The Best of 2017

Real-time

I haven't done a 'Best of' for a couple of years, which is a shame because we have had fabulous experiences every year and every year is so different. I also know I'd have had numerous contenders for each title as I have had this year too; it's very hard to choose but here goes, click the links to read the relative blog post...

Best Nature Encounter -

That would have to be our little monster from the sea, a just-weaned female sealion pup who was angry at the world. Seen at Hinahina in the Catlins.

A close second (and on the same blog post as above) would have been this huge lump of lard, an Elephant Seal who we visited in nearby Pounawea Estuary.

Best Road Trip

This one was a hard one, we do so many road trips, it's how we explore this amazing country. We set up camp and then over the next few days or weeks we fan out exploring all the backroads and places of interest. Over five years the Ford Ranger has done 40,000 kilometres more than the 5th-wheeler; that's a lot of exploring. I decided the winner this year was our road trip into the interior, visiting the Ashburton Lakes and Erewhon Station; a bucket list place I'd wanted to visit since we've been on the road. Seeing Mt Sunday (LOTR's Edoras) was an added bonus.

Being able to visit the lakes again a few days later after more snow had fallen was also a highlight.

Best Paid Attraction

Bill Richardson Transport World wins this one hands down; an absolutely amazing display, reputedly the largest private collection of it's type in the world. Give yourself all day and then some to explore though.

Best Day Walk

The spectacular 8.4km return walk to Mt Arthur Hut, located in the Kahurangi National Park. If you're feeling able and fit, return via the steeper Flora Hut track.

The most taxing, but still spectacular, walk we did was the Waikaia River loop at Piano Flat.

I need to add another Day Walk in here too, this one wins the best shared walk because we did it with a special bunch of people, walking (and entertaining each other) all the way to Harwoods Hole.

Best Natural Phenomenon

There are no doubts with this one, after chasing the Southern Lights on several occasions and managing to shoot varying strengths, I finally struck gold with a magnificent aurora in May. Absolutely mindblowing and the highlight of the whole year.

Best 'Shiny' Trip

We love exploring 4WD tracks and the South Island has more than its fair share. This year we added quite a few more to our 'Done!' list, including the challenging Carricktown & Young Australian Waterwheel track. It didn't help that we probably should have travelled the track in the opposite direction.

Best DOC Camp

Once again we've stayed at many DOC camps through the year and we have enjoyed them all but this year I'm choosing Piano Flat in Southland as the winner; there are a number of reasons it ticks the boxes; it's an isolated very well maintained camp, it's beside a beautiful river, the bird life is phenomenal and best of all, we had the camp to ourselves for most of our stay.

Best Weather Experience

This would have to be waking up to a icy winter wonderland and a minus 12c frost in the remote Ahuriri Valley. Thank goodness for diesel heaters.

A close second would be the early evening snowfall we experienced at the Methven campground where we were staying.

And at the other end of the scale, the worst weather we experienced (other than more than our fair share of rain) was nearly three days of fog at Lake Benmore!

Best Bird Encounter

It was a toss up between these gorgeous penguins in the Catlins and their Dance of the Hoiho...

...and one very confiding juvenile NZ Falcon/Karearea at Poolburn Dam.

Best Commercial Campground

Pakawau Beach Camp, Golden Bay- by no means the flashest campground, Pakawau is one of the old school Kiwi camping grounds we remember from our childhood.

Pakawau Beach Camp is in a fabulous position right on the beach and has two of the friendliest camp managers we have had the pleasure of meeting on our travels.

Best Photo Oportunity

So, so many. Where do I start and how do I choose? In the end I've gone with the fabulous reflections on Wairepo Arm in the MacKenzie Country. Right place, right time.

Best NZMCA POP (park over property)

This would have to be NZMCA POP #8872, a POP that is very well hosted by our lovely friends Prue & Harry on their farm at Ettrick, a small settlement just east of Roxburgh.

Best Family Adventure

Too many to make just one of them #1. From Crank Up...

Celebrating New Year and camping at Pounawea...

...to having some fun on the Earnslaw with our Southland and Aussie families.

Best Dramatic Coastline

Ward Beach of course, and the unbelievable seabed uplift that happened after the 2016 Kaikoura Earthquake.

Best Freedom Camping

Once again this was a difficult one as we have stayed at so many interesting freedom camping sites throughout the South Island, but I think Cattle Flat is one that stands out for me, not least because the Mataura was in flood and flowing very fast past just a few steps from our door but there were also some awesome cribs (baches, fishing huts) nearby, which made great photo subjects. Permission from the farm manager is required to stay here.

Best View

Nothing more than a Remarkable View...

Best Lake

This year Lake Onslow was the winner. We finally managed to revisit the lake and take 'Out There' with us this time so we were able to stay longer, enjoy the solitude and launch the dinghy for some serious fishing!

A close second was Poolburn Dam, a favourite lake of ours and on this visit we also managed to take 'Out There' in for a 12 day stay.

Best Special Event

We thoroughly enjoyed attending the 25th Goldfields Cavalcade in Omakau, Central Otago- well I did more so than David who is not really a horse person. 

Best Historic Visit

Well it is an historic high country station and I did want to include the Molesworth Road in my wrap-up for the year. This trip has been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember and after a few false starts we finally managed to spend six days exploring this isolated area. It didn't come without its hardships either; dust, a 1080 drop and a busted bridge all added to the challenge. Another top highlight for me.

Best Trip  *tongue in cheek*

Was it in the carpark outside the 4Square in Lumsden when I landed sprawled out across the footpath- gasping for breath and in great pain- with my groceries scattered in the gutter and across the road (I managed to have the store paint yellow danger lines on the offending kerb for my troubles). 

