Author: Ian

Sunday 2 March:

With rain setting in overnight Saturday I was pleased to have completed the four walks that day in the dry. Although today there was a brief spell of early morning sun, heavy rain set in from 8.00 through to 11.00. I took off for Jackson Bay around 11.45 with low cloud on the eastern mountains to reach the steep bushed slopes on the south side of the Arawhata River.

The Arawhata drains a huge mountainous catchment to the south of Jackson Bay and has a long one-way bridge to cross its extensive gravel bed. The road to the Bay turns sharp right after crossing the river and runs alongside the hills on the left which eventually squeeze the road right up against to foreshore some 5km from Jackson Bay Harbour.  

Every time there is really heavy rain the sodden bush slips down onto the road carrying gravel and rocks and boulders ——

—– blocking the road completely. The last storm blocked two portions of the road in a similar manner as shown at this location, and it will take weeks to restore the sealed road alignment while travellers use a temporary bypass.

I had a yarn with the owner of the Cray Pot Café while having lunch, and he said that from September last year to this February they had road shut-downs of 22 days due to slips along this last 5km of the road into the Bay. The last one resulted from a 320mm rainfall over 24hours.

The area was settled by European immigrants from 1874, but farming and forestry was not as successful as hoped for, and although some hardy pioneers stuck it out today village commerce centres around fishing, specifically crayfish and long line catches.

The Cray Pot Café attracts a lot of custom during the tourist season, and when I arrived the parking areas were crowded with motorhomes and cars, with the indoor and outdoor dining areas chocker with people. So I decided, that as the rain had eased, I would take 20 minute bush walk out to the Ocean Beach.

The signs at the beach here warned about trying to walk around the shoreline to the next bay (Smoothwater Bay) as the conditions included a rough boulder beach ——

—— and very rough seas, particularly at high tide.

The bush walk was sand-fly infested, but for a local fantail I acted as his larder while he dived and twisted up and down and around and behind me scoffing the insects I was attracting.

At one point he stopped and looked at me as though saying; “Thanks mate  – I have had a great feed – if you like you can head off to the Cray Pot for your lunch”. Which I promptly did.

The crowding at the Cray Pot had eased when I got there at 1.30pm for a superb meal of blue cod, salad and chips. I sat outdoors overlooking the wharf, but the sand-flies were no problem due to long sleeves (and having a beard helps).

The real threat to diners were seagulls waiting to swoop for scraps on any plate left on an outdoor table once someone stood up to leave following dining.

Monday 3 March:

Heavy rain set in again on my return to camp at the Haast River Holiday Park, and continued throughout most of the night. It reminded me that I had said to you in last week’s Travel Notes that the Roaring Billy Falls (where the large tree was stranded on the river gravel) were modest but in heavy rain would be a raging torrent.

So, with effectively having had two days of rain, the last one heavy, I decided to go back up the Haast valley and check out Roaring Billy.

At a road-side bluff on the way up, where there was no sign of water when I came through on Saturday, a huge torrent was cascading down out of the bush.

So here again is the Saturday view of Roaring Billy and the stranded tree —–

—- and here is the Monday view, with the river now right across the gravel bed and rising quickly to maybe nudge this tree further down-stream.

And, as you can see, Roaring Billy was really “roaring” this time compared to Saturday’s trickle.

Leaving Haast over the very long one-way bridge (with two passing places dividing the bridge into thirds) I headed into the murk towards Lake Paringa.

This was the view in the rain at Knights Point.

As I crossed the Kaka Stream bridge near Lake Moeraki I caught a glimpse of yellow as I whizzed over the bridge, so turned round and went back to investigate.

It was a Caterpillar D8T bulldozer working in the stream bed downstream of the bridge.

On the West Coast heavy rains result in many streams carrying gravel and boulders rapidly downstream and piling this material up under bridges, blocking the waterway. So there is lots of work for contractors with bulldozers in clearing the channels before the next heavy rainstorm.

Lake Paringa was my stopping off point for the night in advance of a walk to Fox Glacier next day. The DoC camping area filled up overnight, but I got there early and secured a good spot with lake view.

