Beach Hop South- Kairakau, HB; Part 1

Real-time: and once again I find I have too many photos to share so this'll be a two parter on our first beach stop. 

We had one important stop before we pulled out of Napier, a visit to the dump station to empty our tanks. This dump station on Marine Parade must have one of the best outlooks in New Zealand; down the Parade and out over Hawke Bay. It's a typical sunny & hot Hawkes Bay day and we're hoping it'll follow us down the coast.

We head south, through Clive, skirt around Havelock and off down Middle Road. It's not long before I shout 'Stop!' (that familiar cry when we're on another little adventure), as I spy a cute church at the back of a paddock down by the Tukituki River. This is on the property of Camp David, a Christian Outdoor Education Centre and the church has been moved there, but I have no idea where from.

Once past the lifestyle blocks, Middle Road narrows and then twists and turns through rolling green Hawkes Bay farmland; the paddocks full of cute spring lambs. No dairy conversions out here.

We take a left turn at the end of the road and head down a hill to see a country hotel ahead of us and three pairs of eyes watching as we approach.

This is the Patangata Tavern and it's a busy country pub as it turns out, it's very popular with weekend day-trippers, bikers and bus tours and there are a group of seniors from Hastings having lunch today. We pull over for a break (and so I can take photos) and before we know it we're surrounded by three friendly chaps asking about the 5th-wheeler and our lifestyle.

By all accounts, the Patangata Pub was also a very popular hotel many, many years ago too. Two of my uncles worked on Kapiti Farm Station out near the beach we're heading to and this was their weekend 'local'- even though it was 23kms away. 

It was also the pub that my parents visited when they were 'courting', Dad driving his Model A truck out from Hastings to the farm to see the family and then, when the Model A became unreliable, bringing his soon-to-be-bride out in his 1940 Ford Prefect. 

There's a 'family story' of Mum driving off in Dad's car while he and his mate were relieving themselves on the side of the Patangata Road. She then wound the window up on his friend's head when he jumped on the running board to reach in and turn the key off. She laughed so much she forgot to put the handbrake on and the car ran off the road and into a culvert. They had to wait half an hour for another vehicle to come by and rescue them. And he still married her! 

This will not be the first unusual 'courtesy car' we're going to see on our beach hop.

The South Island isn't the only one with long single lane bridges either- here's the Patangata Bridge over the Tukituki River. Although most of it crosses over a bare dirt paddock which is obviously a flood plain on those rare occasions when the Tuki floods.

Further on and we take a slight detour when I see another church across a paddock. We pull up outside the Elsthorpe Hall and for the second time that day we're approached by a small group of men keen to look at the van. They've volunteer firemen and have been out on a call, they couldn't locate the fire and have just returned the fire truck to it's garage. I leave them yarning to David while... 

...I shoot next door to, well, shoot Elsthorpe's St Stephens Anglican Church...

...and a whole bunch of spring daffodils in the garden across the road. 

We carry on and it's not long before we reach our destination and the first beach we're visiting on our way south; Kairakau Beach.

We drive through the settlement to the north end of the beach where there's a lovely grassed area available for CSC (certified self-contained) vehicles to stay. This is Central HB District Council land that's looked after by the Kairakau Residents Association and a donation is asked for if you stay. The only problem is the iron maiden is right back at the beginning of the beach road and is often missed by visitors. 

We can't believe our luck at how fabulous the site is, right on the beach and no one else around! There are signs asking that you park at right angles to the beach which is fair enough in the summer when it would be busy, but I'm sure we'll be fine parked parallel so we can take in the view while sitting in our slide-out.

The only problem we see is, like Ward Beach, in Marlborough, the beach is backed by a row of very tall cliffs and very soon the sun will disappear behind them. Never mind, the wind is chilly and we'll be inside by late afternoon anyway.

It's not long before we hear a quad bike approaching and we have the pleasure of meeting another very friendly chap (who said South Islanders were the friendly bunch, Hawkes Bay is doing pretty darn well today). Graham introduces himself as one of only seven permanent residents and invites us to move down to the campground if we're wanting the late afternoon sun- it's on the corner of the estuary and beach by the buildings in the photo below. The beach campground (also run by the residents association) doesn't open until the end of the month but we're quite welcome to shift down there if we'd like. 

