White Cliffs of…..Mangaweka

We said a final farewell to Kuripapango and turned right at the gate. Next stop Mangaweka.

We cross the Ngaruroro River for the last time and start the steady and slow climb up the “Gentle Annie’. From the top of the first climb we look back down on the river and can see part of the oxbow, the camp is around the far side of centre hill. Across the valley is Mt Kuripapango where you can clearly see the track I climbed  running up the ridge.

The ‘Gentle Annie’ was a lot longer than I remember with the road winding it’s way up, down and around for about 10kms. We were a little worried about hauling the van through the range but as it turned out it was a piece of cake compared with some of the roads we’ve travelled in the South Island. Although, going by some fellow RVers we spoke to in camp,  it’s a longer & steeper haul coming the other way, from west to east.

We had a great view of the Central Plateau mountains once we’d finally finished with climbing and were passing through rolling farmland. Some of the largest high country sheep stations in the North Island are located along the Napier-Taihape Road and other than the green crop paddocks the pasture looked bone dry. A long & hot summer has parched the land.

We stopped on the side of the road where I took this panorama looking south east, the Rangitikei River valley is somewhere down there.

We stopped to check out the historic Springvale Suspension Bridge, built in 1925 as the route from Taihape to Hastings became more popular, especially with farmers getting produce to the port in Napier.

And right along side is the new Springvale Bridge, built in 1970.

The reserve beside the bridges is a freedom camping area and would be a great place to stop for a night or two especially if you were a keen trout fisherman. We only stopped to check out the bridge this time. While there this tiny retro caravan on a big road trip pulled into the reserve. I’d seen it the night before camped at Kuripapango. It wasn’t going to be the last time we saw it either.

You can see here that the north facing slopes of the hills behind are very dry.

Further on down the road we speed past a large collection of farm buildings which belong to Erewhon Station, a very large sheep station (originally spelt Erehwon, the reverse of ‘nowhere’)- there’s also another Erewhon Station in the Canterbury high country, I wonder why, is there a connection? Other than both of them being out in the middle of nowhere. In the 1870s this Erewhon Station carried around 80,000 sheep. The wool was taken to Napier by packhorses or mules and quite a few were lost while negotiating the narrow track down and up the Ngaruroro River Gorge- now known as the ‘Gentle Annie’.

Just out of Taihape, David has to screech to a halt, when, as we round a corner, I spot this cute little church on a rise ahead of us. This is Opaea Maori Church, it's beside a marae.

We stopped in Taihape to dump the tanks (which, with careful management, lasted well over the two weeks at Kuripapango) and have a coffee at a cafe. Then we continued on south, now on State Highway One which, as it happens, wasn’t very busy. But it still felt like a 10 lane highway after two weeks out in the wops!

Finally we reached Mangaweka, a small settlement the rest of the country has left behind. Abandoned buildings litter the main street which was bypassed by SH1 back in the 1970s. Adventure tourism and farming are now the mainstays. Although Mangaweka is still famous (in NZ) for two things; a DC3 plane that is now tearooms & the beautiful white cliffs that form a gorge for the Rangitikei River.

We turn off the main road and head down towards the river where there are two camping grounds, one on either side of the river, the commercial campground is across the bridge. A more rustic one with limited amenities is in a reserve just before the bridge- the commercial campground collect the fees ($7pp per night)so there is some connection there. We’ve heard from several people that this one is a great place to stay.

There are two levels to the campground and we’re keen to park up on the lower level beside the river rather than up top where it’s just another grassy patch albeit with beautiful white cliffs as a backdrop.

The road down to the lower level is very narrow and overgrown but I walk ahead and we squeeze through. Luckily it’s soft branches that rub down our sides. Take note of the river level measuring stick! We’d have been outta there quick smart had it started to rain heavily!

Behind us the bridge crosses the river, we hear a gently ‘thump, thump’ as each vehicle crosses. It’s a one way bridge with wooden boards & there’s a 10kph speed restriction.

The Rangiteiki river starts on the eastern slopes of the Kaimanawa Mountains on the Central Plateau and flows southwest for around 185km. For much of it’s course the river flows through steep gorges with high papa rock (greywacke) cliffs. The river is very popular for fishing, canoeing, jet boating and white water rafting. Like the Ngaruroro, this river is running very low,  though we can see that it has crossed the gravel in front of our van very recently as there is still damp mud.

