I Am Happy.....

..... to report that we have finally reached our wintering over destination; Kaiteriteri in the Tasman District and right on the edge of the beautiful Abel Tasman National Park.

This is the view out our windows, across the road from a calm little bay and a golden sand beach. The lady in the office of the Kaiteriteri Beach Motor Camp said help yourself to a site, choose wherever you like, take two sites if needed. So we did, two prime sites, right on the front row. The winter rates are $20 a night for two people with a minimum of 7 days.  There are only a handful of other vans here & it's a huge park. I'm sure the beach and camp ground would be wall to wall people in the summer but so far we would have been lucky to see six people & two cars go past (luckily a dead end road)

We'll likely be here for at least two weeks, possibly more. We'll have a chance to recharge our batteries (human), I can catch up on my blogs & sort photos while David goes fishing. That's after a spring-clean of the vehicles, inside & out! We'll also do some exploring along the coast of the national park in the Takacat dinghy and walk part of the Abel Tasman Track, one of New Zealand's Great Walks & arguably the most beautiful. After that we may move over to Takaka for another few weeks.

Back to my catch up blogs soon....

Hi-de-Hi Hanmer

We stayed the first three nights at NZMCA’s Hanmer Park which is located about 6kms before the village and very near the Waiau River. The first night we parked near the road as there were a few others on the other side of the park. I was thinking “sleepy little resort, not much traffic”. Wrong. The rumbling started at about 4:30am, delivery trucks & cars zooming pass on the road just above our heads!

After everyone had left the next day we moved over to the other side but not just up against the bank as the others had parked, up on the old road which proved to be an ideal spot for us as it was nice and level and we had a grandstand view of the park and traffic coming & going. After 3 nights (the maximum allowed) we moved on to the Pines Holiday Park which was very handy to the village and just opposite Jacks Pass.

The one way 135 year old historic Ferry Bridge, over the Waiau River, is the gateway to the Hanmer Basin. Thrillseekers Adventures run a number of activities off, under & around the bridge; bungy jumping (there’s a jumping platform in the centre on the far side), jet boat rides up the river (you can see a jet boat tied up beneath the bridge). There’s also rafting, quad bikes & paintball available.

I mentioned in the previous post that we were in Hanmer so David could celebrate a special birthday, he was especially looking forward to a massage. Unfortunately we overlooked the fact that it was the school holidays and Hanmer was a very busy little village with many families enjoying a holiday in the alpine resort. The cafes & restaurants were full to overflowing, the thermal hot pools had a queue out the door everytime we passed by, there were a mass of kids & adults at the two Putt Putt Golf courses in town, every second car had bikes attached to the towbar or riding on the roof. And of course along with all the holidaying families there were the regular tourists & their motorhomes crowding the streets. It was a very hyped up little place.

Added to the mix were these cycles, the Village Cruisers were everywhere, pedalling around town, down the forest roads and passing by the camp site at Jacks Pass. I think they were quite hard work to pedal especially when there was just one adult, the kids had stopped pedalling after a few minutes. I took these photos all within about 15 minutes as I waited on a park bench for my phone to update at a telecom hotspot. 

Initially David was going to have a massage at The Spa, part of the thermal pool complex but we found a couple of others places that also did massages and he selected one that he was happy with and booked with them. We were also going to have a swim in the hot pools at some stage but after seeing how many people (and children) were filing into the pools we decided we might just have a swim in a private pool. That was until I saw it was going to cost $60 for 30 minutes! I’d rather find our own natural hot pool on the side of the road than pay that much for a swim! There are a couple near the road through Lewis Pass but they’ll have to wait as we were headed in the other direction when we left Hanmer.

On David’s birthday, which was on a beautiful sunny Sunday, we walked into town and had a lovely brunch at the Powerhouse Cafe, one of the many busy cafes in the village. Every available table inside & outside every cafe was taken with families enjoying the winter sunshine.
We then had a lovely birthday dinner at Restaurant No. 31, one of the few fine dining restaurants in the village and one without a child in sight! No. 31 reminded us of our favourite restaurant back in Tauranga, Somerset Cottage.

One morning during our stay I took myself off on a walking tour of the historic buildings around Hanmer Springs and in particular through the hospital grounds that surround the thermal pool complex. Along with the fresh mountain air, the thermal springs were part of the therapeutic environment which helped patients recover.

