing the trail in the off season to miss the crowds (and it was the only time they had off work). They had stayed the night at Blacks Hotel in Ophir and were about to head off on the next leg.

But first they had to stop and stamp their Rail Trail ‘passports’ and they were keen for me to take their photos stamping their books. I wished them well and they cycled off up the trail, disappearing into the bright sun which sits low on the horizon at this time of the year.

We headed off, back over the Raggedy Range and into the vast & isolated Ida Valley. Instead of turning south at the old Poolburn hotel we turned left and headed north up the edge of the valley on another very long, straight and narrow gravel road, passing a number of large farms with old homesteads, stone cottages and farm buildings along the way. We were headed for the Poolburn Viaduct, part of the Rail Trail and close to the road for those that are cheating.

I caught a glimpse of the viaduct through a rocky gorge as we approached and we parked beside a cattle stop close by. I thought we’d be able to walk up to the top of the ridge and along the trail to the viaduct. As I got out of the ute, I heard a whole lot of baa-ing coming from across the stillness of the valley and when I turned around I could see dozens of sheep running across the paddock towards us.

And they kept on coming, running and baa-ing from over the rises and from all corners of the paddock. More sheep that think we have food for them, the poor things. The initial ones had set off a chain reaction and now they were coming through the gate from the paddock next door, I kept telling David to ‘hurry up’ so we could get going before it turned into a riot.

We quickly headed off up the hill and the sheep headed off along the fence line towards the other paddock, perhaps there was food on offer in there, now that they had expended all that energy in racing over to this side of the paddock.

We climbed to the top of the hill and then found our way barred by a deep creek and rocky bluffs so we returned to the ute (quietly, so as not to alert the remaining sheep) and drove up the road another kilometre or so until we were on the right side of the creek.

We then climbed up to the trail and headed towards the viaduct passing the old Ida Valley Gangers’ Shed along the way, with it’s tin chimney at the back, this is where railway repair workers would have boiled the billy for their lunch or afternoon tea. Many of the old gangers sheds along the trail have been restored and can be used by cyclists for shelter on rainy days.

The view out over the Ida Valley is magnificent, this is just a small section of what is a vast open plain with endless blue skies and a huge expanse of grazing land with a hint of green, promising that the grass will soon grow even if only slightly, before it’s burnt to a tinder again in the relentless summer heat.

That’s the ‘road’ we’ve travelled up cutting across the centre, the valley continues on over the rise to Rough Ridge behind.

After a kilometre or so we round a corner and there is the Poolburn Viaduct ahead of us.

At 37 metres high it’s quite an impressive bridge for the tiny river below.

We cross over and continue on to the first of the two Poolburn tunnels, this one is 201 metres and it’s recommended you take a torch. It doesn’t appear to be too dark and you can see for most of the way through although I can see why cyclists and horse riders need to dismount, there could be quite a dust-up meeting someone else speeding through from the other direction (speaking of horse riders- now that is the way I’d love to do the Rail Trail).

As we headed back towards the viaduct I heard some chatter coming from the tunnel which surprised me as other than farmers going about their business, we haven’t seen a single person while exploring the back roads. Then out of the dark, who should appear? The two guys from Omakau this morning! The look of surprise on their faces was priceless, as I called out to them “What took you so long!”  It’s 18kms from Omakau to the viaduct via a route that follows the range along on the otherside before cutting through the Poolburn Gorge to the Ida valley here.

We made our way back to the middle of the valley and a tarseal road for a change. Ahead of us the Hawkdun Range (made famous by artist Graham Sydney), forms a lovely backdrop to the valley.

Suddenly a body of water appears to our right when we least expect it, it has a road side high fence & a couple of old buildings on the edge. We’re past before I realise that this is the famed Idaburn Dam. The dam that appears in a number of TV ads and is often shown when there’s a hoar frost. It’s also the home of the Roaring Game, that ancient Scottish sport of curling and is famous for the Bonspiel, the grand tournament which occurs when (and only when) the ice reaches 14cm thickness. That’s when the Ice Masters put out the call to curlers nationwide to come and play within 48hrs.

We screech to a halt (the story of David’s life- ‘Stop! Church!’ or ‘Stop! Old Woolshed…bridge…cottage…beautiful scenery…etc, etc’ He is a very patient man) and we return to the entrance. The Rail Trail also crosses the road at this point and I’m half expecting to see my guys again although they had a good 8kms to cycle before reaching here. This’ll be a good spot to have our lunch we decide, the gate isn’t locked but does have a warning.

The dam is mostly frozen, and somebody has been skating on it recently going by all the marks down in front of us but the edges are liquid, they’ll be no curling happening here for awhile. We walk around the edge heading for a larger building we can see around the corner. We pass an old hut and David has a look through the dusty window (no, he’s not going shopping- the bag he’s carrying has our lunch in it). Inside, hanging from every available vantage point, are dozens of old ice skates; I'm not sure, but some look like they’ve been in recent use.

