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We left Tekapo at our usual relaxed time of day, and after having a coffee in town, and disposing of our rubbish, we headed down the familiar road towards the east coast, but this time I really wanted to visit Ashburton as a part of the trip. In years past I regularly travelled to Ashburton to work at the Canterbury Flour Mill, and I want to see what is there now. In addition to that, I wanted to revisit Ashfords, who are in a complex next door. Bruce wanted to re-visit Valley Brewing in Geraldine to get some more dark beer, so those things determined our route for the day. The final factor in our trip was the weather.

It rained all night last night, but it had settled to being very overcast this morning. The forecast was for heavy rain later in the afternoon, while the forecast for the Christchurch area was much better. That made the decision to move on somewhat easier.

It was great to be able to let the dogs loose in the dog park before we left and they had a great time playing with a black and white spaniel cross. We had another look at the lake, and while the cloud hung low over the hills and the lake was very still, the shores were a bit muddier due to the much lower water levels. Regardless, it was still very beautiful. We never fail to marvel over the brilliant blue colour of the water. Even when the skies are grey, it is still a beautiful colour.

It was a bit of a shame that when we reached the Valley Brewery in Geraldine, they had sold out of the dark beer that Bruce liked so much. He had to settle for 3 bottles of their red variety. Still, he was happy enough with that, and we took advantage of their large carpark and made ourselves some lunch before heading on towards Ashburton.

As a town, Ashburton does not look to have changed much, but I was a little shocked at the difference in the mill. There had been a fire in the mill a couple of years after I left there, but I had not realised it was the old heritage part of the mill that was destroyed. You can see the comparison between old and new below.

The mill is now producing specialty stock food, but it is disappointing to see how much junk is all around the site and how uncared for the place looks. I hope the 45 guys that worked there are doing well where ever they are now.

Next door we went to Ashfords. They are based in what used to be the Mill Master’s house many , many years ago. Next door is their big factory where they make spinning wheels and looms. Their wool shop is wonderful, and they have their own brand of wool, as well as a large selection of New Zealand wools that I often find hard to get. I refuse to buy Australian wool if I have an alternative. I ended up coming away with wool for grandsons, grand daughters and even some for myself. That should keep me occuppied for a while. I also enjoyed looking at their looms and spinning wheels, and a whole range of silks and other materials that they make available for crafty people to use in their creations. You don’t see a lot of that stuff in other places.

They also have a lovely cafe on site, and I had many lunches there over the years, but we did not stop there today.

We elected to carry on to our camp for the night, back at Weedons Park just outside of Christchurch. The weather was still quite dismal, although not actually raining, and it was getting  late, so we did not continue on out tour of Ashburton. Neither did we stop in Rakaia, or head out to the mouth of the Rakaia River so Bruce could have another go at catching a salmon. All those things will have to wait until we come back for another visit.

We did however, cross over the Selwyn River which was just a dry river bed. It was interesting that there was a documentary on tv tonight about the demise of the Selwyn River, due partly to global warming and climate change, but also partly due to dairying. It seems criminal to us that all this water can be taken from our aquifers (2000 litres of water to produce 2 litres of milk). If the land has to be irrigated to produce grass for dairy, then maybe dairying is not the right industry for this area!

 

We were woken up this morning by the wooshing sound of a hot air balloon. That never fails to get Oscar excited so there was no sleeping in after that. The air this morning is still, but a bit grey and moody, and a bit on the chilly side.

There is a lovely path around the lake here (Lake Hayes) so we took the dogs for a walk before heading back into Arrowtown to have a look at the museum. It was as good as it was reputed to be. It had lots of displays, lots of information about local people, local industries (not just gold mining), and the local way of life.

Once we had a good look we found a great coffee and shared our table with a teacher from Clyde. We got into a discussion about how much nicer we felt Clyde was compared to Arrowtown. It was lovely that she was so passionate about her area.

Having refreshed ourselves we headed to the road that goes over the Crown Range. We stopped at the bottom of the hill and picked up a young hitchhiker from Dublin, called Darragh. She was pleasant company, and had been travelling for three years now.