Or perhaps it was the tumble down the 5th-wheeler's steps which were coated in black ice (I'm sure I cracked by elbow on that one) or maybe the (thankfully) soft landing in the mounds of tussock after stepping into a hole at the end of the Lake Daniels walk. 

Nope, I think this one goes to my latest trip just because I did have to visit the hospital! Let's hope I learn to pick up my feet next year.

We've had a another wonderful year down South and we still have much to do down there. We will return eventually. But for the time being we have a busy year ahead of us up North. I'll look forward to sharing more blogs with you on the North Island and also sharing a few more exciting things that are in the pipeline including a visit to our newest grandson Otis, who was born on Boxing Day and lives in Melbourne with his parents, Lizzie & Jake.

Happy New Year to you all and all the very best for 2018, safe and happy travels.

Camping at Pounawea, Catlins- Part 1; Partying

Real-time 

We'll have been parked up here at the Pounawea Holiday Park for three weeks this coming Friday and I can't imagine where the time has gone. We've had, and are still having, an awesome time enjoying the comings and goings of camp life during a very busy silly season.

It's helped that we had the park virtually to ourselves for the first few days. Then a few days before Christmas, campers started trickling in and filling in the gaps...

...including the family from Winton in their caravan and the 'Taj Mahal' (as Rachel calls their shelter). That's theirs the blue & yellow shelter; the caravan and awning are out of sight, tucked in behind it.

Boxing Day brought a few more in...

and the 27th December was the busiest day, with plenty of new arrivals squeezing into all available spaces; caravans, motorhomes and tents of all sizes and shapes along with a few boats, plenty of children's bikes...

...and a couple of dozen very well behaved dogs....or should that be very well behaved owners who kept them on leads and under control at all times. I think one of the reasons the camp is so popular is because families can bring all their family members on holiday.

Amongst the assortment of arrivals over the last 2 weeks has been this cutie...

...and these two behemoths.

They belong to two German couples who shipped their vehicles, first to Australia for 4 months to explore the country, and then onto New Zealand for another few months.

One of the men told me they hadn't had much luck travelling 'off-road' in New Zealand- I'm not so sure they'd fit through some of the backcountry station gates or along some of the narrow gorge tracks offroad, but I gave them a few places to check out when they got to Central Otago.

The weather has been far from perfect but we have had a number of blue sky and warm sunny days. This morning was the first day we've woken up to hear rain on the roof (although we've heard it regularly on and off during the night).

And we have had quite a few grey days with passing showers, often with a cold wind blowing. It helps that the camp is tucked into a sheltered corner and often, unless you move out onto the estuary, you wouldn't know it was blowing a gale. Lets just say the weather hasn't dampened the spirits of a resilient bunch of campers.

We had a very long and relaxed Christmas Day starting with brunch and present opening in the Taj Mahal...

...followed by a mid afternoon Christmas dinner.

It was wonderful to be able to share Christmas with Ruby & Ollie although we were a little sad to be so far away from our other two grandchildren, Maddie & Joel in Tauranga.

On Boxing Day we had a lovely treat when Adam (a fellow camper) brought us over some Koura to eat.

Koura, their Maori name, as in Kaikoura (kai= food, koura= crayfish), are small freshwater crayfish that live in streams and creeks. They can be caught in small yabby traps, set similar to crayfish pots, or be enticed out from their cover by a piece of meat on a line, but Adam is a 'Southern Man', he feels for them under the water, sometimes up to his shoulder, along the banks and under the tree debris, looking for holes and crevices that they might be hiding in. 

Sometimes they'll latch onto his finger and he can retrieve them that way or he'll pull them out by a leg or the tail. It's not only koura he finds in some of the holes; I've seen a photo of him cradling, 'hugging' and laying beside (to get a size comparison) the biggest, fattest and longest eel I've seen in a long while! Bloody hell, he has nerves of steel and the 'no fear' of youth. It was possibly even bigger than the ones we saw under the jetty at Lake Rotoiti in the Nelson Lakes. 

Ever since we've been on the road, I've been wanting to see some Koura, I have memories of Dad taking us hunting for them out the back of Hastings when we were kids. So everytime we are near a stream or creek that looks a suitable habitat I tell David, there'll be koura in there and I have a quick scan. I'm sure he thinks I'm pulling his leg because we've yet to find any.

Adam kindly cooked the tiny crays for us...

And David showed the kids how to break their heads off and peel the tails, just like oversized prawns. They taste much the same too. Although going by the look on Ruby's face, I'm not so sure she thought they were such a good idea. But, as her Mum encourages them to try everything at least once, she gave it a go, and ended up giving them the big thumbs up too.

There were a couple of photos I didn't include in the first post on Pounawea- one of them was of the Pounawea 'Dolphin' (just for you Jenny & Robin), a historic and slightly forlorn looking structure out in the middle of the estuary 

Now 135 years old, I hope there are plans to restore the 'Dolphin' or at least stop it from keeling over (click on the photo to enlarge).

Tucked around the corner in the Owaka River estuary is an old kauri scow that has seen better days. Scows have no keel and were therefore suitable for river trading early last century, the 107 year old Portland is the last hold scow in New Zealand. Many scows were used in the Pacific during WW11 and never returned.

The Portland is privately owned although I suspect the owner would rather wish he didn't own it now. After purchasing it from another private owner he moved it down the river to where it now lays after finding much of the rotting planking fell apart as it was being moved.

To be continued...