Two Cables –Two Bays

Yay! We have internet access for a few days, here's the first of the Marlborough Sounds blogs.


On our way to Okiwi Bay we took a side road just out of Nelson at Hira, initially so I could check out the “Skywire” an impressive looking flying-fox capable of carrying 4 people at a time flying high up through a valley on a 3.5km return journey reaching speeds of 100kph. I fancied having a go although the mention of a backward fall at high speeds had me reconsidering for a time and as it turned out when we arrived at the place there was no sign of the highwire and nobody about, just quad bikes, paintball, horses and other farming paraphernalia.

We didn’t stop but from what I saw I think you must be transported across the farm to the site of the flying-fox. The road was narrow and with no place to easily turn around we decided to carry on to Cable Bay and have lunch before returning.

Towards the end of the road the view opened up over a large estuary with an low lying isthmus (Maori Pa Beach) in the distance, there must be a break in the sandbar that lets in the water. The road winds it’s way around the sea cliffs with numerous holiday homes built into the slope. It also looks like a serious storm has damaged the road as there are many washouts along the way. Road cones galore line the edge & wire cages full of rocks, looking like a giant’s staircase, step down the hillside to the water far below.

It’s not long before we reach the workmen, diggers & trucks and an area where the road is seriously narrow. I may have to get out and shift a few cones but the guys spot us and are very helpful if a little incredulous when they see what we have on the back. The digger moves into a drive and the trucks are far enough to the edge that we’ll be able to squeeze past. We thank them and let them know that we’ll be back past in an hour or so. “No worries, mate!” Even if we feel like we’ve inconvenienced them, they are quite happy. All part of the job.

At the end of the road there’s another isthmus, with the estuary on one side and the ocean on the other and a tiny beautiful turquoise coloured bay. The road crosses the bar but finishes at the base of Stuart Hill, an “island” which it actually isn’t as it’s tethered to the mainland by the gravel bank. Which is what I think DOC are referring to as the “nationally significant natural feature”.

The Cable Bay Walkway, an 8km walk along the coast & over private farmland, leaves from Glenduan (just north of Nelson’s Boulder Bank) & finishes here in the bay. Unfortunately (or fortunately as the case may be) the walk is closed for lambing at the moment. But I climb over the locked gate so I can walk up to the shelter and information board that is located higher up the hill.

It’s here in Cable Bay that the first cable that linked Australia to New Zealand opened in 1876. Two ships set off from Botany Bay in Australia laying a cable across the Tasman Sea, averaging 6.5 knots the ships arrived in Schroders Mistake (renamed Cable Bay) just 11 days later. When the new cable system came into operation it meant that people could communicate with the friends & relatives in the “Motherland” (UK) by telegram taking 4 days instead of the usual 6 months it took by letter.

The view is spectacular- you’ll see that the top two photos form the bay. It was a surprise to see a small duck weed covered pond located just a little higher then the shoreline. It was lovely and sunny sitting outside having our lunch overlooking the bay. A few families were also about enjoying the sunshine.

Looking back down to the vehicles I see that David is engrossed in conversation and it isn’t a surprise to find him still talking when I get back down to the van. I think he should write a book on the interesting characters he meets on our travels, you wouldn't believe the stories he could tell.

It was soon time to hit the road again, we still had 60kms of winding road to travel before reaching our destination. We smiled and waved as we edged our way back past the road works and looked in again on the flying-fox operation but with no one in sight and the place deserted we decided to give that a miss for now. We wind our way up and over the Rai Saddle and down into the Rai Valley where we turn left heading for Okiwi Bay.

Just after turning we’re confronted with a plethora of signs with distances and some information on each area. This ‘arm’ of the Marlborough Sounds reaches up to French Pass with D’Urville Island across the Pass, a finger towards the end reaches into the Sounds proper and it’s where Bulwer is located 80kms away.

I’ve never heard of Bulwer before so I’m looking forward to taking a trip out that far to check it out. Our first stop will be at Okiwi Bay, we’ll then move onto Elanie Bay and maybe make it as far as French Pass with ‘Out There’ on the back.

The yellow AA signs on the right point down another road just past the main information board, down to Duncan Bay & Tennyson Inlet deep inside the Sounds.

The first section of the road down the valley is fine, just another country road with dairy farms along both sides. Then we start to wind our way up and through native bush, the road narrow but not too bad, just enough to keep us on the alert and attempting to look ahead around corners. We’ve heard that you can meet logging trucks but we’re lucky we only see a couple of cars. There’s also the mussel trucks, but we’re yet to know about those.

We catch glimpses of beautiful turquoise blue water through the trees as we get closer to the coast but for most of the time the bush is too high to get a clear view until finally a clearing gives us a wonderful view out over a bay below. This is Whangarae Bay, part of the larger Croisilles Harbour which Okiwi Bay is part of too.