The views from the top of the Crown Range were amazing and we had a clear view of the planes coming in to Queenstown airport, and we could see the runway in the distance, although almost impossible to pick up on camera. I suspect this area would be very windy most of the time, so we were glad we had another still day.

We had been given warnings about foreign drivers over this range, but we found that other drivers were well behaved and we had no concerns. The road was steep and windy, but the road itself wasn’t really a problem either.

We eventually ended up at Cardrona for lunch. We did a drive by of our friends Kristine and Gary’s places, before pulling up in front of the pub. We were lucky we arrived when we did because the pub was to be closed at 3pm for a wedding.

The pub itself is delightful and we can see why Kristine and Gary like it so much. We need to tell them we put our coffee’s on their tab! It was warm and sunny so we took our drinks outside and enjoyed the ambience. The proprietors obviously take great pride and care in the gardens and the building itself.

Once we were refreshed, we headed on down the road to Wanaka where we delivered Darragh, and we then parked on the water front to give the dogs some exercise. They really love chasing sticks into the lake. We were amazed at how low the lake was compared to the last time we were here.

Bruce and I also decided to shout ourselves a gelato and the anticipation of it was as good as the reality. While I was waiting for it, the server was explaining the differences between ice-cream and gelato. Icecream is made with cream which is beaten so it has a lot of air in it. Gelato is made with milk, unbeaten, so it does not contain air. Gelato would have more ice crystals though. Nevertheless, it was delicious.

Before long we were on our way back to Tekapo. We had promised ourselves a soak in the hot pools here  which we did not get to have last time we were here. We like the NZMCA Park at Tekapo. It is pretty big, so there is no competition for a spot. It is right by the lake and right next door to the dog park, so a winner all round. It was a big day of travelling, but the hot pools did not disappoint. I had been pretty sore today so the hot water was a real help. We must have spent at least an hour here before heading to set up camp at the NZMCA Park. We are expecting wet weather so we wanted to be all sorted before it came.

It was amazing looking at the cloud being stopped by the mountains. You could see it just lapping the tops of the ranges and every now and then seeping down into a valley like a thick blanket. Fascinating.

Once again, the lake was a lot lower than at our previous visit.

It didn’t take long to settle in, and start our plans on our trek further up the island. Pity the holiday has to end soon.

Our view from the bedroom window as we woke up this morning was magic, and Bruce rose early to try and catch a fish. He had a couple of takes on the line, but no fish were harmed in the writing of this blog. We had to content ourselves with taking fish out of the freezer for tea.

We continued along the road to Glenorchy and the view was mind blowing. Peaceful, green pasture  land with snow capped mountains rising behind, and with glimpses of the lake.

As we progressed the road swung back to the edge of the lake again, and the scene became one of mirror like reflective lake, mountains and trees. One section was all black and charred, where there had previously been a bush fire, but it was great to see the cabbage trees starting to sprout again, and life returning to the area.

I would have to say that Glenorchy would have to be one of the most beautiful places in the world. They also have cafes and we found one that served great coffee with date and apricot scones. Bruce was back in his happy place!

We had a stroll along the dock and could see the trout in the waters beneath. One was a fairly decent size, (clearly the one that got away from Bruce this morning) but there were plenty of others at all stages of development. While there we saw a sign for the Glenorchy walk so we grabbed the dogs and off we went.

What a great asset for the town. A lot of money and effort has been invested in putting boardwalks through the wetlands, and the rest of the track was in good order. A short portion of it was actually the edge of the golf course. The views though were amazing!

It seemed that everywhere we went, people wanted to pat the dogs, and we never cease to be amazed at the numbers of German tourists, along with the inevitable bus loads of Asians.

After a bit of lunch we got in the truck and headed on our way to Arrowtown. I had heard amazing things about Arrowtown, so I was looking forward to seeing it. I would have to say I was quite disappointed.