Click on the photo to enlarge if you wish to read the information boards.

The Chisholm Ward for “female patients suffering from functional nervous diseases”, later it became a treatment centre of drug & alcohol dependency.

Next door was the Nurses Hostel, a large imposing building with a very small front door beside which the sign read “Out of Bounds to Clients". I can understand that. There could be quite an emotional attachment from patients towards the nurses especially in the state of mind that some would have.

The Soldiers Block- a convalescent home for the treatment of shell-shocked servicemen.

 

This building is of significant historical value, as one of only two similar hospital buildings of this design, it is the only one that remains on it's original site.

And as I wandered on further through the large park like grounds I came across this building which looks like another type of dormitory hospital block, but it wasn’t until I walked around to the back that I saw a sign saying “Private Property, No Entry” It looked like a military building of some sort which has been abandoned. I’ve been unable to find out any information about it so far. 

In the centre of the village is The Heritage Hotel which is located in a beautiful Spanish-style building that was originally built in the 1930s as a lodge catering to the increasing numbers of tourists to Hanmer Springs “taking the waters”.

While David was having his massage I visited the Hanmer Forest Park which was just down the road (everything is just down the road in Hanmer) where there are numerous bike trails. When we came over Jollies Pass the other day I had spotted this unusual stand of conifers with their trunks all on a lean.

I did a few in-camera abstract shots too.

These could be the Ents from the LOTR film. David offered to put his black beanie on and  peep around the various trunks. I could have done multiple shots and merged them. But we didn’t get around to it.

So that was Hanmer, we did have a lovely time but next time we’ll make sure we don’t coincide our visit with the busy school holidays. We left Hanmer Springs after a very cold night, snow had settled on the surrounding mountains and on the grass around our camp site. And as we pulled out heading for Kaikoura, it started to snow again. 

Plenty of Pylons – Lake Tennyson

After we left Banks Peninsula we spent another couple of days back at the NZMCA Park in Weedons, Christchurch before once again hitting the road heading north. If we keep this up we’re not going to make Nelson before spring!

Our next stop was Hanmer Springs, the alpine resort village in North Canterbury. David had a special birthday to celebrate & I thought it would be nice to have a bit of time relaxing at the hot pools and David could also have a massage; he’s been missing his regular weekly massage that he used to have back in Tauranga. I forgot that it was school holidays! Chaos reigned. But I’ll come to that blog later.

To escape the masses we took a drive out to Lake Tennyson. Lake Tennyson is located 40km from Hanmer, on the well known Rainbow Road, a 112km wilderness 4WD road trip through sub-alpine country. The road starts behind Hanmer Springs and exits at the Nelson Lakes passing first through Molesworth Station, the huge (well in fact the largest) station in New Zealand & then Rainbow Station. This is not to be confused with the 207km Acheron Road which also traverses Molesworth Station and is the more well known journey. Both roads are closed over winter, the access gates locked from April to December although the Rainbow Road gate is much closer to St Arnard (Nelson Lakes) so you can travel it from Hanmer for about 76kms (as long as there is no snow)

Right behind Hanmer Village are two passes that take you over the Hanmer Range into the Clarence River Valley. Jacks Pass is the more popular route to take, Jollies Pass is only recommended for 4WD. We thought we’d take Jacks on the way over & Jollies on the way back. Jacks Pass was deeply corrugated, one of the worst gravel roads we’ve struck in our travels. David wonders how often they grade it, as going by the traffic we pass, it's a well used road. There are dozens of forest & mountain cycle & walking tracks on the range and we see plenty of cars with bikes of all sizes piled up on bike racks behind the cars or on trailers and roofs. The Hanmer Skifield is also over the range and up near the St James Conservation Area but as there has been hardly any snow this winter, it’s hasn’t opened yet.



Jacks Pass

Just before we pull over at the top of the Pass we come across a hiker with his Golden Retriever beside him, walking down the road. I recognise that it’s Mark Inglis, the well known mountaineer that lost both his legs after they became frost bitten while he was trapped in a snow cave on Mt Cook for 13 days back in 1982. He had his carbon fibre prosthetic legs on and looked to be managing the corrugations better than David did. I know he lives in Hanmer & is training for another overseas mountaineering expedition at the moment. He has a quest spot on Radio New Zealand quite often.



