Ohau Seals

One more place I wanted to stop on our way south was Ohau Point to see some of the large colony of New Zealand Fur Seal (Maori name- Kekeno) that resides along this rugged coastline north of Kaikoura.

And in particular the Ohau Stream & waterfall which flows into the ocean at this point. Over the winter months there can sometimes be a few hundred seal pups swimming and playing in the pool below the falls or resting on the rocks & boulders that line the stream. These pups were born in the previous spring and have made their way 700mtrs up the rocky stream, no mean feat in itself, to look after themselves while their mothers are away at sea feeding. This protects them from marauding males and because seals are very social animals it also provides them with support & playmates while they’re on their own. They must return to the coast every few days to feed on their mother’s milk.

 
Sadly for us the last of the pups have weaned and left the stream to join the colony back on the coast. I knew we would be lucky to see them as it is getting on into early summer now but there have in the past been reports of pups in the pool into December. This will be one place we’ll need to come back to during winter.

We enjoyed watching the antics of some of the seals as they lolled in the sun on the warm rocks.

 

You can see the bite marks across the back of this big guy.

 

Males can weight up to 200kgs while the females are considerably smaller at 40-50kgs, we could also see some of the newly weaned pups in amongst the herd. At this time of the year the males are vying for position and establishing their harem. 

This particular guy “owned” the rock pool he was in and he charged & chased any males that approached it. He launch himself off the rocks into the swirling white water time & time again chasing after any seal that even looked like it was going to climb up onto the surrounding rocks. He’d be gone a few minutes and cruise back in on incoming wave & throw himself back up and into the pool again laying on his back waving his flipper in triumphant success and do a few victory rolls while he was at it.

 

 

That was until this smaller guy cautiously approached & peered over the edge.

I don’t know why he thought he could succeed where others had failed but he slithered over the top and it was game on!

They battled for well over ten  minutes, whacking heads as they tried to grab each other’s jaw, locking teeth sometimes, taking bites across the back & doing death rolls. At one stage the big guy rolled on & held the other one under water for a time. In the end the little guy gingerly heaved himself out and slithered away. The big guy climbed along the edge & seem to be checking that all his girls were still there, & more importantly, had seen the battle. Most snoozed on in indifference.

Just along from one of the seal colony lookouts was a rookery of Spotted Shags(Parekareka)  & their nearly fully grown chicks. The nests were in some impossible positions, especially the ones down on the recesses of the cliff face & I wonder how the chicks manage to hold on and not slip over the side into the ocean below, especially when they were small. I also wonder how they manage when a storm blows in.

After leaving the seals we made our way south and then inland for 6kms alongside a wide braided river valley full of shingle & boulders washed down from the mountain range that rises steeply off the coast in the area.

The river was low & icy blue indicating that it was coming from the snow melt further inland & probably off Mt Alexander which still had snow on its upper reaches. We were heading to the DOC camp at PuhiPuhi Reserve, a small clearing beside a bush reserve at the junction of two rivers, the PuhiPuhi & the Parapara.

We were the first to arrive at this isolated camp site & I wondered how many, if any, would arrive later in the afternoon & evening. In fact by night fall there were four of us settled in for & then another two vehicles arrived sometime in the night.

With rain threatening & the odd shower passing over we went for an explore up the stony river bed which was very hard going on my tender feet, especially when we crossed the ice cold ‘river’ to check out the narrow opening through the rock face. In a flood the water must roar through this point & I’d hate the thought of getting caught in it.

 

A steady rain started in the night and continued on into this morning. This is the first rain we have had since leaving Tauranga over six weeks ago & it was especially welcome to wash the dust of the ute & fifth-wheeler, even though David had cleaned it back in Blenheim at the Top10 park. It also gave David a chance to test out his water catching methods & fill our tank & drink containers although we had only just topped up the tank a couple of days ago. Our motto; “Never miss an opportunity to fill, pump or dump”  :)

Heading South

After another busy week flew by, Friday finally arrived & we were packed  & ready to pull out, keen to get on the road by mid morning. It was time to leave, after three weeks it was starting to feel very comfortable parked up alongside the garage. I could feel those little feeder shoots starting to take root; wine & nibbles each night, home cooked dinners, the house shower, all those comforts of home we often take for granted. It was great while it lasted but it was time for us to really “hit the road”. We said our goodbyes to Mum & Dad with a tinge of sadness, not too sure when we’ll be seeing them again, although I’m sure I’ll be able to fly into Napier occasionally to catch up.