The next weather beaten building looks to be the Clubhouse come Timer/Announcer/Music headquarters- it looks very much like the building that was at the head of the Marine Parade roller skating rink in Napier where I used to skate, albeit alot more rough around the edges. David sets up lunch on a wobbly bench and the hot soup is a welcome sight as that cool wind is blowing once again. You can see the edge of the ice below David, the stairway ends in water so there’s no stepping off onto the ice today. Just past the building the dam is back to water and apparently that end rarely freezes.

To be continued....Part 2 here

Out & About in Alex

Our next stop was a short 9kms down the road in Alexandra, where we parked up for two nights at Molyneux Park, a NZMCA POP. There’s a three night maximum stay and only eight vehicles at a time, are allowed to park over but we had the place to ourselves except for one vehicle who arrived late and left early on the last night. A little different to the last time we passed through Alexandra when we called into check the site out and it was full.

Molyneux Park contains Alex’s sports fields and buildings which are used for a range of sports from rugby, soccer, cricket to judo and squash, it also contains the aquatic centre, a skateboard bowl and an ice rink. David enjoyed having a spa, and swim in the heated pool, at the Aquatic centre. Other than Saturday morning the place was pretty quiet (a hint  for fellow campers- don't park near the skateboard bowl where kids now ride their bikes). On Saturday there was a steady stream of vehicles moving up and down the road delivering children to their Saturday morning sports, most seemed to be running late to get somewhere, hitting the speed humps with a good thump.

The park is also very handy to town with the supermarket just down the road. An ideal place to stop and do all the chores except for the lack of an easy access dump station in town. Try filling up with petrol (for generator), diesel (for heater & ute), water for house tank and dump the three house waste tanks on the forecourt of a busy Caltex service station on a Saturday morning. Dumping right beside the drive through carwash is very off-putting, both for us and the people waiting in their cars in the queue. And I can imagine Subway just behind the dumping vehicles gets a few unpleasant smells when the wind is blowing the wrong way!

Busloads of children arrived and departed from the ice rink during the day. An ice rink is another novelty for me, this is the first outdoor ice rink I have seen. I learnt to roller skate on a concrete rink, that’s all we had in Napier. The Marine Parade rink was my ‘hang-out’ place when I was a teen. How cool that the local children learn to ice skate and curl as part of their winter school curriculum, a skill they’ll have for life.

I love the penguin sledges which help them with their balance as they learn, I wonder if they have bigger versions for adults..... Don’t you love that little guy's helmet. And going by his skating skills I don't think he'll be keen to give the sledge away anytime soon. He knew what he was doing, racing fast everywhere and knocking a few kids off their feet along the way. His helmet matched his character for sure.

I’m not sure whether the rather large scary looking wooden sculpture near the front gate entices the little kids in, I saw a couple  giving him a wide berth. It was interesting watching the kids curl, those white ‘things’ are for balance instead of the brooms the big boys use. Check out the small child in the background on the bottom photo, hanging onto the wall for dear life- I think that’d be me if I tried to give it a go. Ice skating is a lot harder than roller skating.

Before we left Alexandra, I took a drive up to the lookout, that’s the Clutha River along the back and the Manuherikia River in the foreground, their junction is at the top left near the steel truss arch bridge over the Clutha. The town centre is on the point on the inside of the rivers.

It was late in the afternoon but I managed to take a few church photos- this is St Enochs Union Church built in 1877.

And I found ‘Shaky Bridge’, an historic suspension bridge built over the Manuherikia River. Before the bridge was built the only way across the river was by punt, the bridge was also used by wagons and horses however today the bridge is strictly for pedestrians only.

The bridge opened in 1879 at a cost of £974 and was later sold for £1 to two settlers living across the river. The bridge fell into a state of neglect but was eventually repaired, it was at this time the bridge was narrowed to foot traffic only.

And across the bridge I also found a great little cafe, aptly name Shaky Bridge Cafe which is part of the Shaky Bridge Vineyard next door. I bet this place is busy during the weekend and over the summer, there were many walkers, cyclists and runners crossing the bridge on their circuits even while I was there. We’ll have to stop there the next time we are in town.