Not too much further on we pass over the top of the ridge and start to wind our way down into Okiwi Bay, our base for the next few days. Okiwi Bay is a small bay tucked into the back of Croisilles Harbour with a narrow entrance which gives the impression it will be quite sheltered. Famous last words. While it hasn’t been too bad, the surrounding peaks are all over a thousand meters tall and act like a funnel with the wind either roaring down and across the harbour or up the harbour and over the top.

Down at sea level we head along the waterfront looking for the NZMCA CAP site (costs apply parking- $7 per van(2pp) per night), finding it about halfway along across from the water and just 50 meters from the boat ramp. What a perfect spot!

There’s a house truck already on site; a family of five with their dog, car & boat. They’ve not long rented out their house and are now also living full time on the road and loving the lifestyle. I can’t help but think what a handful- & how stressful it might be- they have 3 children including 22 month old twin boys who were on the go from dawn to dusk and beyond.

We set up camp on the front edge of the site and marvel at such a great spot to have a camp. And even though it’s the school holidays there’s hardly a soul about (if we look north; out the back, it’s a different story!)

“It’s Just A Hill, Get Over It!"

So says the Golden Bay slogan selling itself to visitors and referring to the huge Takaka Hill with the very winding road on both sides of the summit, and the only road in and out of Golden Bay. It is well worth the effort to visit Golden Bay and spend some time exploring. We’re thoroughly enjoying it so far and have had, once again, some brilliant weather while other parts of the country suffer from rain, flooding and high winds. I can't remember when we last heard rain on our roof.

Before we move further west around the large crescent of Golden Bay to Collingwood here are some random shots from around Takaka & Pohara.

We have come across a lot of abandoned Freemason Lodges on our travels, some in some very remote areas, it was obviously a very popular order in it’s day. I’m not sure if the Takaka Lodge is still used by Masons but I did see a group of ladies wearing exercise gear exiting it. I love the walkway, it’s was a built up bridge crossing the paddock. The cow and tanks look out of place to a visitor but this is at the end of the main street & seemed quite appropriate in dairy mad Takaka.

Built over 100 years ago the Telegraph Hotel has loads of character that speak of grander times but it still stands marking the entrance to Takaka township.

We took a short side trip to East Takaka where I knew there was an historic church I could add to my fast growing folders of church photos. I just have to find time to process them! An added bonus was the historic East Takaka Hall which was formerly the East Takaka School c1904. That would explain why the darn tennis court was right in front of the hall, like about a metre from the wall. There was no way to get a decent photo without the netting taking over.

The East Takaka Church c1868 was built for the Church of England but was always made available to other protestant religions too.

 

Just around the corner from our campground is the Pohara band rotunda, in a rather odd spot on the side of the road. I can understand it being on the beach and that the road etc would have probably been added around it since it was built but the beach isn’t that nice. A great big tidal flat at low tide with no sand or dunes, I wonder if the harbour breakwater as altered the beach over time, similar to Westshore in Napier. Still a nice spot to stop and rest as you walk by.

Further on past the harbour on the top of a rocky outcrop is the Abel Tasman Memorial. Abel Janszoon Tasman discovered New Zealand in 1642, he sailed his ship around Farewell Spit and into Golden Bay where he anchored. It all makes sense now, I became aware of Project Janszoon while staying at Kaiteriteri and wondered how it got it’s unusual name. Project Janszoon is a privately funded trust that works with DOC in protecting Abel Tasman Park’s native birdlife.



The view from the memorial looking back towards the marina & harbout.

I wonder how long this rustic home has stood here on a narrow finger of land in Ligar Bay where the tide laps at the bottom step on both sides of the property. Floundering would only be a matter of stepping outside the kitchen with a spear in your hand.

One last walk we wanted to do before we left Pohara was the track to Wainui Falls in the Abel Tasman National Park. We had intended to do the walk on our way home from Totaranui the other day but we got waylaid with the "motorhome off the road" crisis. A dairy farm surrounds the carpark and the first part of the track passes by the paddocks alongside the Wainui River.

It’s not long before the track disappears into beautiful native bush with tree ferns and nikau towering over us and we catch glimpses of beautiful emerald green pools as we pass gaps in the bush.

At one of the slip sites where we have to clamber over fallen rocks I hear a soft bleating and looking up high on the rock face I spot a family of wild goats; Dad, Mum & baby. The kid is just too cute, he keeps bleating and trying to get to Mum but everytime he jumps up on the rock Dad butts him down. They are so sure footed, its very steep and they jump about no problems at all. They have moved on when we come back along the track but I can still hear the baby bleating in the bush high above the track. They are very lucky nobody with a gun has spotted them yet.

A walk with two rewards! A swingbridge & a waterfall, our kind of walk. Flash floods must come roaring down this valley, all the way along the river are great piles of wood and debris including these two huge logs balanced atop a rock in the riverbed just below the swingbridge.

After clambering over a couple more large slips that had dumped whole trees into the riverbed and sidling along a narrow section of the path we could finally hear the roar of the waterfall, then around one last corner & there it was thundering into a deep pool sending spray all over us.

I can’t imagine how mighty the falls might be in full flood but I do know you wouldn’t be able to get anywhere near them without getting wiped off the rocks.