We decide to stay put, we like overlooking the beach and we've also just about finished setting up and about to unhitch. But it was lovely to have been offered the choice. Graham stays for a cup of tea and we sit outside having a chat while he fills us in on a lot of the history around Kairakau.

There's a prominent feature just off the beach at Kairakau; four rocks that provide a degree of shelter to the open beach. Graham tells us they have names, probably given to them by locals a long time ago; from left to right- Three Bears, Racing Car, Punch & Judy, and Long Rock (which is out of picture, to the right here). I can see the slight resemblance to the first two but Punch & Judy? Not so much. Graham says that's because Punch fell off! 

And there's Long Rock out the back.

I climbed up the hill behind- not to the top which would have killed me- just enough to get a birdseye view of  'Out There' and the beach. And look at that, the complete beach and virtually the whole settlement to ourselves. It never fails to amaze us at how often we find we're staying in stunning locations and have the place totally to ourselves. 

As the sun sets later in the day we decide that Kairakau Beach is a good first stop to get us back in the mode of travelling and exploring. And we once again decide that we really do live in an amazing country.

To be continued....Kairakau Beach; Part 2

Art Deco Town & ‘Thomsons Barnyard’

We left St Bathans Domain on a very bleak and overcast morning with rain threatening. David was less keen to leave, he’d cleaned the vehicles and if it did rain while we were on the road all his hard work would be undone. We took the long route back to the main road to avoid the muddy gravel road just past St Bathans settlement. It didn’t help our case, the rain started before we reached the turnoff and we drove through to Ranfurly in a steady downpour.

Needless to say I didn’t take these photos of the iconic Webberburn Goods Shed on our way past, we drove back there on a fine day. Once again the 1975 Graham Sydney painting “July on the Maniototo”, made this goods shed famous.

After the closure of the Otago Central Railway line, the goods shed was moved 5km away to an open cast coal mine at the head of the Ida Valley. It eventually became home to feral pigeons. When the Rail Trail began the community was keen to see the old building put back in its original place. In 2002 it was returned on the back of a truck and restored to its original green colour (it had been painted red). It is now an icon of the Trail and the Maniototo – and it is still home to the pigeons.

The original small Wedderburn Station, built in 1900, was also recovered and restored to its original home (a curling club had moved it 300m to the west). This is the last remaining Vogel Class 5 Station and ticket office in New Zealand, with a simple lean-to design.

Just up the road from the goods shed is the historic Wedderburn Tavern, built in 1885. Once the a stop-over for coaches and wagons, it is now a favourite destination and half way point for cyclists on the Rail Trail.

Our next camping site was at the Ranfurly Holiday Park, it was time to plug back into the grid and give the generator a bit of a break. We are very power hungry couple (well David will say it’s just me) but the truth is we both use a lot of power in various forms and while we do quite adequately cope with our solar panels and generator it’s just nice to sometimes plug in and not worry about turning off the extra lights, watching TV a little later, leaving the computer running between jobs or using the toaster & the microwave (both out of bounds when off the grid). Then there are the long hot showers we can have, although they're usually outweighed by the bitter cold run across to the ablution block. We also had laundry to do, and there aren’t too many freedom camping spots in the area.

Ranfurly is known as the rural Art Deco town and is the smaller (much smaller) Art Deco sister to my home town Napier, the Art Deco Capital of the world (that link will take you to my blog on the Art Deco Weekend in Napier, there are more Art Deco posts out in the menu on the right). Ranfurly also has a popular art deco festival that attracts people from far and wide and I was looking forward to comparing notes.

Following a series of disastrous and suspicious fires in the 1930′s that destroyed many of Ranfurly’s buildings, including the town hall and the hotel, the fashionable, inexpensive and simplistic Art Deco style was introduced to Ranfurly to replace many of the towns buildings.

The Centennial Milk Bar is the iconic art deco building in Ranfurly. It is located beside the I-Site (once the Railway Station) in the main street and in its heyday it was a bustling place serving hungry passengers from the trains and afternoon teas and icecreams to the locals. By the mid 1970’s the trains had stopped running, the town’s already small population had dwindled and the milk bar was abandoned & rundown. The only interest in the prominent but derelict art deco building on the main street was from the local fire brigade who were looking for something to burn down for a practice exercise.

