Rainbow Road- Part 3: The Return Journey

I know you’re thinking, what more is there to write about the Rainbow Road after Parts 1 & 2. But if you've been following my blog for awhile, and/or know me well, then you’ll know that I'll still have plenty to write about and alot more photos to share.

We leave Lake Tennyson behind us for the second time on our travels and head back along the valley towards that horribly corrugated climb up to Island Saddle again.

Not far along we see a motorbike approaching from the distance and as we get closer to each other a calf makes a break across the road in front of us; there’s a small herd of cows and calves resting under the pylon, this one has suddenly realised his mother has crossed over and disappeared out of sight. I can see why the road is shut at night; black cattle + black night= kapow!

Towards the end of Island Gully, we take a short track that leads off the road to a DOC hut (4 bunks) overlooking the Wairau River. I’m thinking it’s a bloody long way to walk to collect water just as David points out a very narrow channel of water flowing through the tussock just below the sign. Honestly, if the sign wasn’t there you’d hardly know there was water close by.

It is here that I get my first bumble bee sting. Introduced borage grows profusely along the Rainbow Road, the blue flowers attracting many bees and whenever I step out of the car I’m suddenly surrounded by bumble bees. They don’t usually worry me and I prefer them to the persistent biting sandflies but today I’m wearing a bright blue top (duh!) and more than the usual number of bees are attracted to me. I raise my arms to take a photo and when I put them back down a bumble bee gets caught underneath one and gives me a zap. I don’t think they die like bees or wasps because he flew away once I quickly lifted my arm. He left behind an angry red welt that has been annoying me ever since!

This is my ‘bee’ photo- looking back towards the road we can see that massive ‘rock’ with its many scree slides that I mentioned in Part 2. On the left hand side, the slide has reached and crossed the road. I wonder how many times the road has to be graded to clear it.

Those ever present pylons line the road through this part. They are obviously popular with the cattle, as small groups rest underneath most of them- maybe they get a bit of energy from them….or perhaps they like the barrier the legs form; there are a number of huge Angus bulls wandering between the groups and I spotted one chasing a calf.

Just past Rag & Famish Creek (I’d love to know how that got its name) David gave a shout as he spotted what looked like a quail, running off the side of the road. I was looking in the wrong direction so didn’t see it but he also thought it was too big for a quail. Straight away I said I bet it was a Chukor. We pulled over and by the time I got out, the bird had reappeared and was running flat stick along the edge of the road away from us. And right behind her, running just as fast were 5 chicks. Our first sighting of a Chukor Partridge!

Chukor were introduced from Asia, as game birds in the 1920s and are only found in the South Island high country from Marlborough to Otago. They inhabit dry hill country, open scrub and tussock lands with scree slopes & rock outcrops east of the Southern Alps and up to 2,000 metres. We’re in the perfect country to spot them!

We attempt to  stalk them up the road but the mother flies across and up onto the slope behind. I was surprised to see the chicks fly after her albeit very low to the ground and landing quite a distance from her. She finds herself a rock to stand on and calls out to the chicks to hurry on up  ‘chuck-er…chuck-er…chuckar-chuckar’ , hence the name. I climb the slope a distance away from them and then move across above them in an attempt to find them hiding in the matagouri where we saw them disappear.

David is back on the road shouting directions (spot him? bottom left, bottom photo) but I think they've made a run for it and crossed into thicker scrub. We decide it’s time to move on and then, wouldn’t you know it, as I make my way back down the steep slope, gingerly picking my way around the needle sharp matagouri & rosehips, I flush the birds from under a bush I had stopped beside to check the route down. Of course I don’t have my camera ready and they fly off deeper into the scrub. Oh well, at least I got a few shots when we first arrived. Another bird to tick off our list.

We reach the boundary gate between the two stations; Molesworth & Rainbow and I spot a sign on a stake nearby. ‘Kikiwa 64km’. I googled to find out a bit more about it and while there isn’t much information it looks like it’s an area near St Arnaud and may have something to do with the transmission lines.

Now back on the private part of the Rainbow Road, there’s a noticeable difference between the two sections; the amount of gravel on the road (less), the narrowness of the road and the plants growing over the edge and along the middle of the road- more like a farm track which makes it an even better driving experience.

