Camping at Lake Ohau, Waitaki District, Otago

Catch-up  March 2021

Don't ask. And yes, I know I'm waaaay behind with my blogs but I just don't know where the time has gone these past few months. And while I might not have caught up yet, I am making some headway through my backlog of  photo processing, photo queries and cottage chores amongst others on my long list of tasks. Let's hope I can do a few more regular blog postings before summer arrives & it's full on again. 

We spent a week in March at the Round Bush DOC Camp on the shores of Lake Ohau in the Upper Waitaki District.

The camp is off Lake Ohau Road, 26km from the main road turnoff, just south of Twizel, the last 3km are narrow & gravel. And while this is a great campsite don't be tricked by my tranquil looking photos. Lake Ohau is an alpine lake, it's in the mountains and the weather can turn on a dime, from calm & sunny to brutally cold with ferocious winds. There are also sandflies the size of helicopters!

The view from the front door. Straight across the lake to Ben Ohau, the small mountain at the end of Ben Ohau Range. Lake Ruataniwha & Twizel are on the other side of Ben Ohau.

We struck it lucky with only one day of inclement weather. David put the Takacat up, it was time to go fishing. Lake Ohau, like Lakes Pukaki & Tekapo in the Mackenzie basin are alpine lakes. They are big lakes and long. Very deep & very cold as they are fed partly from the snow melt off the Southern Alps. David said he felt pretty insignificant bobbing along in his little 3.4m inflatable.

How's that for a mirror finish? It's not too often Lake Ohau is as calm as this, we were lucky enough to have three or four windless days on this visit.

I was also lucky enough to catch the Southern Lights from the lake front one night. Initially I was disappointed that my southerly view was obstructed by Ohau Range and I was thinking I might have to drive back out towards the main road to capture the full width of the aurora. But after a few test shots I realised that the composition wasn't too bad afterall; with Ben Ohau & the Milky Way joining the Aurora Australis. 

Round Bush is surrounded by native bush & beech forest and is great for bird watching. The Lake Ohau area is also one of the highest ranked South Island priority areas for mistletoe conservation. The endangered native scarlet mistletoe flowers in early December and if visiting the lake then, the Southern Beech trees that host the mistletoe, have great splashes of red through them (I prepared a photo for you earlier). 

A rather 'flea-bitten' male Tomtit/Miromiro (top right) & a male Bellbird/Korimako (bottom right) made bird watching easy when they came in close to the camp. Then after hearing a NZ Falcon/Karearea calling to a juvenile nearby I tracked them through the lakeside bush until they flew higher up the mountain. On the way back to camp I came across this hunting/fishing lodge hidden away in the bush, I hadn't seen it on previous visits to the camp. 

Takacats rule!

While David went fishing (he caught a couple of catch & release trout), I drove further up the road to explore. I stopped to take a photo of one of my favourite South Island views; looking up the lake towards the Hopkins & Dobson River Valleys with Mt Glen Lyon in the centre. I have this scene on a canvas in Kahu Cottage, although I took that photo when the manuka in front was in full flower.

I walked across the road to check out the lake view and who do you think was tootling along far below me? Click on the photo to check out exactly how insignificant he really was. 

The view back down the lake was fabulous.

I drove down the otherside and onto a track that took me on a bumpy & rutted route through the manuka until I reached the lakeside. I zoomed in on the Dobson Valley side of Mt Glen Lyon. On a clear day you can see the tip of Aoraki/Mt Cook, NZ's tallest mountain, peeping over the top of the mountains (see bottom right). 

I carried on past Ohau Station until I reached the Maitland Stream where the main (single lane) bridge is being repaired. A narrow bailey bridge or a ford were my options to take if I wanted to get to the other side. I swear the bridge was far too narrow for the Ranger, even though a worker on the main bridge was beckoning me on; he didn't have to answer to David had I hit the mirrors, so I took the ford. And cleaned a bit of the dust off while I was at it. 

Taken from the other side after I crossed the ford

The road continued on up past the vast river delta of the Hopkins & Dobson Rivers.

I stopped at the Temple Stream bridge to check for fish & birds; the water was crystal clear and looked very cold.