After the economic decline of the 1990′s, the local community was thinking of ways to attract people to Ranfurly and came up with the idea of reviving the forty-odd art deco buildings located throughout the town to create an ‘Art Deco’ theme for Ranfurly. In 2000 the Central Otago District Council purchased the Centennial Milk Bar and leased it to the town’s Art Deco Society who set it up as an Art Deco Gallery. Local families have lent or donated their treasures and the displays, set up as rooms; bring to life the glamour and glitz of the era- it was closed while we were in town.

Street art and murals reflecting the Art Deco era are attached or painted on a number of the buildings along the main street, some are subtly placed so that unless you’re specifically looking for them, they can easily be missed.

The former Railway Station and now the i-Site (information centre) taken before and after the snow fall we had while we were in Ranfurly.

To be fair, we did visit Ranfurly in the middle of winter, but some days when I went walkabout it felt like I was the only person in an abandoned town, a few tumbleweeds rolling down the main street would have completed the picture.

More Ranfurly buildings…

The restored Fenton Library (1926) building houses Ranfurly’s own home grown community trust radio station ‘Burn 729am’. I was searching for a radio station in the early hours of our first morning in Ranfurly and came up with just one station loud and clear. Music was playing for awhile and then the most softly spoken boring monotonous voice I have ever heard came on, he prattled on for ages before playing the next track. I thought to myself, it must be hard to get decent announcers in Central Otago and they’ve given him the grave-yard shift so he doesn’t scare the punters away.

It wasn’t until I went for a walk in the morning that I realised I was listening to Burn 729 out of this building just a few steps away from where I was trying to go to sleep. You can see the campground in the background. I just know the guy sitting outside & nodding off in the sun, with a fag in one hand & a coffee in the other, was my man.

I loved the simplicity of the butchers shop just a little further down the road, right down to the huge home-kill cattle carcass they were man-handling out of the small truck and into the shop. You’d never see that in the city, someone would report them for animal cruelty.  No fancy meats here either; eggs, sausages & steak (where are the chips), hearty meals for the hard working rural folk.

And I bet you’ve been wondering when I was going to mention, ‘Thomson’s Barnyard’. On the corner of the main street opposite the Centennial Milk Bar stands the figure of a man looking through a theodolite. This is the memorial to John Turnbull Thomson, he emigrated to New Zealand in 1856 and worked as Chief Surveyor of the Otago Province, surveying and exploring large sections of the interior. One man on a mission, he virtually shaped Central and North Otago. He later became Surveyor-General of New Zealand.

Many names in the area can be attributed to Thomson's Northumbrian background and are often in the form of a Northumbrian dialectic name for an animal including Ranfurly which he originally named Eweburn.  Names such as Horseburn, Mareburn, Fillyburn, Hogburn, Houndburn, Sowburn and Swinburn were given to streams in the area. Then there’s the Horse Range & the Pigroot. The Kyeburn (cow), Gimmerburn (hogget), Stotburn (steer), and Wedderburn (wether) settlements were all named by Thomson, hence the reason that occasionally the area is referred to as “Thomson’s Barnyard”. Perhaps he'd have been better having the name McDonald.

He certainly wandered far and wide, maybe the fact that he had nine daughters had something to do with having to get out of the house. Once he was appointed Surveyor-General he covered most of New Zealand introducing his more accurate method of triangulation survey, using true bearings rather than compass bearings to survey the country.

And finally, to book-end the post with another Rail Trail Goods Shed, the Ranfurly Goods Shed after the snow fall.

Do Not Feed the Ducks

Can you guess where we are then?

A virtual chocolate fish for you, if you guessed Lake Rotoiti. We’re back in the Nelson Lakes again where I had all that trouble and distress with the duckling families last time. Now the ones that survived are all grown up and still up to their begging antics. They do the rounds around the camp sites every morning and evening. So far I have resisted.

We had a great time at Ward Beach (and I’ll hopefully post some more photos from there when I get them processed) although on the last day after a brilliantly fine, still and hot afternoon, a wild southerly blew in and gave us all (7 vans) a rough 30 minutes as tables and chairs, awnings and anything not tied down turned itself inside out. This was right on low tide and just after most of the men from the other vans had gone down to the water to retrieve cray pots and go paua (abalone) diving.