All the photos below have people in them, hard to believe but look carefully, that will give you an indication of the sheer height of the cliffs. They are very impressive and rise near vertical from the river. A sign in the campground warns not to swim underneath the cliffs (ignored by many), due to their soft structure. And not to be too concerned if you hear crashing sounds in the night, very few slips reach the water as the soft face breaks away on a regular basis.

There’s a fly fisherman in the middle left photo, I zoomed in & that’s him on the right. David went fishing both evenings we were at the camp; he hooked one small fish & landed a beauty which he released, much to the pleasure of tourist watching him from a nearby rock. It was a surprise there were any fish in the pool, it was near where everyone went swimming.

The following day we headed inland exploring (more on that in another blog) but stopped over the other side of the river to check out the commercial campground- a nice spot too- and the river & bridge from that side. This is looking towards our camp, you can see our van peeking out of the undergrowth and people down at the river’s edge.

The Mangaweka Bridge first took traffic across the river in 1904 but was never officially opened. The community have finally planned an  ‘Opening & Pioneer Day’ for 7th March, 2015, 111 years later. Better late than never!

It was a tight squeeze getting back out of the lower level but hey, we don’t do things by halves, we do push the boundaries occasionally but that gets us into some special spots.

We had a lovely two days at Mangaweka but we were both keen to get back on the road & head further south, getting ever closer to crossing back to the Mainland.

Fly Fishing

A few last photos from Kuripapango- David fly fishing the beautiful Ngaruroro River.

As you can see the water is a beautiful green colour and very clear. It makes it hard to fish as they see you coming, but David did manage to catch a few fish but they were all ‘catch & release’. As much as I wanted to have at least one trout for dinner, I was happy they were returned, they deserved to survive after escaping the masses at Waitangi weekend.

From the lookout at the Cameron Carpark, looking down the river towards the DOC camp which is up high around that last bend.

Farewell Kuripapango, we had a wonderful two weeks enjoying the solitude (which was most days even with all those people passing by) and getting back to nature.

Passing Parade at Kuripapango

For the last two weeks there has been a steady stream of traffic and people passing our camp site, many were day visitors, calling in as they pass by on Napier-Taihape Road. Others stay the night or the weekend and we’ve seen one guy, a fishing guide with his overseas clients, twice. For just two nights we’ve had the whole camp to ourselves, other times- Waitangi weekend,  it was bursting at the seams.

Catching the last of day's sun

There have been some unusual vehicles arriving, including this beast (beauty?).

We felt like we were the only ones in the whole wide world when we woke one morning, just bird song & the low rumble of the river in the distance. No vans, bikes, tents or people to be seen, just us & nature. It wasn’t until we drove out to the road that we were confronted with this gathering in the clearing near the road. Where on earth did they come from! We later learnt that they were on a ‘safari’ and had been travelling around the North Island.

One damp morning I was sitting typing a blog when I looked up to see this large bus coming around the corner followed by a mini van and another vehicle. Looking excitedly out the windows were the eager faces of 50+ boys; 10-11 year olds from Hereworth School in Hastings on a school camp for four days. ‘Oh great’, I thought. ‘there’s our peace gone’

They all piled out of the bus, laughing and chasing each other, full of energy and keen to explore their surroundings. I think there must have been at least six parent helpers and two or three teachers with them too.

Once they’d retrieved their packs from the back of the trailer they were sent off to pitch their tents. It seems they’d been told they could set their tent up anywhere within the central camp area. I went for a walk later and there were tiny little tents everywhere, tucked into the bush, backed into the rock face, beside the road or near the toilets (wise boys).

The bus disappeared back to town; the boys were ferried in the vans to various places over the next few days. They walked Blowhard Bush the day before we did, in the pouring rain. Another day they were split into groups with one group taking up residence in the clearing behind our van, all day I could hear the Outdoor Instructor-who had a very loud voice- teaching the group how to read maps. I’m not sure they were taking much notice, he seemed to be repeating himself many times.