This father took his little boy down to the boat launching area, and on the way back past me to their van I heard the young lad repeatedly say “they are biting me – they are biting me”.   Yes, this place was sand-fly infested which meant keeping windows closed whatever the weather.

Tuesday 4 March:

From a cold misty morning at Lake Paringa I headed north to the Fox Glacier walkway just a couple of km before Fox Glacier village.

The carpark was filling quickly at 9.00am as I took this photo of the river flowing from the glacier upstream with its load of rock-flour making the water grey-white.

The walking track for the most part was on the original road access-way to the viewing point for the glacier, but in 2019 a huge flood washed out a section of the road. With an estimated cost of $16 million to re-establish road access, and then no guarantee the same thing would not happen again, restoration of the road was abandoned. So a steep up and down foot track through the bush now enables cycle and pedestrian access around the washout back onto the road and up the valley to the original car parking area (now with bike-stands instead of car parks). Instead of a 10 minute drive (as at 2019) it is now a 4.8km 1hr 30min return walk. I was away 2 hours, 1 hr 40min walking and 20 minutes viewing and photos. The road climbs steadily up the valley, so at places is slow going and hard work.

The glacier is large, sweeping steeply down the valley below the snowfield at the base of Douglas Peak with tributary glaciers coming in from left and right. I decided to take a close-up of the ice texture where the base of the glacier disappears behind the ridge on the left of the photo, and to my surprise —–

—– when I viewed the resulting photo on the computer I discovered a 5-person guided walking party on the ice, presumably 4 hikers and a guide. There is a Fox Glacier Heli Hiking drop-off point out of sight behind the ridge on the left

Back on the road at 11.30 I drove straight through Fox Glacier village and out west to Lake Matheson, famous for its reflections of the mountains on a clear day. No such luck today with low cloud hanging over the tops all day. However, a viewing point called Glacier View was signposted several km further down the Lake Matheson access road, so I went to investigate.

Originally this location was known as Peak View, but in 2022 it was redeveloped as a cultural heritage site with a broken canoe [as shown in this picture “borrowed” from DoC]. Ngai Tahu mythology describes how Aoraki and his brothers (all sons of Ranginui, god of the sky) voyaged from the heavens onto the Pacific ocean, but made a serious error when they could not find land and capsized the canoe (which became the South Island) with the brothers becoming petrified into NZs tallest mountains.

Cloud conditions prevented my getting a decent shot of the glacier today (hence the “borrowed” picture above), but ——

—– the broken canoe was a masterpiece in carving, giving me several good shots.

Wednesday 5 March:

I left Fox Glacier yesterday afternoon and set out over the hilly winding road of the Omoeroa Saddle between Fox and Franz Josef to base myself at Franz Josef Top 10 Holiday Park for two nights. The weather forecast showed fine sunny conditions for my Okarito Boat Eco Tour this morning, and indeed conditions were perfect.

The 30km Franz Josef to Okarito road led me past lake Mapourika where the sun, at 8.00am, was just coming over the eastern mountains to chase away the lake mist.

Arriving at the Okarito wharf I met Swade and Paula —–

—— who greeted me with  “you must be Ian” as there were 4 couples and me booked for the morning cruise. [Photo from their web-site.]

We were told that if we looked carefully over the wharf edge we would see Heronimus (presumably not spelt Hieronymus, the Greek for Jerome) the local great white heron who has adopted this part of the tidal flats as his regular low tide feeding spot. 

Herons stand tall watching the water flow for passing small fish or eels, and —–

—– when they see a prospective target, they stretch their neck forward, and then —–

—– strike quickly to capture their prey.

The great white heron nesting refuge is just north of the Okarito tidal lagoon, with the breeding season lasting from September to February, at which time both parent birds and youngsters fly off to different areas around the country to spend the rest of the year till next September. We saw around 7 or 8 white heron feeding on the flats or resting on bankside vegetation as we travelled up the tidal lagoon into the Okarito River.

We were each given a checklist of some 28 water and land birds that inhabit the lagoon and surrounding wetlands, as well as a set of powerful binoculars we could use to follow-up siting’s that Swade and Paula pointed out to us as we cruised quietly upstream against the outgoing tide.