Once we were sorted with our awning, I left David to stow everything while I went to help the other women who were wrestling with their awnings and to shut doors & windows of unoccupied vans and to retrieve gear that had blown off into the scrub. Owners of one of the vans bought me a fillet of rig (shark) for my troubles. Amazing how it tasted just like the fish from brought ‘fish ‘n chips’.

Going by the size of the empty paua shells by their van I had my fingers crossed for some tasty paua!
After Ward Beach we headed to Waikawa Bay in Picton to meet up with friends John & Jan who had been away for a few days. We stopped at Parklands Marina Holiday Park in Waikawa Bay for the second time in our travels and were just as impressed as the first time. It’s a really lovely park with huge mature trees and lots of space. You just have to ignore the slightly eccentric owner (he is extremely nice and always has a smile on his face), he has a problem with a couple of Paradise ducks that think his camp is their territory. He thinks that if he chases them every time he spots them they’ll get the message and set up home base somewhere else. The first time I saw him, I thought he was chasing people who had used the showers without staying.

So if you see a white ute racing through the camp ground it’ll be him chasing the ducks. And if he happens to be in his Volvo, he’ll chase them with that too. I don’t think they’re getting the message though as they fly in every morning as regular as clock work. It doesn’t help that some of the camp occupants feed them (no, not me!)

We had such a lovely time with John & Jan; drinks and a catch up with another couple we know on Friday,  out for lunch in Picton on Saturday, watching cricket (NZ v Aussie) and generally relaxing, which is why I didn’t take any photos all weekend!

We left Waikawa on Monday and stayed at the Blenheim Racecourse (again) that night, stocking up on groceries and topping up with water, diesel and solar power (lovely and sunny) before heading towards the West Coast the next morning. This time we pulled into the grassed area beside the grandstand where we’d seen a caravan parked the last time instead of on the hard. There were at least 20 vans in and around the racecourse that night, it’s a very busy place at this time of the year.

The next morning we headed out back along the very long and straight road down the Wairau Valley towards the Nelson Lakes. We decided we'd stop at the DOC camp at Kerr Bay on Lake Rotoiti again, David wanted to get the boat out and do some fishing.

Having driven the road before (twice) I had a couple of places in mind to stop at and take some photos, one being the historic 131 year old Wairau Valley Tavern, a favourite watering hole & restaurant for locals & travelers alike.

I’d seen a sign to Lake Argyle and a large water canal nearby on our way past last time but didn’t stop, this time we pulled in to check it out. It’s actually a dam that feeds the Argyle Power Scheme which opened in 1983. The Branch River, which is a tributary of the Wairau River, feeds the lake. The colour is really unusual for this area, it’s the teal green colour of glacier fed rivers, more like the water around the Mt Cook area. Unfortunately the picnic area and boat ramp at the far end of the lake were closed because of the extreme fire risk in the area (on the way we saw the blackened hillsides where a big fire swept through a few weeks ago). We climbed to the top of the dam wall to check the lake out from top end.

And, since when have we had opossums in New Zealand? Opossums belong in the USA, our possums are Aussie imports!

And this time I took note of how far the vineyards stretched up the Wairau Valley. It's 100kms to St Arnaud & Lake Rotoiti from Blenheim, down a near straight road for about 70kms. The last vineyard finished 52kms from Blenheim! That's a bloody long ride on a bike if you're doing a vineyard tour don't you think?

The DOC camp at Kerr Bay has been under a lot of pressure, it’s that time of the year. Along with the tourist traffic every evening, there is a Classic Boat Regatta this weekend and most of the sites are booked through until Sunday. We decided we’d stay until Monday (the weather forecast for the West Coast didn’t look too hot for the next few days), I managed to sweet talk the DOC lady into booking the one available ‘tent’ site through until then- the available powered site was too small for us. Last night most of the sites were taken up with sleeper-vans and tents, tonight it’s campervans & motorhomes. A few classic boats and their owners have already set up camp nearby.

Lake Rotoiti is looking just as lovely as our last visit but I doubt there’ll be any snow this time. There's a number of school camps in the area and plenty of kids enjoying the lake, swimming and boating.

It’s not only the classic boats that visit the lake, last weekend it was the Powerboat Regatta (now that would have shattered the peace and quiet), I think they left something behind….