Heading down the Jacks Pass to the Clarence Valley

Once over the top we follow the Clarence River along Tophouse Road towards the old St James homestead & the start of the St James Cycle Trail. And we’re back into tussock grasslands, one of my favourite landscapes. The old rabbit proof fence borders  the road, there’s more about it further on.

We really are so lucky in New Zealand. There are so many wonderful walking, tramping & cycling tracks around NZ & especially out in the remote back country. It’s just a shame that there aren’t more people who can access some of these awesome trails. The 65km two day St James Cycle Trail (more of a mountainbike run looking at some of the route) is located in the St James Conservation Area, along with a number of other trails, there are also natural hot springs located near the trail at a couple of points which would be great for those over worked muscles.

St James Conservation Area covers 78,000 ha of native beech forest, tussock plains, rivers, lakes & mountains. It was once one of the largest operating cattle/sheep stations in the country & was purchased by the government in 2008 to protect it & open it up to recreation & tourism.

The cycle trail starts and finishes at Maling Pass or St James Station Homestead. We stop at the entrance to the old St James Station to have a look at the abandoned buildings left behind, including the woolshed, stables, cook house and the remains of the old homestead.

Going by the amount of old dog kennels scattered around underneath the gnarly old macrocapa shelterbelt they had a lot of farm dogs on this station.

And the farm dogs obviously had as hard a life as the settlers on this remote and rugged station.

We carry on up the road heading towards snow capped mountains with the weather looking like its about to close in on us. Other than two cars (without people) in the St James carpark we pass no one else until we return to Hanmer.

Two rows of pylons march down the river valley, here the wires catch the sun looking like a giant spider has passed through ahead of us.

Looking back to St James & the good weather.

A Pylon montage! I know that pylons are usually unsightly but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. These photos wouldn’t be as interesting without them.

The historic Fowlers Pass Track hut sits just off the road, a section of the cycle/tramping track runs up the valley from here.

Fowlers Pass (1296m) connects Fowlers Hut with Stanley Vale & Lake Guyon huts. The track has river crossings, scree slopes & in winter snow can make travel difficult. The area is also prone to avalanches. So not your average Sunday ride or walk.

The road we are on is reasonable, though there are a few repaired patches where the river, in flood, has come sweeping around a corner and washed it away. There’s also a high section that has been cut through a gravel slope, big rocks are scattered over it and we hope none decide to dislodge while we’re passing through.

Near the Maling Pass section of the St James Cycle Trail (the other start/finish point) we open the gate and enter Molesworth Station crossing the Clarence River for the first time.  This photo is actually taken on our way back out.

Not long afterwards we turn onto a track that will take us to Lake Tennyson. It’s a nice surprise to see that there’s a shelter with a table & bench that we can have lunch at. David (Stickman) first checks out the river to see if there are any trout, this is the Clarence River outlet from the lake.

Lake Tennyson is quite beautiful even though shrouded in rain and cloud,  it’s surrounded by tussock & alpine ground cover with a few stands of beech forest on the far shoreline. It’s a surprise to see a number of shags resting on a log on the lake edge just across the outlet & to hear ever-present & noisy Spur-winged Plovers kicking up a fuss at our arrival.

Inside the shelter there are a number of information boards.

Most of them tell about the struggle the area has had with rabbits. How the owner of Molesworth Station introduced wagonloads of cats he brought in from Christchurch, to try & control the rabbits. And that rabbits were the direct reason that Molesworth Station was returned to the crown in 1938. And all about 128km Waiau Rabbit Fence was “one of the most perfect rabbit fences in the world” (that’s the one I mentioned back at the top). I hope you can read some of the information, click on the photo to see a larger version.

Curried Rabbit anyone?

As we have our lunch the cloud lifts and the light rain stops, the lake becomes a millpond and we can now see the rugged slopes on the mountains behind. But it’s getting cold and it’s time to head home.

We weave our way back down the valley through the multitude of pylons and back into sunny weather.

We carry on past Jacks Pass and try our luck over Jollies Pass back to Hanmer. We had a bit of a laugh as we approached and saw where one row of pylons disappeared over the range. A very long time ago, we did a trip to the West Coast on the trans-alpine rail car, we hired a 4WD SUV and drove back to Christchurch via Lewis Pass, stopping at Hanmer for a few days.

