Saturday 30 March
I first explored the Brunner Mine Site near Greymouth. On 26 March 1896 a huge explosion in the mine killed 65 men, NZs worst mining tragedy. It was put down to very fine coal dust exploding from an equipment spark, and with dust hanging in the air throughout the underground workings flames roared right up through the workings and out the mine entrance.
The suspension rail bridge was built to carry coal and coke wagons across the Grey River for railing to Greymouth Port. The brickworks and the coke processing area are on the bank on the other side of the bridge with the mine entrance in the hills out of this picture.
For the afternoon I drove up the road to Westport to Punakaiki. There were great coastal views on the way.
You can see the road top right of picture. This photo was taken from the Strongman Mine Disaster Memorial. This mine exploded in January 1967, with 19 miners losing their life.
Punakaiki is well known for its Pancake Rocks and Blowholes.
The Pancake Rocks.
But the Surge Chamber is a feature that people queued to photograph.
The Surge Chamber.
As you can see the day was a stunner with warm sun and no wind all along the coast.
Sunday 31 March
From Greymouth to Hokitika I stopped off at Goldsborough where the original gold mining works involved bring water for sluicing down out of the hills and through tunnels when hills stood in the way. Two of these tunnels are accessible by foot and lead from the main road into a bush walk to the stream that feeds the pipeline.
The pipeline is now gone and replaced by a boardwalk. The above view from the road access looks through to the bushwalk. Lexie and I passed through this tunnel during our 2017 tour of the South Island.
Downstream from Goldsborough there was a span of the original 1891 Arahura bridge in a Heritage Park alongside the modern 2009 concrete bridge. The 1891 truss bridge was a combined rail/road bridge, and during the Beacons episode on road and rail transport we filmed a car driving over it to illustrate how versatile NZ engineers were in developing a single bridge with two functions.
The 1891 bridge had seven truss spans and a deck that enabled cars and trucks to run on planks over the sleepers.
The deck of the combined road/rail bridge.
The 2009 replacement works involved both a new road bridge and a separate new rail bridge. This span is one which Lexie and I would have driven over during our Westland travels before 2009.
Monday 1 April
This day was another goldmining day following the Kaniere Water Race which was built in 1874 to supply water for sluicing claims in the hills east of Hokitika. The 20 km race snaked around the contours of the hillsides and across valleys on wooden flumes.
The Kaniere Water Race crossing a gully carrying a stream.
In 1891 the gold was gone and the race abandoned. However the Ross Goldfields were ramping up production and they needed a source of electricity to operate water pumps in their mining operations, and so the race was recommissioned to provide water for a power station at Kaniere Forks which supplied Ross from 1909 to when the gold ran out in 1916. After several industrial owners the Westland Power Board took over the power station in 1960 and it still operates today.
The race is now a 20km walking and cycling trail, but I only spent a 40 minute walk to get a feel of the country through which it is constructed. In places the sides are lined with timber, and there are numerous flumes over small streams which run down from the hillsides
My final venture on Monday was the Hokitika Gorge visit with its two highly photographed suspension bridges. It is 30km up in the hills south east of Hokitika, and a very popular visitor attraction. The carpark had four large sections with space for 15 to 20 vehicles each. There were 10s of cars there, dozens of people coming and going on the walkway (mainly Chinese families and German couples) and 1000s of sand-flies.
Hokitika Gorge and the smaller of the two suspension bridges.
Tuesday 2 April
Early morning saw me south of Hokitika on the Mananui Tramline walk which passes an old sawmill site with the line crossing an extensive wetland. In 2017 Lexie and I walked the whole tramline, a 4 hour return journey over wetland and through forest, but this time I only spent an hour overall, surprised by the lack of wetland birds. However on my way out of the wetland area a white heron swooped up from the edge of the swamp, circled around me and settled in the top of a nearby tree.
There did not appear to be a nesting spot in this tree – in any case nesting finished in February.
Next it was my turn to explore the tops of trees in the forest at the Treetop Walk. It was a great experience, just as good as the two Treetop Walks in Australia, one in the Otways in Victoria, the other near Albany in Western Australia.
Yes, I did climb the 106 steps to the top of the tower.
The climb was worth it for the views.
The Ross Goldfields water race walk was next. It was a 45 minute strenuous hiking pole assisted climb to reach the original line of the race coming out of the hills, then a 30 minute descent back down to the township. One had to admire the energy of those early miners in constructing these epic works.
The remains of an original wooden trestle carrying a water pipe across a gully and into a tunnel high in the hills above Ross.
Tuesday night I freedom camped near Harihari to enable an early morning Wednesday start for Okarito.
Wednesday 3 April
There is a wetland walk at Okarito that Lexie and I enjoyed in past travels. White Heron breeding ground tours do not operate as the season is finished, but the company runs bird watching forest and wetland tours throughout the year.
Okarito wetland boardwalk.
This friendly fantail chased sand-flies all around me as a I trekked through the forest on the other side of the Okarito Wetland.
Wednesday was also a return trip to Franz Joseph Glacier and Lake Matheson (the Mirror Lake) at Fox Glacier.
50 years ago when Calum was 7 we walked up the riverbed at Franz Joseph to the foot of the ice at the rock shown above. Today this current view is from as close as the dozens of visitors there with me were allowed to get. The 2023 floods washed out the riverbank track over a large section of the valley up to this viewpoint.
Not only were the Alps covered in cloud at Lake Matheson, the lake itself was host to hundreds of Canadian geese who would have upset the reflections if the Alps were clear.
However, in a brief window through the clouds I did get a telephoto image of Mt Cook sitting behind that treetop.
Thursday 4 April
Overnight for Wednesday and Thursday at Haast Holiday Park enabled me on Thursday to visit Knights Point, the Shipwreck Cove wetland and dune walks, the Hapuka estuary walk, and Jackson Bay Ocean Beach walk.
Knights Point was the Haast end of the Paringa to Knights Point road construction (1958 to 1965) that connected the West Coast to the Haast.
Jackson Bay was a short lived new town1875 to1878, but is now a busy cray fishing port.
On the way out of Jacksons Bay I waited at the side of the road for a large herd of Hereford cattle to pass. Had a chat to the head drover who explained that they had brought these animals down from the Jackson heights after summer grazing and were heading for sale this coming week.
Friday 5 April
Friday, I left the west coast via Gates of Haast, and drove up over the Haast Pass and through to Wanaka, stopping at waterfall vistas on the way.
Heading up the Haast River Valley.
Thunder Creek Falls at the Gates of Haast.
Gates of Haast Bridge.
After shopping in Wanaka I headed up the Cardrona Valley to the Summit Carpark at the top of the Crown Range road to spend the night (freedom camping allowed – but it was cold).
Sunset over Queenstown viewed via telephoto lens from the summit carpark on the Crown Range.
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