I was keen to see if the lone (& lonely) Mandarin Duck was still in residence. Sure enough five months later he is still here although looking a lot less conspicuous than he did last October. He’s lost his mojo big time. Amazing to think that this is the same bird. I wonder if his colours will reappear in spring or if he needs a female to get the dye (juices) running?

One final note- I have to thank my wonderful husband big time tonight. My computer has been playing up these past 3 days and I haven’t been able to connect to the internet- hence no blog posts. At first I thought it was because there was limited internet access in the areas we’ve been but I knew we had access here at the Lakes last time so then it became apparent that I had a bug of some sort. David has the patience of a saint and has slowly worked through every avenue trying to repair the problem and finally cracked it tonight! I am very thankful that I have a knowledgeable IT technician at hand whenever I have a problem, I can’t imagine what would happen if we both didn’t have a clue. It may take time (which I’m no good at) but he gets there in the end.

I know another lady who is very thankful too- we have a jar of home-made jam in our fridge to prove it. David sorted out Gill’s iPad at Ward Beach and she was ever so grateful (hi Gill). And it’s not only computers he looks after; last night a German couple locked their car keys inside their car. We now have a block of chocolate in the fridge too. Add to that my fillet of rig and it’s just like the suburbs where neighbours look out for each other, we have mobile neighbours who appreciate each other too.

Mt Nessing Golf Course

It’s taken 18 months but now, at long last, we are heading to my “new” golf club, Mt Nessing, to have a game of golf and meet some of the members. Mt Nessing is inland, about 40 minutes from Timaru, just east of Fairlie and very near Albury. And why am I member of this rather obscure (sorry Mt Nessing) golf club? Because I wanted to keep my NZ Golf handicap running while I am travelling, because I can play at other clubs as an affiliate member & because Mt Nessing has the lowest subscription fees in the country. Unfortunately the associate subscription  fees at my old club were nearly six times the cost of Mt Nessing so it made sense (cents) to join Mt Nessing.

We left Waitaki Waters Holiday Park after a most enjoyable stay, I’d highly recommend a stop there if ever you’re in the area. Derek runs a great ship, with neat & tidy grounds & buildings. Although I found it a little bit disconcerting sharing the “winter ablution block” with men. Crikey you never know who’s in the shower next door to you, one morning after quietly showering & making sure everything was covered & contained when I emerged, I had a great laugh when it turned out to be David next door!

It was another lovely winter’s day and we could see the Southern Alps as we crossed over the Waitaki River again, heading north.

We stopped to have lunch in St Andrews, at the well known art deco Masonic Hotel on the main road. This hotel (and its name) would have looked right at home on Emerson Street in Napier, the Art Deco Capital of the world (and my home town). And what a treat it was, we had a good chat with the landlady, who with her previous partner, had spent over half a million dollars restoring the hotel back to it’s former glory. Inside, the wooden panelling was perfectly finished after having years of grime & black paint removed. The reworked leadlight windows were beautiful with some amazing detail, especially the curved corner windows. The Masonic is also a POP (Park over property) for NZMCA members, there’s a huge back yard for parking and soon there will be a laundry & showers/toilets.

We turned inland just past St Andrews, heading for Cave. Through flat farmland at first and then just before the hills, to our surprise, a sharp turn and a choice between an old bridge or a ford. But more of a surprise was that it was called Evans Crossing (no time to stop for a photo). We chose the ford, along with another vehicle coming the other way. The car in front of us chose the bridge. This wouldn’t usually be that unusual but all the fords we’ve crossed in our travels have been on remote gravel roads and this road was quite a well used route.

We climbed up and through the Pareora Gorge then dropped back down to the river flats. Then just before Cave I spotted a sign for a historic church up a side road (I’m still taking church photos for the Historic Places Trust). Too late for David to haul the rig up and turn around and by now we were climbing again. We turned around down at the cross roads and climbed back up the hill again. At the top I took a quick shot of this memorial stone, another beautiful piece of work out in the middle of the countryside. I also spotted a very tall celtic cross high up on top of a nearby hill.

David felt obliged to turn around for this particular church, I wonder why….

St David's Pioneer Memorial Church was erected in 1930 in memory of the pioneers, runholders, shepherds and station hands who developed the Mackenzie district into one of the major pastoral areas of New Zealand. This beautiful stone church was constructed without the use of nails.