Arrowtown is full of very old buildings from the gold mining era. A lot of these buildings have been restored and are in use today which is great. However, the feel of the place was destroyed, in my opinion, by the sheer commercialism of the place for one thing, and for all the vehicles in the heritage street for another.

It was really hard to get a photo of an old building without a modern day car in it!

However, one part of Arrowtown that was really interesting was where the remnants of the Chinese Miner’s cottages were. What a big difference between the style of buildings the Europeans lived in, and what the Chinese were able to put together. Not only that, but what standard of living they were prepared to put up with in their quest for a better life. Apparently they wanted to go home with $200 in their pocket which would have been enough to establish themselves in their homeland.

These shacks had just enough room for a bed, and some packing cases, and a fireplace. Some had windows, but not all. The roofing was made from any tin they could scavange.

By this time is was after 5pm, and we had missed out on seeing the museum which has a great reputation, so we decided to stay in the area. We were told about Lake Hayes, so we headed in that direction.

Lake Hayes is maybe 10 km out of Arrowtown and has a big recreational reserve right beside the lake where it is permitted to freedom camp if you are self contained. Apparently they will wheel clamp vehicles that are not, which we think is a great initiative! Its a lovely spot to spend the night.

 

 

We had a bit of a leisurely start this morning as Bruce wasn’t feeling too great yesterday, but he seems to have bounced back today. However, we wanted to start moving north, so after walking the dogs along the lake front we headed on our way out of town.

As we were doing so Bruce spied this wedding chapel that would have 360 degree views, so we had to stop for a closer look. Apparently it is owned by a hotel there especially for the use of its guests. Looked kinda cute though.

After a quick look we moved on, heading towards Queenstown. We headed inland and to start off with, the land surrounding us could have been the Waikato. It was green pasture land with no evidence of  irrigation until we started getting closer to the hills. Then within the space of a kilometer, the land surrounding us started looking more alpine again – rocks and tussock becoming quite predominant.

We passed the little towns of Mossburn and Castlerock, but missed Lumsden altogether. It was a bit unusual but we could not find anywhere for a coffee along the way.

Our first glimpse of Lake Wakatipu was magical.  I am not sure why  we did not call in to  Kingston, as it looked very inviting from a distance, but we sailed past it. It has been a calm and sunny day today so that made the Lake look mirror-like.

We kept stopping off for  photos, competing with the usual tourists. I was going through the photos last night when I realised I had captured the image of a tourist defeacating behind a rock at the lake’s edge. I wish they would go and soil their own country!

We thought we would try for a coffee out by the airport in Queenstown, but the place is absolutely crazily busy and there was nowhere to stop. Bruce had fond memories of the world’s best flat breads served by the lakeside in Queenstown but that memory was not to be be re-visited.

We had decided that we would freedom camp on the side of the lake between Queenstown and Glenorchy so we headed off to find one. That took us a long time for two reasons – firstly we still had to keep stopping because of the amazing views; and secondly, the local council had obviously revisited the rules around where freedom camping is permitted, and there were lots of lovely spots where no camping signs had been erected.

We finally came to a little area that was permitted, and right next to the lake. We were thrilled to be spending the night there, and the dogs would love it.

Up bright and early this morning after a peaceful night’s sleep. Dog walking in the early dawn so they would be settled while we were away today and well behaved for the dog minders Graeme and Di.

We were picked up from the gate by the bus and we were off.  The tour was really well organised and the driver, also Bruce, was well informed, knowledgeable and entertaining.

The first stop was at Te Anau Downs where there were wide, flat meadows of dried grass surrounded by bush. It looked lovely but the driver also told us of the fire danger at this time of the year, especially since there has not been any decent rain in the  area for 3 weeks now (until last night). Apparently 3 days without rain in Milford is a drought.

Next stop was Knob’s Flat, which had a well set up camping ground with good toilets for the busloads of tourists that come by. Our driver was able to get us in just before a busload of Asians for which we were really grateful.

We recognise that the Asians are tourists that bring with them a lot of money but Bruce and I find them a bit hard to deal with. They are loud and brash, and have no concept of personal space. They seem to believe they should be first for everything and will push and shove to get there. The Asian commentaries on trips / venues where we have had to listen to it are very loud and hard on the ears, and I have often come away with a headache afterwards.

