Saturday 18 January:
This first week of travels covers 8 days Saturday 18 to Saturday 25 January. Subsequent weeks cover Sundays to Saturdays inclusive, except for a couple of six-day weeks at the end of the trip.
Today I travelled from home in Bethlehem, Tauranga, through Rotorua to the Aratiatia Rapids freedom camping parking area, arriving at lunchtime and waiting to view the 2pm and 4pm water releases. from the dam gates into the rapids.
Gates commencing to open and discharge into the pool below the dam.
Flow at “full bore”.
The viewing crowd on the bridge above the discharge pool (taken from the upper viewing area). At the bottom of the picture you can see several viewers at the middle viewing area.
Downstream view from the bridge of the rapids below the discharge pool. In the far distance the middle viewing area is visible just above the last rapid. The upper viewing area is below the tall tree on the horizon.
Close-up from the bridge of viewers at the middle viewing area.
Sunday 19 January::
On the way to Mt Ruapehu I stopped off at the Te Porere Redoubt where Te Kooti held his last stand against 500 colonial troops on 4 October 1869. During the battle 41 people were killed, but Te Kooti avoided capture and escaped.
The lower of the two redoubts defended by the Māori (taken from an elevated viewing point). The redoubts at this location are the best preserved of any Māori battle sites in the country.
The clouds parted for a short time enabling a glimpse of Mt Ruapehu from the redoubt.
I arrived at Whakapapa Ski Field at 10am and after a walk to one of the Lord of the Rings film locations took the Sky Waka up to the Chalet at 2020m above sea-level
It was quite misty during the Sky Waka gondola ride up.
Gondolas arriving/departing at/from the terminus at the Chalet.
Café dining area within the Chalet complex.
From the viewing deck at the Chalet you can see way down to the ski field HQ and parking area (the whitish patch half way between my right cheek and the gondola tower).
Close-up view from the Chalet deck down to the parking area
Outdoor dining area at 11.30am. It was burgers or salads on their very limited menu (with cabinet food for those not wanting a “full” meal).
Monday 20 January:
This morning I awoke at Waiouru to sunrise touching Mt Ruapehu.
Eastern side of the mountain at 6.30am from my freedom camping spot behind the Army Museum.
The day’s travel took me to walks at Bruce Park south of Hunterville and Pryces Rahui 10km up a side road from Rata. Then through Bulls to Sanson.
Tuesday 21 January:
Sanson Domain was my Monday overnight stop.
Another sunrise, this time from the Sanson Domain.
Then into Himatangi Beach where this concrete roundhouse was unusual.
And that evening a foreshore walk at Eastbourne following an excellent dinner at Sea Salt.
Wednesday 22 January:
Wellington to Picton ferry crossing on the Kaitaki involved check-in from 6.30am.
Awaiting boarding call.
The crossing of Cook Strait was so smooth I was hardly aware of the ship’s motion, with the horizon out the forward lounge window not moving relative to the windowsill level. The last hour of the voyage I spent outdoors watching the boat traffic while cruising down the Sound.
Crossing tracks with the Aratere as we headed into Picton for a noon arrival.
This rather smart French boutique cruise ship, the “Le Jacques Cartier” docked after us at Picton.
Following Sea Salt dining in Eastbourne last evening, it was Seabreeze Café and Bar in Picton for lunch after the Cook Strait crossing.
Thursday 23 January:
The DoC camp at Marfells Beach, east of the Lake Grasmere saltworks, was crowded with holiday makers, mainly in caravans and motorhomes. The view from my camp spot looked out across the sea with the bottom of the North Island from Cape Terawhiti on the west to Cape Palliser on the east just visible on the horizon.
7.30am was a good time for a beach walk with everyone else in camp seeming to sleep in – not a soul in sight.
This trip south I am once more taking side roads to unexplored places, and this day it was Wards Beach south and east of Seddon.
The gravel beach provides access for large commercial crayfishing boats launched via Caterpillar tractor and trailer units.
Why such large machines for this task? The gravel is very loose, and heavy wide track machines are needed to negotiate trailers over the gravel surfaces.
Ward Beach is also known for its “Boulders” scattered along the foreshore. These ancient (65 million years old) concretions were uplifted with the beach some 2.5 to 3 m during the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake. Some boulders are round (although much smaller than those at Moeraki further south) but the large ones have unusual shapes as above.
Thursday lunch was at The Store at Kekerengu on the coast 60km north of Kaikoura.