How many astute readers noticed the clock on the hill in the photo, two above? This Alexandra icon has been hanging above the town since 1968 and lit up at night, it can be seen 5kms away. Here are the facts and figures-

• Diameter: 11m
• Minute Hand: 5.6m including the counterweight.
• Hour Hand: 4m including the counterweight.
• Weight: Each hand weighs approximately 270kg. The driving mechanism weighs approximately 760kg.
• Mechanism: Reduction gearboxes powered by one 3/4 hp synchronous motor.
• Lighting: 150 torch bulbs, powered by a reduction transformer.
• Structure: Six vertical steel columns averaging 7.3m in length, supported on concrete foundations, fastened into the rock face with steel supports.
• Location: On the Knobbies Range to the east of Alexandra.
• Height Above Sea Level: 200m

And one last photo, of the historic Vallance Cottage which was built in the late 1880s and lived in until the 1970s when there was still no running water inside and only cold running water in the separate wash-house. I didn’t check, but apparently the back door step is almost level with the ground due to the lady of the house being a “fastidious housekeeper” who scrubbed it daily. This tiny two bedroom mudbrick cottage was the home of William & Jean Vallance and their nine children. Nine children!!

Noisy Neighbours- Nelson Lakes

We've had an interesting few days at West Bay; we've had a great time at the rally enjoying the company of many like-minded people, there were about 30 RVs altogether. After a last breakfast get-together this morning, most departed leaving four couples, including us, to stay an extra night on site. We’ll move over to Kerr Bay tomorrow morning and settle in to that camp for the next week or so. We’d have loved to have stayed put here at the DOC camp in West Bay but the gates will be closed and locked after we leave tomorrow. This camp doesn't open for general camping until December.

We were warned that it might be quite noisy over the weekend and especially late last night (Saturday) because the RNZAF, DOC and Search & Rescue were doing exercises in the area and their base was just down the road in an open grassy patch.

The new RNZAF NH90 Helicopter was being put through its paces (we'd last seen it at Wanaka Warbirds). ‘Lost’ trampers were dropped off at various sites around the lake and mountains for searchers & search dogs to locate. We heard today that the  fog stopped the 'lost' trampers from being rescued last night and they had a long walk home!

We stopped to watch the helicopter being readied for more flights this morning, the guys were giving it a good spit & polish.

And then when we came back along the road an hour or so later we were just in time to watch it lift off….

fly right along side us…..

and pummeling me and the ute with a huge amount of flying, & stinging debris as you can see in the shot!

Between us and the grassy patch is the West Bay jetty and this weekend some of the district high schools were holding a rowing regatta. So, what with these two groups & the rally happening, this quiet side of the lake was a little overrun with people and activities this weekend.

Through the quiet stillness of the first night we could hear the roar of white water close by. It was a great surprise the next day to find the outlet of the mighty Buller River flowing swiftly out of the lake right beside our campground; the white water noise was coming from rapids further down the river. David and a few of the other rally guys went spinning for trout on a couple of the evenings, David had no luck but one of the other guys caught a trout this morning on the lake further along.

The road along the front of the campground crosses the Buller River and ends 4 kilometres further on at the Mt Robert carpark which is about a third of the way up the mountain. There are a number of multi-day tramps and shorter day walks that leave from the carpark. Including the aptly named Pinchgut Track; you can see it zig-zaging up the mountain side beside the tree line. We’re hoping to do a bit of this walk as we’ve heard there are a pair of nesting NZ falcons close to the track.

From the carpark there’s also a short track along a ridge in the other direction to a lookout point over the Lake Rotoiti below. West Bay, where we are at the moment, is located at the top left. Kerr Bay, where we are heading tomorrow, is around the peninsula in the top right corner. The smattering of buildings just behind Kerr Bay is the St Arnaud village. The Wairau River valley stretches off in the distance back towards Blenheim. South Island’s Southern Alp faultline runs under my feet here, across the lake and off up that valley too.

And down through the Sabine River Valley towards the Southern Alps behind me.

We’ve been over to Kerr Bay a couple of times since we've been here, yesterday to do a walk with one of the DOC rangers which was very interesting. We learnt alot about the never ending struggle to get on top of the pest control around the National Parks.

On the way over we took a short side track to check out a freedom camping area and found the local skating rink! A tiny square tannin stained shallow pool. I wonder how often its frozen over, one of the DOC rangers said it had only snowed down to lake level four times this past winter.

While waiting for everyone to arrive I took a few photos in the car park. This one is iconic Nelson Lakes; it’s one you’ll see on calendars, postcards and in many photographers portfolios. I’m hoping to get a few at dawn and without the water taxi tied up! It should be easy as our next campsite is about 50 yards behind where I’m standing.

There’s two groups of ducklings in the area, the first day this duck had 14 ducklings, yesterday there were 11 and today just 9. They don’t stand much chance with so much activity in the area and they’re so friendly the ducklings were climbing into my hands when I rested them on the grass. They were enjoying a swim in a puddle in the carpark here.

This mother and ducklings were even friendlier, all of them clambering over my feet and trying to eat my shoe laces. When I picked up a duckling (or two) mum quacked loudly and attacked by leg. Even after I had set them back down she decided she wasn’t happy with me and ran up my leg to get at my hand. Don't you love the look on that duckling's face? I can see my bread crusts will be put to good use when we get over there.

And finally this cool VW Kombi van turned campervan named ‘Beetle’.