Knobs Flat had the same meadows as Te Anau Downs but there were knobs of raised land scattered around, apparently left by the glaciers on one of the three ice ages this area has been through.

Once again on our way to Milford, the driver spotted a layby where three keas had made their appearance so he pulled in and stopped. Apparently these keas were juvenile males and were certainly not shy. One of them was determined to pull at the tongue of people’s sneakers. Every so often it would nip at foot instead of shoe which caused the person to let out a squeal and quickly shake the bird off.

The next scheduled stop was a magic place called the Chasm. We were dropped of at one carpark and the bus moved on to the next carpark, where the walkway came out, to pick us up. We had a slight detour though as there was a coffee cart set up in the carpark and Bruce could not resist the temptation of a fresh coffee. The driver had told us that if a coffee was purchased it had to be consumed before we got back on the bus, so Bruce had to drink it as we walked.

The Chasm is a series of deep holes bored out of rocks by the rapidly flowing river. The photos do not do justice to the depth of the holes, or the strength of the river rushing through.

There were also holes in rocks that no longer had water flowing through them which  gave some interesting pictures.

Our final stop before Milford came at the Homer Tunnel as we had to wait about 6 minutes for the light change. Traffic through the tunnel is one way at a time and this is all controlled by lights. There is also someone watching what is happening at the tunnel all the time (from a control booth) so the lights can be over-ridden if necessary. The Homer Tunnel was all man made, so quite a feat of engineering.

We finally got Milford and in true organised fashion our driver gave us a clear explanation of what boat to catch, how to claim our lunch, and so on.We were given 3 cards to hand in at various times, enough time to go to the loo (before the busloads of Asians again) and we boarded the boat and were off.

The commentary on the boat was also informative and interesting, and we learned a lot about the geology of Milford Sound, the nature of the environment, the plants and animals, and the geographic features. There was plenty of room on the boat so there were plenty of opportunities to take photos. I found it easier to be outside and was glad of my jacket and woolly hat for that reason.

As it had rained the night before, there were plenty of waterfalls to see, and the boat made sure that everyone who wanted to got wet under the Sterling Falls by nosing right into it. There were two different lots of fur seals along the way as well, and the skipper got the boat as close as permissable so we could grab some photos.

Once the boat got out to the entrance to Milford Sound the wind was very strong and the sea had some swell, so you could appreciate how sheltered the sound is. The sound itself looked quite magical with the mist and cloud hanging around the peaks in places, but with the blue sky trying to break through, creating different light patterns.

On the way back we were dropped off at the underwater observatory, which was a part of our tour. Again, the guides were informative and  keen to show off their little bit of paradise. It was a treat seeing black coral and some of the fish in their natural habitat. We saw several different species including blue cod, spotties, perch, terekihi, trevelli, and others I could not name. There were also several varieties of sea anemonies.

The trip back from the observatory was on a much bigger boat and this time we could not escape the Asians. We started off sitting inside but the noise of the commentary and those around us all shouting at each other was too much to bear so we went outside on the deck again.  We also felt compelled to move because one Asian lady decided she wanted Bruce’s seat and was almost sitting on his knee in her efforts to get it. Her strategy was successful – he couldn’t handle it and I couldn’t blame him.

Once back at the dock there was no hope of a toilet stop so it was back into the bus for the trip home. Normally there are no stops on the way back, but the driver was told of a possible delay on the trip so we stopped of at Knob’s Flat again to use the toilets. He basically advised us to go as he couldn’t be sure how long we would be held up for.

That was the only downside of the whole trip. Apparently a car had come around the corner on the wrong side of the road and crashed into a bus, wedging itself underneath. The car burst into flames, which also incinerated the bus. Unfortunately the occupant of the car died, but the busload of Korean tourists were all OK. There was nothing left of the bus when we finally got to go past about 90 minutes later.