We drove over Jacks Pass to look at the river and thought we’d return via Jollies Pass. Back then I don’t think the signage was a good as it is nowadays because just below this row of pylons there was a track which we thought must have been the pass, we’d been told it was 4WD only. We followed it up & up, I know it doesn’t look that steep from here, but believe me when you’re in the passenger seat looking straight down off the edge of a narrow mountain track with many washouts, it’s very scary.

The track got narrower, the rocks bigger & the ruts deeper. There was nowhere to turn around so we had to keep going. It was with some relief that the track finally ran out beneath a pylon right up on top & there was a small flat area full of rocks that we managed to turn around in and head back down. We decided Jacks Pass was all we could manage. It wasn’t until we were talking to a person at the information centre that we learnt we’d followed a pylon service track, a track that was only suitable for quad bikes. What greenhorns!

Today we drove on past the now overgrown pylon track and found the Jollies Pass track further on, we’d been told it was icy & slippery but we found most of it was fine, with a few slippery sections on the Hanmer side. It was, in fact, a lot smoother to cross than the corrugated Jacks Pass.

The view over the Hanmer Basin with Hanmer Springs village centre right.

Crossing Jollies Pass with a patchwork of forestry operations going not too far from Hanmer.

Lands End, Banks Peninsula

I bet you didn’t know New Zealand had a Lands End, well not quite, but it does have a Lands End Road. It’s an isolated gravel road (another one) that runs along a ridge out to the point on the south side of the entrance to Akaroa Harbour. To reach it, one must first wind one’s way around the bays on the south side of the harbour, passing through settlements with the familiar names of French Farm Bay & Wainui.

It is usually just past Wainui that most people would turn around and retrace their steps back to tarseal & civilization. A U turn is normally performed just below the sign that reads ‘Road suitable for 4WD only, no campervans or towing’. Not us, we drive on, climbing sharply up & up we go, until we finally break out of the bush and discover this magnificent view down the harbour and out the heads.

Before we disappear over the top we pull up and take in the 360 degree views up the harbour, Akaroa is in the first bay on the right, Wainui on the left & Duvauchelle is up at the head of the harbour.

And now that we are higher up we can see down to the coastline below and can see five salmon pens that belong to the Akaroa Salmon Farm. Through the binoculars we can see a boat nearby and men working at the nets.

At the top we turn into Lands End Road but decide after just a couple of hundred metres to turn around. It’s blowing a howling southerly gale and quite miserable outside, the tussock is shimmering in waves as the wind sweeps across the ridge & I just about get blown off my feet when I get out to take a photo. And even though it doesn’t look like it here the road runs a fair distance along the top. Looking at the map we can see it doesn’t quite reach the point so we’ll not achieve much by driving to the end.

We head south west along the top of the hills, easing our way around Bossu Peak until we now have a view down both sides; the harbour & Akaroa township on the inside…..

…and Peraki Bay and the Pacific Ocean on the sea side.

 

In this photo taken from Akaroa township you can see the ridge we are travelling along and Bossu Peak. You can see the line of the road just below the top of the ridge.

 

 

There are many coves & inlets along the southern side of the peninsula, the valleys are narrow & steep as you would expect from an extinct volcano. There are a handful of houses in some of the bigger valleys and from the sign posts we see that there are at least two farm stations on this wild & windswept side.

We see a car parked up, the only one we come across while up the top.

I think this must be the highest  “No Beach Access” sign I have ever seen. I can’t imagine that anybody up here would be looking for a beach. I’m assuming it would be great diving & fishing down there in the coves & I suspect that this is the reason the sign is there. As you can see the sun was low, I thought I’d leave my shadow in there to add interest!   The green bush area is a DOC reserve and this was where we saw the one & only car on the whole road. It was parked near where I am standing but there was nobody in sight. We assume they must have been down in the reserve although there was no walking tracks, just a predator fence. Maybe he was checking that out.

The road along the ridge….

….and as we start to drop down the other side

Looking back towards Bossu Peak (712m) on the left & Carews Peak (794m) in the middle & some of the road we have just travelled.