I'm not too sure who was keener for us to depart....Mum & Dad helping us pack up

For a couple of days earlier in the week it was touch & go as to whether we’d actually get to the South Island at all this side of Christmas. I kept checking the Interislander timetable & booking system on the internet waiting for it to go live again after they stopped taking bookings because of the ferry that lost its propeller. In the end I decided to call the 0800 number to check & I was so glad I did. After an hour or so of being put on hold and passed from operator to operator the final guy informed me that the Interislander would not be taking any vehicle bookings this side of Christmas for either of the two remaining ships and most likely this would be the case until well into January. All available vehicle space had been taken by the prebooked vehicles on the ship that was now out of action.

And we’ve since learnt that the out of action ship is responsible for 48% of all vehicle traffic across the Strait with the Interislander.  The operator advised me to call Bluebridge, their opposition, which I promptly did & managed to book an 8am sailing this Wednesday. To hell with the Premium Lounge & roll on/roll-off capabilities of the Kaitaki, Bluebridge’s “Santa Regina” will do just fine! Once the media broke the news of the crisis about to happen Bluebridge’s bookings skyrocketed to where there is now only a few spaces left on some of the 2am sailings & some weekends until the end of January (and they have probably gone now too). What a diabolical situation this is, at the height of the summer season, both international & domestic tourists alike will find it just about impossible to cross with vehicles from the North Island to the South Island & visa-versa. Thank God (& touch wood) we got a booking & nothing will happen to it before we get to the other side.

After leaving Mum & Dad we headed out to Havelock North to say goodbye to David’s brother & his wife. While there David also found time to have a play with his nephew’s birthday present, a remote controlled electric driven Lamborghini ; a present that hadn’t even been given to Ethan yet and there they were, David & his brother, two grown men playing with it around the carpark. There’s always a little boy in there somewhere waiting to play.

We left Havelock and headed back across town towards State Highway 50, I had one more country church I wanted to shoot before we left the Bay and it was down Tikokino way. The Bibby Family Memorial Church has recently celebrated its 150th year with many descendants from the original farming family attending the celebrations from around the world. The church is located 9 kilometres up a narrow winding country road in amongst the rolling hills of sheep farming country & not too far from the upper reaches of the Tuki Tuki river & the Ruahine ranges.

A small flock of sheep were the permanent lawnmowers within the grounds of the church & they didn’t take too kindly to being disturbed although one was keen to keep a wary eye on me.

Back down on the plains we finally turned back onto the main road and headed south. We weren’t too sure how far we were going but had a tentative plan to stop somewhere around Woodville for the night. We had a couple of NZMCA sites in mind, one we couldn’t locate & the other was no more than a rough carpark beside a reserve which we weren’t at all happy with. We had noticed as we came across the Balance Bridge just before the Manawatu Gorge a car & caravan down on a huge grassed area beside the river.

We decided to check it out & found the entrance a bit further along the road. The rough track wound its way around and along until we too found ourselves beside the river. We checked at the gate & on the internet to see if camping was allowed and with no mention either way we decided that this would do nicely for the night. The caravan later left us but with a tent & a small van just off the track further on we had the place virtually to ourselves. It was a very dark & peaceful night although we did hear the odd train trundling by on its way through the gorge.

David was quick to get his spinning rod out when we arrived to try his hand in the pools just below some nearby rapids. He was pleased to land two trout in quick succession, both released & then to also hook at least another three.  He is either waiting for the big one or feeling very sorry for them as this morning in just over an hour fishing he hooked another 4 or 5 which he either released or they escaped.  I did get to see one of them landed from a distance so I know he is not kidding me (or you)

Heat, Glorious Heat

This down time we've had in Tauranga has had a few benefits; David has been able to carefully research a few things that need to be done on the fifth-wheeler & ute before we are back on the road. First up and most importantly (after spending a cold night at Lake Okareka) was the heating system in the van for when we are off the grid.