A sobering end to the day, and one way to remind us all about the value of life. Our driver informed us that in the years he had been driving, there was not one trip where he did not come across something unexpected. The road to Milford can be very challenging, especially in the winter, and especially when there are a lot of foreign drivers on our roads. On one occassion our driver said he came around a corner to the sight of a man skateboarding down the steep road!

We were pleased that we did not have to worry about the dogs even though we were late. Our driver delivered us right to the front of our motorhome (drove the bus right on into the NZMCA park) and Di and Graeme had heard about the delays on the road so they expected us to be late and had made sure the dogs had received extra attention. We ended our day having a wine with them in their van, and vowing to keep in touch in the future.

We did not sleep much last night at Monkey Island. The wind increased in intensity and we woke around 3 am to the motor home rocking and rolling, and while it was not as bad as at Wellington, it was enough to stop us sleeping. Eventually, I got up and made us a cuppa and we decided to have an early start to our day. Bruce was concerned that the wind was set to become even stronger as the day progressed, but it was forecast to be less of a problem inland, so he believed we would be better off travelling on.

After taking the dogs for a walk on the beach we headed on the road towards Manapouri and Te Anau. The road was a bit blustery at times but overall, not as bad as we had expected.

Our first stop was at the suspension bridge at Clifden, which is one of the oldest remaining bridges in NZ. It is not used for traffic anymore, but is maintained as a walking bridge. There is a lot of freedom camping around here and almost all of them were still in bed when we arrived!

I was anxious to keep going and there were no more stops until we reached the shores of Lake Manapouri. Here we stopped for a coffee and a short walk before continuing on to Lake Te Anau.

Bruce and I really wanted to visit Milford Sound but we knew that this was going to be a challenge with 2 dogs on board. Therefore we made it a priority to visit the DOC office to try and get a permit to take  dogs there in the motor home. However, there was no way this was going to be issued to us, so we next had to look at dog minding options.

This proved to be a challenge as well. One kennel had closed down, one pet friendly motel did not do  doggy daycare (we had been told this was possible), so our final option was another lady advertising as Hillview Kennels. This sounded really promising as she was located in town so it would mean only a 24 hour stay for the dogs, so we booked them in and then went and purchased our tickets.

We pottered around Te Anau, and established ourselves at the NZMCA park, before taking the dogs to the kennels at 6pm. However, the place was really not what we expected and the potential for the dogs, particularly Oscar, to escape was quite high, and I really didn’t feel happy about it.

We were rescued by fellow motor homers Graeme and Di Morris, who have a Frankia motorhome (one of the Dethleffs family) who kindly agreed to mind the dogs for us the next day. That meant they could stay in their own familiar environment, and I knew they would be well cared for and we could do our trip without worrying.

Te Anau has some lovely lakeside walks, and great facilities for tourists. We enjoyed coffees and two different cafes while we were here, and went to the movies to see a film make by some locals on the Milford area. It was extremely well done.

Invercargill was next on our trip itinerary. We had a couple of things on our must do list for here – one was to get some more LPG and the other was the visit the Richardsons Transport Museum.

Invercargill is one of the least motor home friendly towns we have come across and I am tempted to write to Mayor Tim Shadbolt about it. There are no places to freedom camp around the city and the NZMCA does not have a park here so we had no intention of staying – it was to be a fleeting visit.

We had a drive through of the town centre. It had some old buildings that looked a bit interesting, and it might have been nice to have a walk around, but we were on a mission to look at old cars, tractors and trucks! We found the museum without a problem and spent the morning there.

I enjoyed seeing the old cars, but was not much interested in all the trucks, so I left Bruce to it while I went upstairs and looked at the wearable art section. I have always wanted to go to a wearable arts show, so I enjoyed just sitting for a while and looking at a video of one of the shows. Some of the garments from that show were on display and while some were very impressive, others were not so much so.

I caught up with Bruce again to find that he had been just as fascinated with the workshop full of vehicles still to be restored as he was with those that had been restored. He could have easily spent a few hours more there, but decided we had better keep moving. So after a coffee and scone, we headed back to the motor home for some more kms.