Once across the bridge I turned left and climbed a small hill beside the stream. The road is narrow and there's nowhere to pass for a short distance through the bush; luckily the vehicle I met coming out was able to back up a short way to let me past. I wanted to check out the Temple DOC camp.

Temple Stream bridge

Once through the bush the valley opens up and the short track follows the stream to the bush line.

 

There are large water filled potholes & it's quite rough in patches but doable in a smaller campervan or if you take your time perhaps you'd make it in a larger motorhome. The DOC campsite is large & flat and would be a great place to camp, there are plenty of sandflies here too. There are several day walks and tramping tracks up the two branches of stream; North Temple Valley & South Temple Valley.

I walked to the junction of the two branches and as I moved in and out of the bush I caught a glimpse of movement & colour way off in the distance. I zoomed in with my camera & was surprised when I caught sight of two trampers & their pack horse disappearing up the south branch (bottom right). Other than Mavora Lakes, I've not seen people with horses in the conservation parks.

I had my lunch at one of the picnic tables in the camp and them did a bit of bird watching in the bush along another track. I found another male tomtit, looking in a very much better condition than the one back at camp, and several Rifleman/Titipounamu, New Zealand's smallest bird. Unfortunately they were on a food finding mission and didn't stay still long enough for me to photograph.  

From Temple Stream I carried on further up the valley, passing mobs of merino sheep and crossing several cattle-stops along the way.

Mt Glen Lyon stands proud and alone at head of the lake. Back in Twizel, the cottages are on Glen Lyon Road. It's 40kms from the cottages up the other side of the lake to Glen Lyon Station, both named after this mountain.

And it's also 40km up this side of the lake to the end of the road. Well, the end of the council maintained road that is. 

A 4WD track continues on up the Hopkins River valley providing access to the Huxley River catchment and many of the tramping tracks and huts in this area of the Southern Alps. I am tempted to check the track out but decide this will be as far as I go. Today. 

I turn around and head back to camp.

And then convince David to take me back up there the next day. 

He decides to take the bailey bridge over the Maitland Stream. I'm sure only because I get out to see him through (and I wanted to see how close it was). Of course there's plenty of room but you know how it is when you're inside and the rails look so close. I will add that he decided on the ford on the way home; much more fun! 

Once through the road end gate & onto the track, the river valley opens up ahead of us.

There are a few muddy bogs to cross near the entrance and then several large rock slides further on. An approaching ute waits for us to cross a gnarly patch over the top of a section that has had a few washouts (that's his vehicle disappearing over the top in the bottom right photo.)

What doesn't show in the photos is the gale force wind that is whipping down the valley stirring up dust and sand. You can see a some of the dust clouds in the photo above.  

After 4-5km we reach a very large and wide rock slide with deep channels and decide that this is far as we'll go today. We could have inched our way across it but as is usual for us when we're exploring 4wd tracks we don't push the boundaries. The ute tows our home, any damage or breakdown and we're stuck where we've parked the 5th-wheeler for however long it takes.

And if you're wondering how large is large, can you see the vehicle approaching us from the other side? Click on the photo to enlarge. We wouldn't have had to just cross the slide but drive up it as well to find the track to continue on. 

Another two vehicles pass us heading out of the valley while we were stopped; hunters who had been staying at the huts further up the river. The 4wd track goes quite a distance up the river, crossing it in places too. These hunters told us they only made it to the first of several huts; Monument Hut.

We find a relatively sheltered spot behind the matagouri and out of the wind to have lunch. Afterwards David scans the mountainside looking for his elusive deer & tahr (one day he'll spot something) while I take a few more photos.

And then we head back to camp. Ahead is the vast shingle flats where the two rivers; Hopkins & Dobson meet, the grazed paddocks of Glen Lyon Station show along the base of Ben Ohau Range.

There was a spectacular sunrise on the morning of our departure from Round Bush. I couldn't believe my eyes when I looked out, as I do most mornings checking to see if there's going to be an interesting sunrise to photograph. It's not too often I strike it like this though. 

The famous Canterbury nor'west arch cloud formation was stretching across the sky high above the lake with a fiery orange colour just starting to stain the far end. It was a mad scramble as I grabbed my camera gear, threw on some warm clothes and rushed outside to take photos. 