After seeing white-faced blue herons, dotterels, swans, oyster catchers, stilts, gulls and shags, we approached a royal spoonbill colony resting on their tree top refuge as we entered the Okarito River. You can see the birds on the right with Mount’s Cook and Tasman way over on the horizon,

The tree-top perches provide their base from which to feed and sleep – nesting season is over for this year.

And looking to the horizon we had ever changing views of Mount Cook (on the right) and Mount Tasman (on the left) as we travelled. {Tasman looks taller than Cook in this picture, but this changes as our viewing location changes.)

A really nice touch to the tour was morning tea (or plunger coffee) plus homemade cookies when were moored up halfway through the two hour cruise, watching the freshwater mullet jumping in the river beside us.

Returning to Okarito wharf at the end of the tour I headed to Pakihi Walk on the way back to the main road and climbed a steep track (1km, 30 minute return) to get a hilltop view of —–

—– the Okarito Lagoon and the ocean to the west ——

—– and the Southern Alps to the east.

And of course there had to be a male South Island robin fossicking around my feet for grubs or worms when I came out of the track. (By the way, no sand-flies at Fox or Franz or Okarito – I seem to have left them at Lake Paringa).

After lunch in Franz Joseph my final walks for the day were the 20 minutes to Glacier View at Franz Josef and 20 minutes to the Sentinel Rock viewpoint off the Glacier View Track.

Franz Josef Glacier is now a long way back up the valley from when Lexie, Calum and I walked to the ice face in the 1970s.

Anyway, the main reason I revisited Franz Josef glacier today (having included several photos of it in last year’s Travel Notes) is that the high peak just touching the clouds on the right of the range is Mount Gunn (according to a new set of South Island maps I purchased for this trip).

So back to Top 10 for tonight, stopping at the notorious bailey bridge that had to be renewed after the March 2019 devastating flood (the same storm that wrecked the access road to Fox Glacier)..

Franz Josef bridge over the Waiho River after the 27 March 2019 flooding [press photo supplied by DoC]. It was subsequently rebuilt in 18 days.

The renewed bridge today with the Waiho River valley (leading to the glacier) in centre background. The bailey bridge construction is still vulnerable to major flood events, but its kit-set structure will enable quick replacement following any future washout.

Thursday 6 March:

Heading north from Franz Josef I passed through Whataroa, headquarters for the tour company that takes visitors to the White Heron nesting colony. Their office was open but I think that as the nesting season is now over they run nature tours for the rest of the year. So I proceeded up valley to the remnants the old Whataroa River Bridge.

A modern new structure takes SH6 over the Whataroa River some 2km downstream of these original piers. What attracted me here was the teal blue/green colour of the water coming down from the mountains – no sign of any effects from the heavy rain further south at the beginning of the week.

Not far up the road from here was Gunns Creek, the bridge for which also passed over a cattle underpass ——

—– for I had now entered Westland dairying country on the Whataroa River flats.

Harihari, north from Whataroa, is the location of a replica of the plane flown by 21 year old Australian, Guy Menzies, taking 11 hours 45 minutes from Sydney across the Tasman on 7 January 1931 to crash land in a local swamp up the road from the township.

Both Menzies and the flimsy looking plane survived the landing. His trip was meticulously planned in secret with the plane adapted to carry fuel for 18 hours flying, the destination being Blenheim. It was 1am on the morning of 7 January when Guy took off, enduring a strong easterly head wind which as morning broke shifted to a northerly driving him south. He reached land near Fox Glacier and flew north up the coast looking for a potential landing area near a settlement. The flat fields near Harihari were deceptive and he ended up in the swamp.

The other rather special thing about Harihari is the playground decorated by school kids and a local Westland artist.

There are 100’s of tiles made by the children plus artwork on panels and cylinders by Sue Syme —–

—– who included a self-portrait in her distinctive style (that’s her centre right).

I proceeded further north to Lake Ianthe to spend the night at the DoC campsite there. The facilities had been upgraded with new toilets, and also an  outdoor wash-up place for campers to clean up after a meal. It was while I was taking a photo of the site from the lakeside jetty I suddenly ——

—— spotted a white heron (far right centre above).