We continued to follow the scenic coastal route, taking us through Riverton. Apparently Riverton is the oldest town in the South Island. I am not sure how that came to pass because it does not seem to be a logical landing point for settlers, but we were surprised at how big Riverton was. Again, it was full of old buildings, but not a great deal of care was going in to preserving them. It had a nice sheltered little port though.

We followed the road out to the beach, which was a surf beach, and there appeared to be lots of kids there learning how to surf. I admired them because the wind was quite strong and rather chilly, so wetsuits were a necessity.

We carried on down the coast to Colac Bay and again it was quite a nice beach but the wind, and the fact that the tide was quite high, meant it was not really conducive to a beach walk. Even the seagulls were hunkering down.

We were impressed with the bus stop at Colac Bay though.

Gemstone Bay was supposed to be next, and we love fossicking for stones, but due to the windy weather and late afternoon, we decided to stop and overnight at Monkey Island. This is a freedom camping spot, and due to the nature of the beach with high sandhills and flax bushes we decided that it would be a reasonable place to stay as it offered a bit of shelter.

The first sight that greeted us here was a farmhouse like no other. It looked more like a miniature French Castle with its three turrets.

Apparently it was built in the early 1900’s  by a farmer who liked the good things in life and who desperately wanted to keep his lady happy. Apparently it is 5 bedrooms and still has the original woodwork inside, but is preserved well.

Monkey Island is not an island at low tide – you can walk to it. Apparently boats would land supplies for the area at Monkey Island before the roads were built.We had been told you could get mussels off the rocks, and that the fishing from the rocks was also good. For us though, the tides were all at the wrong times, and the wind made it a bit forbidding.

After we parked up we took the dogs down on the beach and managed to avoid being blown away.

We had hoped that the sunset would be something to behold, but the cloud cover made it less amazing than it could have been. Still pleasant though.

It was a pretty windy evening, so no barbecuing tonight, but we snuggled up for the night with a dinner of  hot chicken and gravy and veges.

It rained last night but when we awoke this morning it was a clear sunny day, perfect for our final day of wandering about this area. All our travels were carefully planned today so we could make sure we got to Curio Bay at low tide. For that reason we drove to the furthermost point and worked our way back to the Curio Point area, even though it meant travelling the same road twice.

We traveled to Waipapa Point. There was a most picturesque light house here as well as a lovely bay. Unfortunately, the light house appeared to be undergoing some maintenance so was shrouded in what looked to be neon coloured netting, so we were not going to see it at its best.

Even the bottom platform of the lighthouse was cordoned off so we made our way to the beach after just the briefest look.

There was a shipwreck here at Waipapa Point, in 1881, when the SS Tararua was wrecked with the loss of 131 lives. I was impressed that the light house was requested, approved, land purchased, plans developed, parts sent to England for, parts received and the light-house built all within 5 years. That was without computers, telephones or airplanes. I believe it would take us a lot longer today!

We were just about to go down the path to the beach when this arrogant man approached us and told us it was forbidden to take the dogs on the beach, that we could not go down there. We knew he was wrong because we had carefully checked the DOC  literature before we had taken them out of the van, but his attitude was irritating none the less. However, from the top of the beach we could see an elephant seal and his lady sunning themselves, so we knew the dogs would be better away from here. Bruce took them back up the path and I grabbed some photos.

They were beautiful, and it was charming the way they needed to keep touching each other. At one stage the lady friend had her flipper over the male’s neck.

However, it was best not to get too close as they were somewhat smelly.

Next on the travel itinerary was  Slope Point. Slope Point is the southern most part of the South Island. To get to it we had to walk across farmland, through large paddocks of peacefully grazing sheep and cattle to get to the modern-day light house there. What a contrast.

The coastline here is pretty rugged, bounded by cliffs, and the southern ocean looked pretty empty. We were somewhat surprised when a local came trudging over the paddock in gumboots, with fishing rods and burley pot in hand to go fishing. He said he would get blue cod without too much trouble because the difficult terrain put people off from fishing here. He was on his own, but I guess he had done it many times before.