The Store restaurant and café is on a rise with great views of the foreshore and is a busy stopover for many travelers between Blenheim and Kaikoura. It also provides forest and beachside camping sites for overnighting.
This was the late afternoon overview of the beach from the rear window of the motorhome, with thundering surf breaking onto the beach gravels.
Friday 24 January:
It was a cool and light drizzly day to start with as I travelled south toward Kaikoura. The hills were covered in cloud, so I abandoned my plan for a walk on the Forest Trail up Mount Fyfe, and instead took the 3 to 4 km return paved walkway encompassing the Ohau Point seal colony. Fortunately the temperatures were cool, and the atmosphere non-odorous. On hot days the smell (aroma; stench; whatever) from the seals can be overpowering.
The promenade walkway extends more than sa km past the point in the distance. Its construction came about when the highway and railway had to be reconstructed 2016 to 2017 following the Kaikoura earthquake. The main parking area for seal viewing is on the right, and most people just use a few metres of the walkway at the carpark for seal viewing. I was in no hurry, so spent 1 hour 20 minutes walking the length of the walkway and back again.
There were 100s of seals and seal pups along the foreshore, lazily sleeping or for the smaller pups playing together in rock pools.
The walkway beyond the seal area was traversed by me and a lady jogger. Parts of it maybe had never been walked before me. But it also gave access to the extensive rusty steel art work attached to the new retaining walls between reconstructed road and rail works.
It is impossible to take in the detail of the art work travelling at speed along the road. Walking the new promenade provided excellent viewing access.
I thus had loads of time to photograph many metres of Maori designs (though momentarily distracted by the Coastal Pacific thundering by on its way from Christchurch to Picton).
As the Coastal pacific disappeared into one of the many tunnels on this line, I noticed a lone walker approaching me. I recognised him as the walker I had passed twice yesterday while on route from Blenheim to Kekerengu, and once again this morning some 15km south of Kekerengu. He was walking on the right hand side of the road as I passed, so I knew he was not hitchhiking. This time he was using the promenade.
We stopped for a yarn. His name is Zayell Johnston, from Canada. He is walking NZ on SH1 from Cape Reinga to Bluff, expecting to arrive in Bluff by 14 February. He has already walked across Canada and after NZ he will circumnavigate Australia by road. He records his daily progress via recording number of steps (Zayell logged 11.8 million steps during a 9-month, 9,000-kilometre trek across Canada) as well as Go-Pro videos and Facebook posts. He has 500 followers on Facebook, and some videos can attract a couple of thousand views. He expected to reach Kaikoura around 5pm and needs to stock up with water and food supplies. {Google his name on the internet and lots of stuff with pictures and video comes up.)
I passed him again later in the morning as I headed for 2 nights in Kaikoura. He never accepts lifts from passers-by – walking the whole way is his objective.
Saturday 25 January:
A fine morning provided opportunity to explore the Mount Fyffe Forest Walk. It was a 25-minute drive from town ending in a carpark at the end of a steep gravel road.
The entrance stile at the start of the walkway with Kaikoura Bay way in the distance.
The track into the forest was very steep, reminding me of the tough climb I had on the last section of Rangitoto – it was hard work. The 2.5km round trip was cited as a 1 hour 45 minute walk, the time no doubt factoring in the slow going on the uphill sections. I only took a 50 minute return trip on part of the track.
The forest had a great variety of trees, ferns, vines and creepers, but this fungal growth was the most interesting feature I came across. There was only this one tree on which it was growing – no sign of it anywhere else around.
I then returned to Kaikoura and parked at the Seal Colony Point way out through town to the open coast. During the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake the shoreline rose 2 to 3 metres, and the tidal pools which attracted seals right up to the carpark were no more – the seals just migrated around the coast. I took a 45 minute foreshore return walk to the new seal habitat. They lazily lounged on flat rocky areas above high tide line, well away from the track.
The bay with the new seal habitat. In the past Lexie and I took the clifftop walk looking down on this area. The foreshore track is very rough in places due to earthquake movements.
Anyway I got my seal photos – lazy days for them.
I got both these walks in before lunch, but there was no way the seagulls give you any privacy while eating. They flocked around and all over the camper vans in particular in the carpark, this guy looking down through the skylight to see what my sandwich contained!!
Tomorrow, Sunday 26 January, I begin my journey to Christchurch, stopping overnight at my favorite freedom camping site on the way, the Glenmark Domain.
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