This guy was feeding. Here, having spotted a small fish, —-

—— he quickly strikes and secures a tasty morsel which he swallowed in a couple of gulps.

Friday 7 March:

Two objectives today; the Mananui Tramline walk and the Westcoast Treetop walk.

I walked part of the timber tramway trail last year (and Lexie and I have walked parts on two separate occasions) but this time half an hour down the trail I took a forest side track to Picnic Point on the shore of Lake Mahinapua, overall a 4km return trip of 1½ hours. As you can see above the tramline track is smooth and gradual, but the Picnic Point side track was rocky, riddled with tree roots, and both boggy and steep in places.

Although it was grey and overcast, the gravel beach at Picnic Point was worth the visit. The tower at the Treetop Walk is hidden in the forest to the far left across the lake.

The Treetop walkway structure has a steel grid floor 20m above the forest floor, with the tower another 27m (107 steps) higher. I did not climb the tower ——

—– as it was crowded with zip-line riders waiting their turn the whole period I was on the walkway. I spent quite a bit of time trying to catch some of them on camera during my walk.

Riders queuing at the base of the tower.

Away at last ——-

—– and zipping through the trees on the way down to the ticket office and café.

I did get loads of time to view the forest canopy. The walkway has 11 stopping places with the guide pamphlet describing different aspects of the forest floor and canopy at each location; well worth the visit (even though I did it last year as well). It takes around 45 to 60 minutes to do the walk, but I soaked it all up over 1½ hours (including zip-line watching)

Saturday 8 March:

There were more than 100 campers last night at the Lake Mahinapua DoC campsite. Every DoC site I have been to this trip has pretty well filled up overnight (Lake Ianthe had about 12 spaces) as there are loads of overseas tourists in campervans and motorhomes on the road. I leave around 7am each day, when everyone seems to still be sleeping.

I headed to Hokitika to re-visit the Hokitika Gorge and see if the No.2 suspension bridge which was being rebuilt in April last year was finished. When I reached town I could see preparations underway for a big event at Cass Square Park that looked interesting, so I asked one of the early morning workers what was on today, and he said “it’s the 35^th Wild Food Festival” and pointed to a banner on a nearby street pole.

OK, do I really want huhu grubs for lunch? It will still be worth visiting though, so off I went to the Gorge.

Well, the No. 2 bridge at the Gorge is not finished, but close to it, with removal of the old stringers (dangling below the new structure) waiting to be removed,

According to the info panels at the start of the 90 minute walk the turquoise colour of the Hokitika River in the Gorge is caused by fine rock-flour particles diluted within glacier meltwaters.

The forest trail to the Gorge had quite a few rata vines in flower. These are separate subspecies from the rata trees growing in Doubtful Sound, the vine being a parasitic growth which climbs a tree, then surrounds and suffocates it, becoming a vine “tree” itself.

So, back to the Festival where I was charged $50 as a senior ($60 adults) and given a wristband to show I was over 18yrs old and could thus enter the alcohol serving tents/booths.

Lots of attendees came in costumes ——-

—– such as these Mexican ladies ——–

—– or in colourful clothing ——

—– or in matching outfits.

Of the 50 food and drink stalls, the two with the largest/longest queues for the whole 1½ hours I was there were —–

—– Mountain Oysters (Small $6, Medium $8, Large $10) —–

—– and the Wild Meat Kebabs ($12 for rabbit, or wallaby, or fallow deer, or goat, or wild pork).

For more “refined” tastes you had a choice of ——

—— fried locusts (at $5 each) ——

—— or huhu grubs, which were being harvested then cooked onsite.

These two guys were breaking up a stack of rotten logs to search for grubs which were found by peeling back the decaying wood and ——

—– exposing a wriggling $10 lunch.

I hear you asking, but no, I did not eat any of the really wild items at the festival. After leaving the show around 1pm I explored Hokitika town and beach and then took off for the Greymouth Top 10 Holiday Park where I will be camped for tonight and Sunday while I catch up on laundry and house (van) keeping.