Another group were down at the river where I’m sure they would have been swimming if it had been warmer but were instead having fun lobbing rocks and stones into the river. No trout will be caught in that area for a few days. The boys were all very well behaved and we hardly knew they were in camp, it was great to see how much fun they were having. They packed up their tents on the second to last day and were ferried to the Lake Carpark where they had a 6 hour tramp (with packs) ahead of them to one of the huts where they were going to stay at for the last night (adults in the hut, me thinks) and then tramp out the next day to meet the bus back to Hastings.

We came home one afternoon to find these blow-up pillars lined up in front of our van. For the next few hours we watched as the boys were taught archery skills, at first they just had to shoot the pillar targets and then once they got the hang of it they were split into two groups facing each other with safety masks on, trying to knock balls off the poles in the middle and shoot the other team who were hiding behind the pillars. They were only allowed to carry two arrows at a time, running out to retrieve extras and hoping not to get hit and if they were, they had to retire.

Once the boys were finished and had returned to the communal tent, the adults were left behind to deflate the pillars and tidy up. But ‘boys will be boys’ no matter how big they get. For the next half hour there was a running battle of men in masks, great whoops of delight and laughter filled the air. The men played strategically, biding their time hiding behind the pillars before aiming at the others, unlike the boys who were all on from the get go. In the end they let the air out of the pillars, still trying to hide behind them as they deflated.

And it’s here that I can write once again, you’re never far away from someone you know in New Zealand. It isn’t six degrees removed here, it’s more like two or even one degree. When the boys were having their archery lesson a few of the adults came over to talk to David by the van. I spoke to the head teacher who happened to say he lived in Clive (HB). I told him my mother’s family are from Clive and gave him a few names including an uncle’s name who has only just left Clive.

He said “You’ve got to be joking, his son-in-law and grandson are here in camp”.

And so it was that he bought Kevin, my cousin’s husband down to see us later on. That is Kevin being a big kid in the green jersey below. Small world! Mind you you’re never far away from a Johnstone relation when you’re in the Bay- we're a big family.

David & I celebrated a wedding anniversary while we were at Kuripapango and who should come on a Sunday drive to see us for the day? Mum & Dad! And it was a Friday not a Sunday, but they drove the 75kms or so out to have lunch with us on our special day.

An extra special day it was as we got to see them one more time before we head back to the South Island. It was lovely having them in camp for the day and great to get a whole lot of extra supplies just as we were running low on a few things. Included was Mum’s home made specialty, Shepherd's Pie, which meant I didn’t have to cook dinner for the next couple of nights. She’d also sent up a bacon & egg pie early in the week when David had to do a trip to town on some maintenance issues. We’ll definitely miss Mum’s home cooking once we’re gone; although my waistline might breath a sigh of relief. We moved the table and chairs over into the shade and settled in for long lunch.

And just to show you that living on the road doesn’t mean we go without; we had Mum’s sausage rolls for morning tea followed by, for lunch, freshly baked bread rolls made by moi! Mint marinated BBQed Lamb fillet, corn & tomato salsa, pomme anna and Dad’s home grown beans followed by grilled summer fruits and sabayon custard all washed down with Morton Estate bubbly (those in the know will recognise the name, it's where we married all those years ago) and my favourite chardonnay, Stoneleigh. It was lovely to see Mum & Dad again and we had a lovely relaxed afternoon, it was one of our better anniversaries.

There was still one more surprise in store for us. The very next day dawned cold and wet and as I was sitting at the table typing away on my laptop I saw a mini bus approaching. I couldn’t believe my eyes when, as it passed us, I read ‘Tours 4 Matures’ on the side of the van. Good friends Sherry & Chris run their tour company from Tauranga and here they were out in the wops with seven cheerful clients, having left Napier in the morning, stopping at Kuripapango for morning tea, Taihape for lunch and Turangi overnight. They were on their great East Coast tour taking in East Cape and Hawkes Bay along the way.

And then they were gone. It is truly a very small world. See you down south sometime Sherry & Chris!

Blowhard Bush & a Tomtit

As you'll have noticed on the map out the right hand side, we've now moved on to Mangaweka. I still have a couple more blogs from Kuripapango to post though.