The two choices were LPG or diesel. One of our concerns with LPG was the effect very low temperatures can have on the bottled gas & also we would be putting all our eggs into one basket by relying on one energy source for cooking, hot water & heating. On the other hand, diesel offered a considerably lower running cost albeit a more expensive installation & especially now that we have elected to run with two smaller units instead of one big unit.  After a lot of thought & discussion we now have two  Eberspacher Airtronic D2 (2.2KW )diesel heaters fitted.

Underneath inlet & exhaust installation

One has gone under the stove & vents out under the fridge to heat the galley & lounge area & the other is located in a below floor compartment under a side cabinet in the bedroom.

It vents out through the shoe storage box which forms the step up to the bed. We have lost a small amount of storage space but gained a drying container for the shoes from the small amount of transferred heat as it passes through the hose to the vent.  But best of all, we can use the shower box as a drying room by opening the door & directing the vent straight in there. In the future we may need to add a flexible hose to the vent & run that into the shower depending on how quickly things dry.

The heaters run independently so we only need to use them as & where we need the heat. There's a small amount of noise in the initial start up but nothing compared to the heater on the air conditioning unit when that is on and once the heater has reached temperature they are very quite.

The only area of concern for me so far is the small ticking noise as the diesel is pumped through, it's hardly heard when you're up and about in the van but I think you will be able to hear it in the dead of the night if the heater is running. Like a rain drip.......drip.......drip...... Maybe it'll put me to sleep, who knows but it'll be a small price to pay to have glorious warmth on tap! Especially next winter. Down south.

There is no noticeable diesel smell outside & again just a small amount of noise that drops right off once the temperature has been reached. A 20lt tank has been installed into one of the outside forward side storage cabinets & this can easily be filled each time we fill the ute. 

Quarter Acre Pot

We purchased a Quarter Acre Pot at last year's Covi Motorhome Caravan & Outdoor Show which is held at the Epsom show grounds in Auckland. So far I haven't tried it out so I thought while we're parked up at home I'd trial it along side cooking the same dish in the oven.

Quarter Acre Pots are thermal cookers that require no power, a bit like a slow cooker that doesn't need to be plugged in. Because we'll be off the grid a lot of the time I'm hoping it'll be an ideal way to prepare a meal. I also like the fact that you can prepare the meal in the morning before you leave for the day & it'll be ready to eat when you get back or to when you pull into another site after a day of driving which is when you least feel like cooking dinner.

Here's the blurb from the link above-

The Quarter Acre Pot is a simple to use non-electrical multifunctional appliance that can be used as a Thermo Cooker, Cooler, Bain-Marie, Rice Cooker and Yoghurt Maker. Take your Quarter Acre Pot Camping, in the Caravan or Motor Home, Picnics & Outdoor Events .

I found a recipe in amongst a pile I was sorting & thought it would be perfect to trial in the Pot & to compare, in a casserole in the oven. I was hoping to include it here but I've now gone & misplaced it.

So in case you're wondering what it is, it was called a "Chicken, Chorizo & Butter Bean Bake"

Basically there are two "billies", a large one that fits inside the outer thermo container & a half size one that fits inside the bigger billy. After water is brought to the boil in the outer billy, the smaller one with the food ready to go is placed inside that. It sits in the top half of the bigger container above the boiled water. The lid is fitted & the outer thermo lid is closed and then the whole container is popped into the carry bag & put somewhere safe & secure to work it's magic. The boiling water transfers it's heat to the thermo outer & slowly the food is cooked. And that is that. Meats, casseroles, soups, desserts & cakes can all be cooked in Quarter Acre Pot.

And the verdict? I left it cooking for 8 hours & I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. It was definitely tastier than the same casserole done in the oven, much more flavour and the chicken readily fell off the bone. Now I'm looking forward to trying it out on other recipes, maybe some of the less likely "slow cooker" ones. I'll let you know how they go.

Rain, Rain & More Rain

Well it has torrentially rained for 28 hours solid now & we have had the park to ourselves since early this morning when the two cars left.  No one has been silly enough to arrive this afternoon and now we’re even wondering if the road is accessible. Thankfully there were no fords that we crossed to get here. That we can remember.  David took a drive down to the bridge that we crossed to make sure all was ok that far down, & it was.