We approach the gravel slide with the washout again and have no trouble passing over it. Perhaps the station should use some of this gravel on their road.

We pass back through ‘Hells Gate’ the narrow gorge, failing to see where the fishermen have gone to, but spotting the tents of the cyclists who have set up camp for the night. Out the other side and the alpine scenery suddenly gives way to shaded beech forest reaching down the mountain sides. As we round a corner I spot a sign in the muddy bog off to the side. It would seem others have not been so fortunate in getting around the corner in one piece.

Finally we see the old Rainbow Homestead ahead of us, I open the gate and the lady who collected our toll this morning comes out to greet us. I chat to her for a minute or so; she tells me her family have worked on Rainbow Station for three generations, she loves the valley and enjoys being out here with her dogs & horses during the few months the road is open. Her husband comes out regularly and they live in Murchison over winter. She says she never gets lonely as there are plenty of people passing through each day.

She also tells us to make sure we stop at the swing-bridge further down the valley, it’s really beautiful. The sun has disappeared behind the mountains and it’s getting a little chilly but we stop for one last time to check it out. The swing-bridge crosses the Wairau and is the beginning of the Lees Creek tramping route which passes through a narrow valley and up to open flats higher up the Raglan Range, where there’s also a DOC hut.

There’s a steep stairway up the rock face at the end of the bridge and when I look back to take a photo I see David at the other end bent over swatting at sandflies. I wait for him to stand up but he disappears back up to the road, the sandflies getting the better of him. I cross back over the bridge and see that the rain is coming. The forecast for the next few days is heavy rain, we definitely chose the best day to do our road trip.

Back on the seal and guess what we come across at least half a dozen times? 1001 sheep making their way, at a steady pace, back to the front paddock.

We arrived back at camp around 6pm, the return journey taking us two and a half hours. We travelled 146km there and back- St Arnaud to Lake Tennyson and passed through three districts; Tasman, Marlborough & Canterbury.  The total length of the Rainbow Road from St Arnaud to Hanmer Springs is 112km but as we’d already driven the other end we only went as far as the lake.

And although it was quite tiring (for both driver & passenger) we thoroughly enjoyed exploring the iconic Rainbow Road with it’s magnificent scenery and incredible mountain ranges. The road itself wasn't too bad but I can imagine it cutting up rough at the slightest hint of bad weather. It’s definitely 4WD territory in a number of places but nothing too major.

The Rainbow Road- Part 2

Continuing on from Part 1….

Once through the Rainbow & Molesworth Stations’ boundary the road enters the classic South Island landscape of rounded dusty coloured mountains covered in scrawny matagouri, long scree slopes and beautiful blue skies. The road continues to wind it’s way alongside the Wairau River, which is getting narrower by the mile.

Ahead of us is a  pretty impressive ‘rock’ covered in scree slides, the Stafford Ridge which is part of the Raglan Range. In winter I’m sure this would have a good coating of snow over it. This may not look that high but believe me it is massive, I just wish the photos could give you a better impression of the actual size. Lets just say that when passing below it you can not see more than a few metres up the slope as it towers overhead, the slope is near vertical.

Once the road passes over the next ridge  a wide valley opens up ahead of us and far off in the distance we can see a tiny blue lake and a red roof, this will be Lake Sedgemere. Below us a single lane bridge once again crosses the Wairau, this time with marker posts along the edge & a One Way sign to tell us who has right of way. It is after all a public road now.

We take a short side road, past DOC’s Sedgemere Sleepout (a standard 6 bunk hut) and drive up to Lake Sedgemere’s carpark. Two DOC vehicles are parked there and three guys are preparing to head off on a hike. These must be the guys that our happy fishermen (see Part 1) have been having evening drinks with. David stops for a chat and finds out that they are on possum control! Possums. In this landscape? In fact they are on a possum counting expedition, checking to see if any are in the area. I guess they'd be easy to spot...

I leave David chatting to the DOC guys and head up to the Lake Sedgemere viewpoint. The shelter is just like the one we saw at Lake Tennyson last July, when we drove in to there from Hanmer Springs. An information panel attached to the shelter explains the design and I think it fits into the landscape very well. There are numerous interpretation panels attached to the shelter to explain the history of the area and the importance of Lake Sedgemere.