We made our way back to the motorhome and headed on down the road to Curio Bay.

Curio Bay is a special place for two reasons. One is that the Hector’s dolphins frequent this bay, and the other is because it has a fossilised forest, which you can see at low tide.

When we first got there, we were not sure what direction to walk in, so found ourselves down on the the little swimming beach. We immediately saw the dolphins jumping through the surf like they were possessed. Unfortunately, they came to their senses by the time I got the camera out, and even though we waited and waited, they did not feel inclined to jump around again. We could see their fins just outside the surf line, but they had done their thing! They are really small compared to the dolphins we see around Flaxmill Bay.

Their is a natural outcrop of rocks at the end of the beach, and there were some magnificent plumes of spray coming off them, so we clambered over rocks to take a look, and managed to get some good pictures. The power of the sea is very evident here.

We clambered our way back and went to the dairy to get an ice cream and were told how to get down to the fossilised forest part of the bay. It was over the other side of the car park and we hadn’t seen the signs because cars were parked in front of them.

We had never seen anything like this before. Apparently this area of forest was felled in a flood and the silica surrounded it almost immediately, so it was fossilised within a matter of months. Walking around the rocks it is easy to pick out logs, tree stumps, and what looks like partly rotted wood (which is actually rock). Fascinating!

Apparently the Yellow Eyed penguin lives in this area as well and there are lots of signs urging people to keep well away. However, we saw no sign of them.

The bay itself was lovely, but like the rest of this little area, pretty rugged. We took one last look before saying a reluctant goodbye to the Catlins.

The area has amazing beauty, but at the same time we could see that when the weather wasn’t so nice it could be pretty forbidding, cold and miserable as well. The wild life is well worth the effort coming to see – the various seals, and the bird life. Some of the roads could use a bit of work, but overall a wonderful place to visit.

 

The day started early for Bruce who decided he wanted to experience a Catlins sunrise. He  got up and dressed and gave me a nudge and opened the blind on my side of the motorhome with instructions to look outside. He then grabbed the camera and took off for the beach, The dogs refused to move and remained under the covers, snuggled up to my legs. However, the colours were beautiful and I was quite pleased that Bruce returned in one piece (he didn’t stumble over an angry seal in the dark) with some lovely photos.

Seeing I was awake we were up earlier than usual and headed off for another day of exploring. Today was to be a day of waterfalls and waterways. Some places were foggy, and others very clear – a bit of a strange old day really.

First up though was a little town called Owaka. Nothing much there, but a good I-Site and little museum, and a lovely cafe for a coffee. They informed us that one of the bridges we needed to go over was closed for repairs so there would be a 14km detour over metal roads – yay. The coffee was definitely going to be needed. What Owaka did have was a quirky garden called Teapot Land. I am not sure why they decided on teapots, but they were there in the hundreds – in every shape and form.

First up was Matai Falls. Another lovely bush walk in to the falls over well maintained tracks, and with the serenade of numerous bell birds. Once we started on the track we found that there was a second set of falls – Horseshoe Falls, within minutes of Matai Falls so we felt that was a bonus.

Matai Falls were lovely. They were not very high, but certainly higher than Purakaunui Falls, and the walk in was  only about 10 minutes.

Just a couple of minutes further on was the Horseshoe Falls. Again, we could see that the full horseshoe was not in operation due to the dry weather of the last few weeks. Instead of a steady flow of water there was nothing more than a trickle in places. Nevertheless they were also lovely.

The bush here was thick and quite dark , but so peaceful and yet noisy with the sound of falling water.

Next stop was about 20km along the road to Lake Wilkie. Lake Wilkie is a drainage lake but is supposed to be magical because of its reflections. It was a short walk there (about 15 minutes) but there was a bit of a breeze disrupting the surface, so maybe not as spectacular as it could have been.

There was morning fog clinging to the land in places and Lake Wilkie had a bit of fog still so that added to the mystique of the place.