Sunday 23 February:

I headed south toward Te Anau from Cascades DoC campsite first thing this morning to the Earl Mountain Walks, thinking I would get a good hour of walking in to start the day. However, the trail was initially through forest but within 50 metres degenerated into tree roots and a waterlogged bog. I immediately revised my plans for the day, and because the sun was rising in a clear sky (totally different from yesterday’s low cloud and mist) I decided to go back up to the Homer Tunnel, and get some sunlit photos of places I really could not see yesterday.

Early morning reflections on Lake Gunn.

Traffic from Milford emerging into the sunlight on the top end of the Homer Tunnel. The passenger in the van has a big smile on her face, “warmth at last” (as seen when enlarging the original photo), as they have just come from the cold shady valley leading from Milford Sound up to the tunnel entrance.

I then stopped off at the Lower Hollyford viewpoint that was shrouded in mist yesterday

.The view across to the Lake Marion valley, 11am on Saturday ——

—– and the same view today, 10am.

On the road back to Te Anau I could not resist a morning view of the Eglington Valley grasslands —–

—— nor the sunlit reflections at the Mirror Lakes {minus disturbance from the diving ducks).

Monday 24 February:

Te Anau to Arrowtown was today’s objective. First stop not far out of Te Anau was at “The Wilderness” reserve where a remnant of the soils and vegetation of some 8,000 to 10,000 years ago has been preserved.

This wilderness has an ancient mix of shrubs, lichens mosses and herbs ——

—— that have survived infertile soil and freezing -7 degree winters for millennia.

The countryside from Mossburn through Five Rivers, Athol, and Garston to Kingston was familiar country to me, having set out survey pegs for new bridges and road alignment improvements in this area while working out of Invercargill in 1958 for the Ministry of Works. I even surveyed the amount of land that would be flooded if Lake Manapouri was raised to the level of Lake Te Anau in furtherance of a massive hydro power scheme that was ultimately rejected by the community, with the Government backtracking to the current scheme and Lake Manapouri staying at its original level.

The upper catchment of the Mataura River near Athol is deer country, but this was the closest I could get to one.

Garston has a café and “Hunny Shop” ——-

—– with this mascot on the roof, ——

—– while just up the road is the terminus for the Kingston Flyer Sunday train excursion (Kingston to Fairlight return).

Do your remember when TVNZ brought out its new Rolling Ball logo with the ball featured in scenic locations all over NZ? One such location had the Ball rolling along the platform here at Fairlight.

This photo board was located at the Kingston Railway Station. Do you remember the famous 1975 Cadbury’s Crunchie Train Robbery advertisement shot on the train? A classic still today.

In the late 1970s the Kingston Flyer ran day trips Lumsden to Kingston return, with Lexie, Calum and me taking the trip. The line has long closed and is now a cycle trail except for the Kingston-Fairlight section still in use for Sunday trips and private excursions.

The engine in the above billboard (No. 778) is in dusty storage at the Kingston Waterfront, while engine No. 795 (above) is the one in use each Sunday.

These carriages currently in use are real vintage.

From Kingston I drove up alongside Lake Wakatipu to Queenstown and took the new town centre bypass into town to checkout parking for my lake trip on Tuesday. This controversial multi-million dollar project opened a couple of weeks ago.

As shown within many other roadworks featured in these Travel Notes, Maori designs have been used on retaining walls.

I discovered the all-day parking area I have used in the past for Queenstown visits required a credit card swipe for payment, which of course I could not do (the new card being mailed to Bethlehem after last week’s hacking incident and card cancellation). However a QR code on the parking machine gave me access to download to my phone a PayMyPark app with which I could set up an account, top up the account with money (easily done with my GoMoney ANZ app) and then use it the next day to pay for parking.

Tuesday 25 February::

I arrived at the Boundary Road parking area 7.30am, opened the PayMyPark app on the phone, entered the number of the nearest parking machine plus the van rego number, dialed up the time required (through to 5.30pm) and clicked on “pay” and that was it. [When the 5.30 time arrived the app sent a reminder and asked if I wanted to extend the time, but I was already back in the van and had left the parking area.]

I stayed in the van as steady and heavy rain set in 8.00 to 10.30 after which it cleared, eventually by 1pm becoming a warm sunny day for the trip to Walter Peak and the Gourmet BBQ lunch.