The lake is virtually a large puddle surrounded by a wetland but in fact this lake along with the surrounding ‘tarns, seeps, flushes, swamps and fens’ of Sedgemere and Tarndale is the most significant high country wetland system in South Marlborough supporting a wide range of plant species, fish, insects, lizards & birds. We only see the plants.

Beside the shelter is a large rock with a memorial plaque for WB Acton-Adams who was the runholder for over 30 years for a vast area which became the three high country stations that now belong to the Crown (Rainbow Station is leasehold land and as such the road through it is private).

We head back to the road to continue on towards Lake Tennyson, still another 16kms further on. We start to falter about here and wonder whether we should turn around and head for home. The gravel road and the dust is starting to get to us but we decide to carry on, it is only 16kms after all (but as I’ve mentioned before, it always feels at least double that when on a dusty gravel road).

We pass over another gravel slide, open the last of the gates and start to climb through Island Gully towards the high point ahead of us. Off to the side are more huge ‘rocks’ and a small wetland that has a few cattle resting beside it.

At the top of the climb we arrive at Island Saddle, at 1347 metres above sea level this is the highest point on the Rainbow Road. It is also the watershed between the Wairau & Clarence Rivers and the boundary between Marlborough & Canterbury.

I take a photo looking back down the the valley from where we have come. The vegetation is now tussock grasslands and alpine groundcover in many different shades of green.

As we head down the other side of the saddle the vista opening up ahead of us is breath-taking, the road drops steeply and winds it’s way through the valley ahead. The road down this steep section is the worst we’ve encountered so far; it’s very badly corrugated as we bounce about inside the cab. David tries various speeds to try and counter the ruts but nothing helps and we’re both grateful when we finally reach the bottom. Lake Tennnyson must surely be around the far bend!

Ahead of us I spot what looks like an oasis, a cluster of bright green 'palm' trees beside a bridge. They look totally out of place and when we get close I see they’re just a group of ordinary trees that look a little like wattles. Maybe there was once a house here beside Serpentine Creek.

Another wetland system of tarns nestles into the landscape below one of those ever present pylons. This is the beginning of the Clarence River which winds it’s way towards Hanmer Springs, through Molesworth Station, along the inside of the Seaward Kaikoura Range, around the top of the range and out to the east coast entering the ocean at Clarence which is between Kaikoura and Kekerengu.

Finally we reach the turn off to Lake Tennyson where a short track takes us to the lake’s edge. A lonely DOC dunny sits in the middle of the tussock. There’s a 'basic' DOC camp here at the lake and by basic they mean a long drop, a camp site wherever a clump of tussock isn’t growing and fresh water- from the lake.

There’s no snow on the mountains across the lake this time but there’s a cool wind blowing and it’s pretty bleak and miserable when the sun disappears behind a cloud. David parks the ute to break the wind, we get the chairs out and have a quick but satisfying late lunch (it’s around 3pm- no wonder the sandwiches are soggy!) before bundling everything up and back into the vehicle and heading back the way we'd come.

It took us four hours to travel the 73kms from St Arnaud to Lake Tennyson but this included many stops along the way. Hopefully we'll be able to halve that on the return journey. In fact we need to otherwise we won't make it back through the last gate before it's locked at 6pm.


To be continued……

Part 3- The Return Journey

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.

The Rainbow Road

Well the beginning of the Rainbow Road anyway. The road, a ‘wilderness driving’ experience is across private land and unfortunately is only open to the public from the end of December until Easter each year. The Rainbow Road connects St Arnaud to Hanmer Springs through the Upper Wairau Valley, you may remember we drove the other end of the road to Lake Tennyson, from Hanmer Springs, when we were there back in July.

The Upper Wairau Valley looking north towards Blenheim.

The Rainbow Road was built in the 1950s when electricity pylons were installed to supply power to the Nelson and Buller regions, the road crosses both Rainbow & Molesworth Stations.

The first 17kms of the road are sealed and in good condition although there are at least half a dozen fords to cross, most had what looks like historic signs with their names on them but I'm guessing the original of the one on the right is now adorning somebody's man cave.

With not alot of snow up on the mountain tops the flow across the fords was minimal.