Yesterday before the heavy rain started I took these photos of the Tairua river which flows past the campsite.

 

 

This morning I put on my rain gear & my gumboots and walked over to the river to see how far it had come up. I was kind of expecting a raging torrent but it was a surprise to see how much it had changed since last night. I was too scared to venture right down to the edge in case I slipped but David took me down to the bridge later in the day to get a shot too.

 

 

Our fresh water tanks are full to overflowing & David has filled every available receptacle we have onboard & still he is collecting it; so much water going to waste. Well in fact it’s not going to waste really; the bush will be lapping it up. Mini waterfalls are flowing all over the place & the blackbirds & thrushes are having a ball. It's not getting too boggy so the rain must be soaking in, we’re just hoping the gravel tracks out of here to the road will be fine by tomorrow. And that there have been no slips caused by the soaking. I guess if you’re reading this we’ve made it back to civilization.

Once we had our awning fully extended & tied down it provided a great shelter for us. I had lots of things to do inside that I’d be saving for a rainy day & David did what he’d be dying to do for many days; clean the ute! Well why not make use of the rain although he used the hose on the campsite water tap. But at least the rain helped rinse it off afterwards.

This camping business is swings & roundabouts, it’s all about balancing out your resources so you’re not running out of necessary supplies  that would make for a miserable few hours or days. If it’s sunny, you have heaps of solar power pumping in, so using electrical devices isn’t a problem but then you have to watch your water use(if there are no taps nearby), short showers, shallow sinks, flush for #2s only etc, etc. 

If it’s raining you can top up your tanks & have a longer shower but then if you’re not plugged in it can’t be too long, that pump uses precious electricity & there’s no sun to restore the supply. The best option is to be plugged in at a campground with a hose tap nearby (& internet supply freely available) but where’s the fun in that. My happy day is when  we’re leaving a powered camp site & visiting their dump station on the way out. I can have a one long hot continuous shower because the water can be topped up. Power is no problem for the water pump, & if the grey water tank fills? That's no problem either, empty it on the way out!

It’s now 6pm & it’s still raining heavy, the forecast is for a lull tomorrow morning & then heavy rain again so we’re hoping we can make a break for it before it sets back in again. We’ll definitely be coming back here at some stage to finish our exploring.

We Nearly Came Unstuck

With the first heavy rain forecast in the whole four & a bit weeks that we’ve been away, we couldn’t quite decide if we'd stay put at the Top 10 campground at Hot Water Beach or headed out into the wilderness again. Broken Hill, a DOC (Dept. of Conservation) campground was the next place I had tentatively marked on our route, 47kms further south & getting that little bit closer to home.

Did we need power to keep us topped up? Who knew when the sun would shine again to top us  up via the solar panels. Did we want the internet to keep us occupied (yes; that would be me!) Would we be better staying here in the Top10 high & dry & safe from any weather related problems even though the wind gusts were starting to move the van about a bit. We weighed up the pros & cons of moving on and decided we might as well be tucked up in the wilderness facing the rain than here in the camp, either way we’d be stuck inside.

In between passing showers we packed up the van, hitched up, emptied our tanks once again, set TomTom for Broken Hill & hit the road. The turn off was off the Hikawai-Kopu road and by the time we got there it was raining quite heavy on & off.

There was a large ford to cross at the beginning, the stream still just a trickle & then the road turned to a track, it was 8kms to the end and the track slowly got narrower and we crossed another couple of fords.

 

We were both starting to get a little worried, we’d always said we’d unhitch & check out any unknown roads if we felt uncomfortable about the chance we might get stuck with no turn  around areas at the end of dead end roads. But we kept seeing signs that we were heading in the right direction. Mostly signs saying “Private Property” “Keep Out” “No Hunting”, these would indicate the landowners in this area were fed up with the public accessing their properties from this road which would mean a lot of people heading up this road to the DOC land.

Along the way farm animals looked up & stared at us rumbling by, some were even startled; like they hadn’t seen anything like this down here before. And then we saw a farmer on a tractor coming down the side of a hill, I said to David  'He must be thinking “Those guys are keen” as the rain squalls continued to pass through.