The colour grew more intense as I hurried along the lake shore and around the point to take photos looking up the lake. A storm was brewing in the mountains at the far end of the lake. 

And instead of the usual subtle rosy pink behind me it was brilliant oranges & yellows (I am always telling people to look behind when they take sunrise shots, often the scene is just as spectacular).

I needn't have hurried (this time), the colour lasted for well over 20 minutes and I was able to take a few dozen photos while the fiery colours gradually bleached out of the cloud as the sun rose higher...

...leaving behind a just as spectacular dark & brooding nor-west arch. 

It was just as well we'd planned to vacate anyway & we pulled out just before the storm arrived.

An Eventful Afternoon in Waimate

Catch-up (mid Nov 2019)- Gordon Bennett! Is it that long ago, just feels like yesterday. Here's the last blog from our stay at Glenavy before we headed up to Lake Benmore for Christmas & New Year.

I wanted to check out the murals on the sides of the Waimate Silos so I took myself on an afternoon tiki-tour. I thought I'd drive to Waimate 23kms away, then head up the Waitaki Valley, cross the river to Kurow and come back down the other side. 

The last time we stopped in the area was way back in 2013 on our very first trip to the South Island, we stayed at the recently opened Waimate NZMCA Park and explored some of the area, including driving nearby Meyers Pass where I was very excited to see for the first time, a few spindly lupins in flower & another first, a dead wallaby! 

The silos were a blank canvas back then, they have only recently been painted, in May 2018.

I stopped on the roadside on the way into Waimate to take some photos of a large wheat field. You can't see it in the photos but I love the rippling movement and the rustling of the wheat as the wind swishes the ripening stalks back & forth. I also spotted a flock of green finches having a feast in the middle of the field. They were very skittish, chattering as they tried to settle, then lifting off every few seconds as the wind spooked them. 

And then when I looked around I could see why, I thought I'd better get my skates on, a massive dirty great black cloud was settling right over Waimate township.

Although by the time I got to town the dark brooding cloud had moved over to the hills behind.

Great I thought, I had time to walk the silo loop, a pedestrian loop that circles the outside of Transport Waimate's business premises and where you can view the murals, read all about them and not get in the way of the comings and goings of the businesses' stock trucks and other vehicles. Although I had to wait it out several times to capture a clean shot with no vehicles in the view. 

The silo project was the idea of  Transport Waimate's boss who commissioned Waimate artist, Bill Scott, to paint a number of local heroes on the silos. Click on the photo to read the history behind the silos & the people depicted in the murals.

I had just set off along the back of the loop when that big black cloud came back and dumped a solid sheet of rain on the town. Luckily I managed to scramble back to the ute and get inside just before it bucketed down. 

I sat the rain out for 10 minutes or so and after it had passed returned to finish the pedestrian loop.

The next local hero was 'Big Norm', Norman Kirk, a former New Zealand Prime Minister (who is walking hand-in-hand with Moana Priest). 

I wonder how many of you can recall where you were when you heard that Norman Kirk had died? I can. For some reason it has stuck in my head for over 45 years.  I had just gained my drivers license and was allowed to take the family car, a Holden HQ stationwagon, from the farm down to our local shops to collect the Sunday paper (and Dad's Park Drive tobacco).  Splashed across the paper's front page was the news of  Norman Kirks sudden death. I remember being shocked and when I got home, running up the path and calling the news out to the others before I'd even got into the house. 

And the last two figures are a tribute to two well respected local men that led by example; Michael Studholme & Chief Te Huruhuru.

There is another mural on the back wall of the silo buildings, one of another Waimate hero (heroine), Stella Chamberlain (a stellar lady?).  

This was one incredible lady, click on the photo to read her story. Stella certainly deserves a medal not only for her 35 year dedication to the Waimate Rugby Club but for having 13 children of her own to look after too!   

There are several more murals on the walls around town and I stopped to look at a few of them on my way to the next photo subject.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I pulled out back onto the main street, that big black cloud was heading our way again.

I'd taken photos of some of Waimate's historic buildings on my last visit but there was one I had overlooked, Quinns Arcade. I shot around the back of town and stopped to shoot the arcade as the cloud rumbled closer.