And this is the reason the first 17kms of the road are sealed, the Rainbow Ski Field is up in the mountains to the right of the valley. We drove up the road for a short distance but unfortunately there was a locked gate across the entrance.

I walked up the road for a fair way hoping that around the next bend I’d be able to see the snow and the valley where the ski field is but after about six ‘next bend’, I gave up.

And returned to the gate where David was patiently waiting for me. On the way down I stopped where a slip had opened up the view across a mountain stream. This, to me, is quintessential New Zealand; rocky stream, teal coloured crystal clear ice cold water, thick dark green beech forest, craggy mountains, snow capped peaks, blue sky & fluffy white clouds! And what you can’t hear is the amazing bird song. While I love the coast, I’m beginning to think my heart belongs in the mountains.

We drove back down to the Rainbow Road and continued on for a short distance. Straight away we were into 4WD territory, the road rough and bumpy with a rocky ford to cross (the stream that I’d seen from up on the ski field road)

We decided we’d leave the rest of the road for another time, I wasn’t sure how much further we could travel before getting to the locked gate and David wasn’t too happy to cross these rocky fords when we had no need to. Mr TomTom told us it was 52kms from here to Lake Tennyson, over the section we have yet to travel. We have tentatively planned to do the complete round trip in the summer; that is drive through Molesworth Station from Blenheim, overnight in Hanmer Springs and then continue on over the Rainbow Road to St Arnaurd. Or perhaps we’ll do it in reverse so we can leave the 5th-wheeler in Murchison at the NZMCA park, either way there’ll be a bit of back-tracking to complete the circuit.

We turned around and headed back out, looking for a side track down to the river along the way so we could have some lunch and perhaps David could do a spot of fishing. We thought the first track was quite well looked after for a river track. That was until we broke out into a clearing and came face to face with a RNZAF compound complete with men in uniform wandering around. We had seen a sign on a fence saying Defence Area way back along the Rainbow Road but there was nothing indicating what was at the end of the track. We did a quick U turn and disappeared back up the bush covered track. I felt like a spy as I clicked away!

See, there’s that Defence Sign on the fence back behind us. Nowhere near the river!

There were a few cattle stops along the road and we could see the tell-tale signs splattered on the road but it wasn’t until we were returning that we saw any cattle. A calf creche, I wonder where all the other mums were; shirking duties & hiding in the bush me thinks.

The next track we found ran parallel to the road for a couple of kilometres before ending up on the river bank. Except the main river flow was a hundred metres across the shingle with numerous smaller braids to cross to get to it. We should have had lunch here but as is the case so often, we decided to find another track that might be closer to the water.

There were no more tracks and the road slowly climbed up out of the valley. Near the end we saw a track near a farm entrance and followed that for a short distance. It finished in a clearing at a farm gate where a hundred or so sheep & lambs were startled to see us. We got the chairs out (don’t ask me why David decided to get the big sun loungers out instead of our usual directors chairs- nothing like luxury out in the middle of a sheep paddock) and ate our lunch to the background noise of what sounded like 1000 lambs baaing as they tried to find their mums.

Just before the main road we spotted a hawk sitting on the road side, we thought it must be eating some road kill. But it didn’t lift off as we got closer and as David pulled up beside it, it tumbled down the bank and into the bracken & blackberry. David got out to check on it- it’s not like you can pick one up so I’m not sure what he was going to do if it was still upside down- but it had righted itself and was awkwardly perched in the brambles. I think it was ill, perhaps it had been hit by a car, it looked dazed and didn’t move as we approached. There was nothing much we could do for it so we left before it became too stressed.

On the way home we took a short detour via the Tophouse Road, where the historic Tophouse Homestead is located. The Tophouse Homestead is now a guesthouse, café & bar but was once a hotel & a very important one too, serving drovers & weary travellers on their way to and from Blenheim, Nelson & later Canterbury.

The Tophouse Hotel was built in 1887 and was so named because it was the farthest accommodation house inland on the overland route from Blenheim to Nelson. The hotel is infamous for a double murder–suicide in 1894 when the brother-in-law of the Tophouse owner murdered two men and then shot himself. Apparently the bullet holes are still visible in the veranda roof.