The Spirit of Queenstown passing in front of the Gardens peninsula prior to berthing for our trip.

The TSS Earnslaw berthed shortly after. It picked up a crowd of day trippers and followed us up to Walter Peak, taking 40 minutes compared to our 20 minute voyage.

We had a young lady trainee skipper berthing and operating our departures, with the main skipper taking over for the voyage ——-

——– while she got back to her maritime studies homework using a RealNZ training manual.

The Walter Peak original homestead is now a restaurant and hospitality complex.

We made our way to our section of the restaurant through extensive well-kept gardens.

There were two Aussie couples and me from the Spirit of Queenstown booked for the Gourmet BBQ lunch at 2pm (the rest on our voyage were headed for Bobs Cove across the lake), but when the Earnshaw arrived 1.45pm about 150 more people joined us for the lunch.

The BBQ meats were excellent as was the full buffet service main courses and desserts. The Aussie couples were golfers and had sampled the course at Millbrook Resort ahead of the 2025 NZ Open starting this Thursday.

After lunch we were treated to the Walter Peak Farm Show hosted by shepherdess Ashley and her two Border Collie sheep dogs.

This was a very well-staged event —–

—– with Ashley explaining her relationship with her two dogs, and told us that a well-trained Collie can be worth up to $10,000.

She then went on to demonstrate her sheep shearing skills —–

—- before sending Mia way up to the top of the hill to bring down previously shorn sheep —-

—– into the field behind the stage.

Job well done Mia! These dogs never bark at the sheep – their control is eye to eye, as you can see here.

The Earnslaw picked up its contingent from the wharf before our boat came in for us for our return to Queenstown.

The Earnslaw had a good head start on the voyage back to town, although we did catch it up in spite of leaving 20 minutes later.

So, how would I rate the day out – I submitted my review to RealNZ as 5 stars out of 5.

Wednesday 26 February:

Today was an Arrowtown based day walking some 3-plus km to and around Millbrook Resort, enjoying a first-class lunch at their Hole in One Café, then walking 2½ km back to the village.

Before heading along the river trail leading to the walk to Millbrook, I checked out the entrance road leading to the Macetown historic goldmining area. Two Nomad guided tour vehicles passed me on their way to the first ford on the Macetown stream, each packed with 8 sightseers and a driver. It is a 2 to 3 hour return drive on a steep narrow unmaintained roadway.

Lexie and I hired a 4-WD Toyota Land Cruiser for our trip to Macetown in January 1990 (photo taken by Lexie). It involved 20 stream crossings and long sections of tortuous cliff-side one-way track. We felt a real sense of achievement on completing this, to us, “daring” event.

In case you are wondering, I did come back for her.

Arriving at Millbrook Resort the walking and cycle trail passed right alongside the golf course area, and down the Avenue of past NZ Open Winners.

Everyone will remember Bob Charles exemplary record both in the Open and in subsequent seniors tournaments worldwide.

The practice putting green was very busy.

Major Sponsors of the Open are Manuka Doctor, who markets honey as well as honey based medications ——–

—– and Hyundai, who for some reason or other saw great marketing advantage by displaying their latest EV model in a duck pond —–

—— thereby displacing the residents for the duration of the tournament.

After that excellent lunch at the Hole in One Café it was back to Arrowtown and tiramisu for afternoon tea to finish my food intake for the day.

Thursday 27 February:

I headed out from Arrowtown after a final hot chocolate at Patagonia and dropped in at the Kawarau Bridge Bungy Centre.

The old 1880 suspension bridge now has two functions, first as a bungy jumping venue, and second as part of the Arrowtown to Cromwell cycle trail through Gibbston Valley.

This young lady leapt out with characteristic screams which then moderated to triumphal yells as she  ——

—– avoided a dunking in the river. Each person is weighed before their jump so an appropriate size and length of elastic cord can be selected. The cost – $320 per jumper, and at 5 to 6 minutes between jumps, the company is probably doing quite well.

The new bridge just upstream of the old suspension bridge was being designed in the Ministry of Works Head Office in Wellington when I worked there in 1960.