It’s about here that we hit snow again, I check ahead at the first section, the white stuff is soft (as it should be) but the tracks are ice & I nearly slip arse over kite when I step out onto it. I walk ahead urging David to bear right as there’s a steep drop off on the left. At the next section David goes to check & nearly ends up on his butt in the snow. I don’t think he believed me before. It’s treacherous, one wrong step and you’re over in an instant. It fascinates me that I can see a cycle track through the snow. You got to be keen to cycle all the way up here.

There are two roads that can take us back down to the valley floor & the settlement of Little River on this side, the recommended one is on the other side of the last section of snow, you can see it running along the face of the hill below. You can also see the outline of the Southern Alps top right, Lake Ellesmere in the centre, the Pacific Ocean and Kaitorete Spit on the top left and the dirty brown sliver in the sunshine middle right is Lake Forsyth near Little River.

We decide that the last section of snow ahead of us is too icy to drive on so we turn around and head back along the road a few hundred metres to the start of the other track. Talk about steep and narrow and with dozens of short switchbacks, it’s just about a vertical drop. No wonder this is not the recommended track. If we’d met anybody coming up we both would have been in trouble, the track was barely wide enough for the ute & with no areas to pass, one of us would have had to back up & I’m positive it wouldn’t have been us. Finally down on the lower slopes the road levelled out and we found ourselves in Okuti Valley where there was quite a number of secluded houses tucked into the hillside in amongst the bush.

At the end of the valley road is Little River, where we stop for a coffee. It was a Saturday and the cafe was full of city folk; cyclists, bikers & lunchalot ladies- lycra, leathers & pearls! Little River is obviously the destination for weekend warriors! It felt rather strange knowing that just a short while ago we were up above Little River, high in the sky exploring a wild & isolated area with not a soul in sight and here just a few hundred metres below us was the noise & chatter of civilization. I wonder if they know what they are missing.

Top- Silo Stay, ecofriendly Little River accommodation. My first thought was ‘I hope they are insulated’ (they are, with natural wool). A rather strange concept to my mind and I’m not sure they’re in the right area. Perhaps they are hoping to attract cyclists of the cycle trail.
Bottom left- Historic Little River Railway Station
Bottom right- St John the Evangelist Catholic Church, Little River. Another casualty of the Christchurch Earthquakes.

After our coffee we drive out to Birdlings Flat & the Kaitorete Spit to have a look, you’ll remember the spit separates the huge Lake Ellesmere from the ocean. The road along the spit is 18kms long and after seeing that it flat and  barren & there’s not much of interest that we can see, we turned around after about 5kms.

Boy racers obviously know about this strip of tarseal going by the amount of wheelie marks on the road. Heading back down the straight, Te Oka Peak (685m) on Banks Peninsula ahead of us. We didn’t quite reach the top of that peak, turning down the steep track just before it.

 

Right beside the spit and on the edge of Lake Ellesmere is the Kaituna Lagoon and when we drove past it on our way to Banks Peninsula the other day we spotted three white herons(Kotuku) feeding near the road. We drove back to the lagoon to see if we could spot them again. We pulled into the carpark after seeing one white heron feeding beside the cycle track that ran through the middle of the lagoon. As we walked up the track fourteen Royal Spoonbills flew in and started feeding and then we spotted what looked like a small white heron with the larger one. I couldn’t contain my excitement when I realised that it was a Little Egret, another very rare visitor to New Zealand.

“The little egret is a small, hyperactive ‘white heron’ with a slender black bill. First recorded in New Zealand in 1944, there are 2-3 little egrets present here most years, with single birds often staying at the same site for many consecutive years.
Little egrets are scarce annual migrants to New Zealand, arriving in autumn and departing in early spring, with some individuals remaining over summer. They are usually seen as single birds, with the largest New Zealand flock being five birds.” - NZBirdsOnLine

In this shot below there are five species; 3 herons- the White Heron, the White Faced Heron (can you spot it?) & the Little Egret, Royal Spoonbills & Black Swan.

Top left- Here you can see the size comparison between the White Heron & the Little Egret
Top right- The Little Egret takes flight
Bottom left- Little Egret, unfortunately he was very flighty and I couldn’t get too close. It was still very windy & I think this helped me get some shots at least. I’m sure he would have flown sooner if there had been no wind.
Bottom right & centre- White Heron (Kotuku)

The Royal Spoonbills decided they didn’t want their photo taken either.