Quinns Arcade was built in 1906 from Makikihi bricks that were fired at William Quinn's brickworks, north of Waimate. The Arcadia included two dozen shops, twelve each side of a wide passage that led through to High Street. In 1920 Quinns Arcade became a picture theatre but it also didn't last very long.

I've photographed the magnificent St Patrick's Basilica before but thought I'd grab another shot before I headed back through town.

And that was when all hell broke loose. The cloud had moved right over the top of the town and started dumping massive great big hail stones on the main street. I pulled over as soon as I could as the noise on the ute was horrific and the wipers couldn't keep up.

The noise was ten times worse on top of the shop verandas, the road was covered and the gutters overflowing with melt water, solid lumps of ice and huge hail stones.

People came out from the shops and buildings to take photos & stare in wonder (or was it shock) at such a ferocious hail storm. I worried that the stones were going to smash the windscreen or dent the bonnet. The force was incredible & when I did move out from under cover to take a few photos, I ended up getting stung by hundreds of hail stones pinging me on the face, head & hands. 

And then just like that, it was gone...

...leaving the street covered in a thick layer of icy ball bearings. It was amazing how many people still chose to drive through while the storm was raging. Really, you could not see more than a few feet in front of you, my wipers on full speed could not keep up, and the road was as slippery as.....well, ice. 

Safe in the knowledge that the big black cloud was moving in the opposite direction I headed off up the Waitaki Valley, stopping for a brief look at the Waimate NZMCA Park on my way out of town...

...which looked one heck of a lot different to our stay there 6 years previous.

The Waimate Gorse...I mean Gorge, was an sea of yellow on both sides and right the way through. Once the land gets like this and the gorse takes over there's not much luck in returning it to native bush or grazing land. And seed from this lot would produce hundred of thousands more plants every season; what's that old adage, one year's seeds, 7 years weeds.

Uh-oh! Half way up the valley big fat icy blotches started pummeling the windscreen again.

And for the second time that day I had to pull over and sit out another terrific hail storm which had just as much intensity and power as the last one. It looked like the cloud had done another circuit. Afterwards I took some photos of a nearby ploughed paddock covered in ice and vehicle tracks in the ice. I was not far from a historic cob cottage (bottom left) which was built in 1880 from Penticotico clay & tussock. The hail stones lay on the grass path and around the cottage like snow.

As it turned out this was one day before a huge hail storm devastated Timaru (just 45kms north) leaving behind a $83 million insurance bill. Amongst the wide spread damage, car yards and vehicle dealerships had every vehicle on their yards dented and damaged. All I could think of was the local strawberry fields (which Waimate is well know for) with their ripening fruit.

I drove over the new Waitaki River bridge into Kurow and stopped for a cup of tea at a nearby rest area. The last time we crossed the river here the bridge was a rickety old one way bridge that looked to be about to collapse. If you check the link out at the beginning of this blog you'll see a photo of it. 

From Kurow I headed down the valley on the other side of the river, stopping at the Takiroa rock art site, a historic Maori site where there are several drawings on the wall under an overhang of rock.

We've seen several Maori art sites in the district, including one on a private farm where we were staying. It was hard to make these ones out as they had been damaged before the protection fences had gone up.

There was one more place I wanted to check out before heading home. At Black Point I turned down a  narrow pot holed farm track towards the river. I'm heading to Bortons Ponds, part of the Lower Waitaki Irrigation Scheme, where water is drawn from the river, held in the ponds and then distributed via canals to the Waitaki Plains.  During peak season 1.4 million m3 of water passes through the scheme daily. 

I'd heard about this place a very long time ago and if Mary is reading this now she'll kill me next time we cross paths. She spoke of it in very hushed tones and rather vaguely when I pressed her for more information. I don't miss much and I stored the name in the back of my memory box for next time we were in the area. 

Mary and her friends (and other people in the know) freedom camp here around the ponds, there are several areas where you could camp (I can find no reference that you're not allowed but don't blame me if you get moved on) It's a very peaceful place and I'd imagine the locals come to picnic and swim here in the summer. 

The scheme also supplies Oamaru with water so don't go peeing in it! 

And that was that, it was time to move on. My beloved lupins were about to flower! Mackenzie Country was calling, Lake Tekapo here we come.