Blowhard Bush- so named because in early coaching days the horses struggled to cross the inland ranges of Hawkes Bay- is a 63 hectare reserve just off the Napier-Taihape Road and was given by a local family, Mr & Mrs Lowry, to the NZ Royal Forest & Bird Protection Society back in 1962.

The forest grows over limestone formations which has produced many karst ridges in amongst the trees- it reminds me of the weird karst formations we saw on the Takaka Hill. The limestone has been fractured into large blocks by the surrounding active fault lines and is covered with layers of pumice ash from central North Island eruptions thousands of years ago. It is thought that this area of bush was saved from becoming a commercial pine forest because of the limestone rocks, tomos (underground holes) and caves that cover the reserve.

We decide to walk the Tui Track, the main & longest track in the reserve and one that does a circuit of the reserve taking in a number of interesting features along the way. It had been raining the day before and the morning of our walk so it was very wet under foot and with a number of steep sections, we slipped and slid as we struggled up the slopes. Grabbing trees to halt your slide gave you a free cold shower as the branches overhead were laden with water.

Some of the rock fractures we passed through were quite narrow and generally the track wasn’t that wide compared with the DOC walks we’ve been on but all the tracks were very well marked with coloured tags at regular intervals leading the way and plenty of information panels at relevant spots.

This is Patiki Cave (like the sign says) but it’s more of a large low limestone rock overhang. This was where Patiki, a Maori man lived with his family here back in the 1800s. Patiki fell in love with a woman well above his social standing, they eloped and hid here for many years surviving and raising two children, who went on to work at the Kuripapango Hotel taking on the English names of Jock & Mary McDonald. (The wooden box under the sign is a weta hotel- more on them further down)

At the top of the walk is the Lowry Shelter, obviously named after the benefactors of the reserve. We stopped outside to have our lunch and listen to the birds- it was a bit gloomy and barren inside but would have been great if it was raining with table & benches to sit at.

We hadn’t seen (or heard) much bird life on the walk through the bush but as we moved into the more open bush near the top of the track we caught glimpses of birds flying about and could hear a lot of bird song. As I stood there listening I caught sight of this little guy flying in for a better look at the intruder passing through her patch.

This is a tiny female fledgling Tomtit- Miromiro, which is probably the reason she was so confiding. She has yet to learn that the big wide world can have many dangers although Tomtits, especially the males, can be quite bold and inquisitive.

So cute! She posed for me long enough to at least grab a couple of good shots. Taking photos in the dark bush with bright backgrounds and tiny fast birds flitting all over the place deserves a medal!

After leaving the shelter we passed through a clearing and then out onto an alpine herbfield, following the sign posts to the lookout which looks west towards the Kaweka Ranges in the distance and with the commercial Kaweka Pine Forest spread out below.

Looking south west we can see the Napier-Taihape road (in the centre) weaving it’s way towards Kuripapango and the Gentle Annie on the far right.

David spies a Bellbird- Korimako, resting on a Kanuka branch, he doesn’t look too pleased to see us…

I move in for a closer shot, clicking as I step carefully forward but he spooks and takes off.

We head off through the kanuka forest and it’s all downhill from here on- very slippery downhill and tough going in some places.

At various places throughout the reserve weta boxes are attached to trees, these are hidey holes for wetas to call home, although none have taken up the option here. Maybe the rent is too high or there are too many nosey people looking in.

Near the end of the walk there’s a side track to a large cave. Passing through one of the narrow alleyways formed by the limestone I get the feeling I’m being watched by a dozen conjoined Easter Island faces.

It’s a steep slippery track down to the cave and all the way we’re thinking we’ve got to climb back out of here afterwards but we can’t come this far and not have a look. The cave is quite deep with a limestone ceiling with a split right down the centre. It’s dry & dusty inside and there’s no sign of life. I think Patiki would have been better making his home in here myself.

Once back at the car we decide to head to the summit lookout which is just a few kilometres back down the road towards Napier. It’s the closest cell phone connection we can access and where we’ve been a couple of times to phone family, upload emails and where I’ve been able to upload blog posts. This is the view we’ve had while doing our computer work, looking south east out over Hawkes Bay, this time as rain clouds pass over parched farms.