And then we were at the end of the road but no sign of a DOC camp. I could see a sign board a bit further on so got out with the umbrella & had a look. Yes it said “Broken Hill”, yes it indicated many of the walks to be had in and amongst this old gold mining area, but no, it didn’t say anything about a DOC campground. “Oh wait, look there it was” At the other end of the park, 17kms away and accessed from a totally different road! Physically different but not that different; one was called Puketui Road & the other was Puketui Valley Road! Never trust your TomTom……well in fact that’s not quite right, always check your husband had entered the right information. But to give him his dues, it did say Broken Hill, it did say Puketui and it did say(somewhere) that it was hard to find.

Thankfully at the end of the road were some stock yards & a barn so there was a reasonable area to turn around in and thank God for the manoeuvrability of the fifth-wheeler. We felt a bit of a fool driving back down the road, the animals still standing there staring at us, at least the farmer had disappeared. I’m thinking he just said to himself “bloody JAFAS”.

So back we went retracing our steps until we found the right road to turn into, it followed alongside the Tairua River & wasn’t too bad width wise until towards the end when it narrowed down, especially where there had been some major slip areas which had obviously wiped out the road into the river below & been repaired.

At the end of the road was the DOC camp, & what a beauty it was too. 

I'm not too sure who was going to enforce the liquor ban...

A large tiered site set amongst mature native bush on the banks of the river. There are dozens of sites to choose from, lovely grassed areas in amongst the bush or under trees.

 

There was no warden on this site, it’s self check-in , you drop your fee in the “iron maiden” and find yourself a spot. We have a DOC pass so no need for us to pay, just fill in our details.

 

There was one other motorhome parked near the entrance , two cars arrived later in the day (& stayed overnight) & the motorhome left before dark & that was it. Just us & the wilderness. Oh & the rain. It rained solidly all night, It didn’t let up one iota & in fact got heavier & heavier. There was quite a bit of wind too but we were quite sheltered below the tree line. I love the sound of rain on the roof & on the van it was very loud. But I can seriously say that by daybreak it had certainly lost it's appeal.

This is the first lot of heavy rain we’d had since we’ve been on the road. We’ve had a couple of overnight rainfalls & one day of drizzle & that’s been it. The Coromandel is calling out for rain, as is the rest of NZ, the drought has taken a heavy toll so we can’t really begrudge the fact that it is now pelting down with rain. I was hoping to do some of the walks in the area & David had his eye on doing some trout fishing in one of the few trout rivers in the Coromandel. No such luck.

We’d already discussed the process of collecting water especially when we’re freedom camping, so much clean water falls from the sky in a downpour like this that it makes sense to try & collect some of it. It pours off the corners of the van & the awning & we're going to sort out some sort of collection system for it before our next trip away. In the meantime McGivor set about adapting a few bits & pieces & managed to fill the containers dozens of times over. He couldn’t keep up with them, he’d turn his back & the other one would be fill. We didn’t have a funnel but a Sprite bottle came in handy. The benefit of this was one long hot shower this morning! No rationing today!

 

Last night before darkness overtook us, David found a Morepork (NZ owl) roosting in a tree nearby, we were able to get right up close to him but unfortunately it took me awhile to sort out my camera settings and by then he’d moved on. It was a thrill to see him though & hopefully David might find him again tonight.

We Need Supplies

Not only do we need to plug into the grid & empty our tanks but we are running out of supplies too. The last of the bacon, eggs, bread & butter was used at breakfast this morning, the fresh veges ran out 2 days ago (although I have enough spuds left for one more dinner), the wine has gone, so has a bottle of bourbon. There’s enough milk for a cuppa tea in the morning & then that has finished too.

We still have apples, onions, dried & tinned goods left & a little meat in the freezer which would all probably last us another week or so if I wanted to become creative. I’ve also made up some powdered milk but frankly I just can’t stand the smell so I’ll only use that in emergencies.

So after 10 days the time has come to say goodbye to Port Jackson. We have had a wonderful time & have thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, so much so that we’ve decided not to head to the DOC camp at Waikawau Bay on the other side, instead we’ll head back to White Star Station for a couple of nights to plug in & catch up on washing etc and then head down to Coromandel, top up with groceries and then across the range to Whangapoua where some friends have offered us their bach (holiday house) driveway to park in for a few days. The break here has been good, we’ve had time to recharge our batteries & we’ve made some great acquaintances & had lots of laughs.