Oops……David wasn’t too pleased when he had to pull off the road to let a vehicle pass. We needed that ford again.

After all the sheep, dairy, cattle, deer & alpaca farms we’ve passed on our travels we finally passed a pig farm between Cave & Albury. Happy free-range pigs with good shelters and plenty of grass & mud to enjoy. It brought back memories of my childhood on our pig farm.

We pulled over at Albury to get our bearings & freshen up before we headed down a side road to Mt Nessing. The Albury Tavern, another hotel that’s the centre of the community. We didn’t know it then but were told later that the chef here is well known for his fabulous meals & in particular his Thai menu.

We turned into Mt Nessing Road and headed for the hills, The Hunters Hills of which Mt Nessing is part of. After 6 or 7 kms the road turned to gravel and before long we could see a row of dusty cars parked up and across the road the golf course. You'd never have a clean car out here in the country, if it's not mud it's dust. We felt right at home, our rig needed a darn good clean & it's been driving David mad for weeks!

We travelled a little further on to find a place to turn around and then pulled onto the long acre beside the course. Immediately we were made to feel very welcome when Penny, the secretary who I have had contact with, came off the course mid game to say hello & to tell us to make ourselves at home while they finished their club day golf. Next came Noel, the course convenor to say we could pull the fifth-wheeler off the road through the gate and park up there if we wanted. We decided the grass strip outside would be fine, we didn’t want to add deep tyre grooves to the course!

We set up camp while everyone finished their game & then we made our way to the deck of their brand new extended clubhouse to have a drink and watch the last players finish. There were about 20 golfers playing and they made us feel very welcome as they came in, introducing themselves and keen to hear about the fifth-wheeler & our travels. There was lots of friendly banter too, it was like meeting old friends. We were officially welcomed during the announcements & being a paid up member, I even got to have a vote on the new interior colour of the clubhouse. Although I suspect David got a bigger say in that than me.

Before long we had an invite to come and share a roast dinner, after our golf tomorrow, at Dusty’s place! Not only that but to park “Out There” up at his place for the night. And that is how we managed to be parked up at Albury Park Station.

After we’d said farewell to everyone & promised to come and play with them on club day next time, we had the road to ourselves for the night. Well nearly. It was pitch black outside except for the odd car that came barrelling down the road past us, lights on full flooding the interior. This was once the rugby test match had finished & the pub had closed no doubt. We were a little worried that they’d get a fright when they saw us and take out our slide out.

Sunday dawned cold but sunny & we were woken by a whole lot of magpies having a meeting on the verge beside us. I’m sure one of them was also tap-dancing on the roof. Next came a hundred & one tractors & quad bikes, up & down the road they rumbled & roared, there's no Sunday sleep-in for farming folk. It wouldn't have surprised me if next I was to hear a whole heap of mooing outside the window.

Time to have a game of golf. It was why we were out here in the middle of the countryside after all. We had the course totally to ourselves and what a lovely country 9-hole course it was. Very well maintained with well marked tees and all 18 holes named, and some great names too. I was looking forward to playing number one as we’d been told yesterday there would have been a fine view of Mt Cook (Aorangi) if the cloud hadn’t rolled in and sure enough across the valley & far in the distance Mt Cook peeked out from behind the hills.

Number 2, The Woolshed. Mt Nessing Station’s woolshed sit’s beside the green. The course is located on station land and is grazed by sheep during the summer. The course closes earlier than most other clubs, in September and opens again in February. Spring & summer are busy times for farming folk.

Initially we thought we’d be playing golf quite often while we were on the road but in fact this was only my 3rd game & David’s second. And although we thoroughly enjoyed our game, the results were nothing to write home about. A few good holes, a few average & more than two very bad. Never mind, it was a lovely to be out in the fresh air enjoying the sunshine. We didn't enjoy the mud that built up on our shoes and trundler wheels though. Thick sticky mud which took a fair while to clean off at the end so we could pack it all away clean in the storage box.

And so that was that, we’d made the pilgrimage, played the course & met some lovely people. Thanks Mt Nessing for your hospitality & for making us feel so welcome. We’ll look forward to seeing you all again one day.

Love that hair colour! It's easier to experiment on the road :)