Next stop was McLean Falls, which are reputed to be the one of the most photographed falls in the South Island, and also the tallest falls in the Catlins at 22m high. It was a longer walk in this time, but still through pristine bush and over well formed tracks. There were lots of other tourists sharing this journey with us.It remained a bit of a sport seeing who would expect right of way on the track, and we would chuckle at some them reminding each other to keep left!.

Once we got to the falls it was easy to see why they are the most photographed – they are exquisite. They are quite fast flowing, over 4 tiers, and the height of them made it very difficult to get them all in a photo.

The nature of the rocks the falls run through made climbing up into the falls relatively easy for the young and silly, and many of them did just that. We settled for the first little platform.

The nature of the terrain close to the falls also made that last little bit of track quite interesting to negotiate, with a little stream running across it and a bit of clambering required. Well worth the effort though. The dogs had to be on leads throughout the walk but they seemed to be quite happy as well.

However, we decided they probably needed a bit of beach time, so we stopped at Papatowai Beach, so they could have a run around. There were no seals here, so that helped. There is a river that has a bit of an estuary, and we were fortunate to see some white Spoonbills feeding. It was the first time I had ever seen them live.

Where the river joins the sea there is a lovely sandy beach, punctuated with just a few rocky outcrops. It was low tide, so Bruce had a bit of a hunt for mussels, but found none. The dogs had a great time though, before we bundled them back into the motorhome and headed into a little town called Niagara, and the NZMCA park there for the night. There are some falls here as well that are supposed to be the smallest falls in the Catlins (the name was a bit of a joke), but we decided we had  “fallen out” so we did not go there. We elected for a wine and a wind-down instead.

 

We decided to stay another night at our lovely POP stop and just travel around the area having a look today. First on the agenda was the Nugget Point Light House. The drive was fairly easy, parking a little tricky, but what a sight to behold. It looks like it is perched on top of a huge cliff.

All the area around it is also steep. Out to see are the “nuggets” – little islands that the settlers likened to nuggets of gold (hence the name).

The cliffs lead to rocky beaches below. A beach on the western side appeared to be a nursery for young seals as there were  about 15 of them there, and they seemed quite playful at times. Unfortunately, it was too far below us to get a decent photo of them.

The scenery around the area is wonderful with huge vistas down the coast, but my eye was always drawn to the light-house perched on top of the sheer cliff.

Next on the itinerary was Tunnel Hill. This was a tunnel hand-built by miners in the late 1800’s for the railroad that no longer uses it, so it is now a tunnel to nowhere. It was quite a long tunnel and very dark. The brickwork was impressive, but as we could not actually see a lot, there is not a lot more to say.

Purakaunui Falls was next on the list. These falls are beautiful, and the walk into them, through native bush, was also lovely.

These falls are tiered, and quite wide, but at this time there is not a lot of water flowing over them as there has not been rain for a few weeks.

Final trip for the day was to Jack’s Blowhole. This is a 55m deep hole but it is also 200m inland, which makes it quite unique. The walk in was pretty challenging – pretty hard on the knees and a lot of quite steep hill climb, but we were assured by fellow walkers that it was worth it, so we kept going. The path was through private farmland, so the dogs could not accompany us on this walk.

I would have to say that the photos do not do this blow-hole justice. It was also not seen at its most impressive as the seas were calm and there was no wind driving the waves. If there had been  it would have been really spectacular.

The air was full of salt spray and the sound of the waves was amplified by the steep walls around the blowhole. In addition, there was the sound of birds, particularly bell birds, from the bush around.

Once again the scenery around us as we walked back was just lovely, and somewhat made up for the fatigued legs.

Once completing that walk we headed back to the POP stop feeling that we had done enough, and in fact had probably done quite well. We got back and sorted out our little camp and then took the dogs for a walk.  They were having lots of fun chasing sticks when I happened to see the sand moving off to my right. A closer look revealed a large seal so the dogs were quickly tied up.

One of our camp mates had collected mussels a few hours before we arrived back, and kindly gave us some, so it was mussel fritters for tea! The end of a great day.