It rained today so while David packed up in between showers I decided to make some focaccia bread (the only recipe I found that didn’t need butter or eggs) & the first time I’ve hand made bread, usually I would have done it in my bread machine. I was pretty pleased with the outcome too. So tonight for dinner we’re having snapper kokoda (that’s raw marinated fish coconut salad) using the last of the snapper fillets from David’s catch yesterday & fresh bread. Pretty good considering I’m out of supplies don’t you think?
 

What I’ve been pleasantly surprised about with this lifestyle is how much thought goes into our food use and how minimal the wastage is. Not that we wasted food at home it was just that because it was easy to use too much & the shops were handy to replenish the pantry & fridge when I needed, I tended to cook bigger quantities & we both snacked more. In the van every scrap of food is used productively, so instead of eating that extra slice of chicken or potato I put them in the fridge and use them for lunch the next day. Instead of eating a whole tin of whatever, I use half and save the rest for another meal. I was very disappointed to have to throw out a quarter packet of lettuce this evening, when usually I would have been annoyed but not worried as I could get another packet tomorrow. I really should have used it before now with the one tomato I was saving with the brown spots on it & the limp carrot! J

We have a reasonably big fridge for a mobile lifestyle but quite a small freezer so it does take some planning to fit everything in, especially at the beginning of a trip or after a stock up at the supermarket. I’m enjoying the challenge & I've used some of my free time to finally sort through the hundreds of recipes I've clipped out & saved over the years. I've thrown the ones I'm never likely to use & carefully indexed & catalogued the ones that appeal to me & the ones that will suit our new lifestyle.

Bring Home the Bacon

We were due to leave Port Jackson today but we’ve decided to stay on another couple of days & leave on Friday. After a mediocre Easter, the weather has settled again, the sun is shining, the people are gone and we have the best site overlooking the perfect beach with the best views & amazing sunsets; why would we want to leave?

We were going to Waikawau Bay, another DOC camp on the east side of the peninsula but while it’s beside a beach, the camp ground is tucked in behind the sand dunes so you don’t get the views that we have here or the easy access onto the beach. 

 

We are also just about out of essential food (that includes wine! :) ), our tanks; both grey & black need emptying & our fresh water needs to be topped up by a hose which would save David having to cart containers across from the tap down the way a bit. But most importantly we need to fully charge our house batteries. We’ve managed reasonably OK on solar power for nine nights, in fact better than we’d expected, but the solar has only really topped the batteries up enough to get us through the evening before they drop right down again & we hope desperately that it’ll be a sunny day in the morning. 
 

David has become a train-spotter, in fact I think he’s always been a train spotter but now I know for sure. He religiously watches all the gauges, reading them up & down as it happens. We’ve had to carefully watch our water & power use, switching off anything not required (of course) & having very short showers using bursts of water. We have even been having a few cold showers in the campgrounds outdoor cubicles and using the camp toilets(long drops) a few times too, not knowing yet how long it will take to fill the black tank. There are no dump stations up here so we’ll have to wait until be head south again before we empty. 

We’ve still managed to charge our phones(not that we can access the network too often), I can charge my laptop a couple of times a day using the inverter which has enabled me to process my photos & write the blogs which I’ll be able to upload once we get back into internet range again. And we can still watch TV in the evenings which is a bonus considering most of the camp have gone to bed once night falls.

When we leave on Friday we’re going to head back to White Star Station for a couple of nights, plug in to grid, catch up on business & the internet, buy a few stores in Colville to see us through until we get to Coromandel township & the Four-Square to buy more. We’ll probably take another trip over to Waikawau but head up to Port Charles & Stony Bay and maybe do the other half of the Coastal Walk from that side. But we’ll see, we might just blob for a couple of days.

This afternoon David set out across the bay in the inflatable again, this time with an outboard helping out and after four hours and many fish later he brought home dinner! Fish two nights running, this is becoming a nice habit.

More photos here of  Port Jackson

A couple of nice pannies