The Clyde Dam visit I had hoped for this day did not eventuate as I was the only booking, and they needed a minimum of two persons to run a tour. So I headed for Crowell, stopping off at —–

—– the Roaring Meg Power Station in the Kawarau Gorge, a favourite view with loads of travelers taking photos.

After lunch at Lake Dunstan View in Cromwell I headed north to Shrek country.

Shrek was a Merino Ram who had escaped the annual shearing roundup at Bendigo Station at Tarras for over 7 years, creating a record wool clip when finally caught and shorn. His statue at Tarras commemorates this event.

Tarras has been a popular stopping point for us every time we travelled Cromwell to Omarama, and apart from Shrek has always been defined by another Central Otago animal in village signage.

Can you spot him in this latest village sign for the locality?

From Tarras I took the back road to the Red Bridge reserve near Luggate to freedom camp for the night. On arrival I took a walk in the trees between the overnight parking area and the Clutha River, and came across an initially baffling metal construction.

I suddenly realised I was at a Frisbee Golf Course, having remembered a TV item on the sport some months ago.

Players cast their Frisbees from a tiled “Tee” at the “hole” in the distance.  This is Hole 8, which at 38m or 125 feet is a Par 3.

The player aims their specially designed Frisbee at the chains surrounding the centre pole, and if hitting them successfully the Frisbee drops into the catching basket (a hole in one is a possibility).

Friday 28 February:

I had arrived yesterday afternoon at the Luggate Bridge overnight freedom camping area around 3:30pm with around 5 or 6 of us parked up for the night. But by 9pm there were well over 100 motorhomes/campervans crowding the site and the off-road areas across from us.

Conversations you could hear as people settled in for the night indicated most were overseas travelers.

Hawea dam was my first walk for the day (30 minutes). This project was carried out at the same time as the Roxburgh Hydro scheme in the 1950s, with the 18m raising of Lake Hawea providing water storage to feed Roxburgh via the Hawea then Clutha rivers.

The outlet gates below the earth dam appeared to be operating at full bore.

The lake arm at the dam has special wildlife significance as a breeding area for the Southern Crested Grebe, a protected South Island bird of which there are only around 1,000 in the wild.

These birds do not walk well on land, and create nests from floating sticks and grasses to breed on water. Local wildlife supporters have provided a floating raft, walled on two sides to provide shelter for a grebe pair who have returned year after year to raise between 3 to 5 chicks a season.

Natural floating nests do not cope well with lake level rise and falls of up to 8m, nor with the local windy conditions, hence the provision of the shelter. When hatched the chicks climb onto a parent’s back where they are protected while being fed by the other parent. They become independent after around 6 weeks.

Lake Hawea is separated from Lake Wanaka by a very narrow pass with the road leading to the head of Lake Wanaka reaching the Makaroa Valley. After a 20 minute “sawmill” bushwalk at Makaroa I headed toward Haast Pass, stopping off at The Blue Pools walkway at Cameron Flat.

However, the two bridges providing access to the Blue Pools viewing location were closed, having reached the end of their operational life. This did not deter many walkers, like me, from taking the 45 minute forest return-hike to the first bridge.

There were people picnicking and swimming at the bridge site while contractors were threading new cross-supports through the old deck as part of the renewal process.

Lexie and I visited the Blue Pools in summer 1996 ——

—— and here she is looking down from the current “old” bridge close to where the contractors were working today.

I left the Blue Pools carpark area and travelled 2km down to my fourth walk of the day, 25 minutes return to the Cameron Flat Overlook.

Although a stiff climb in parts, this walk was well worth the view (Blue Pools parking area upper left of photo below the left edge of the domed mountain).

On the walk back I was treated to a view of a busy pigeon feeding on rich forest berries.

So, it was over the Haast Pass, down to the Gates of Haast Bridge and —–

—— rapids, and on to the DoC campsite at Pleasant Flat in the Haast River Valley.

From Pleasant Flat snow was visible covering the ridges leading up to the peak of Mount Solution in the Solution Range.

Saturday 1 March:

Another camping spot crowded with overnight vans – I managed to sneak away 7am before anyone else was awake, with my first walk (25 minutes through the forest) at Roaring Billy Falls.

The river bed is around 150m wide at the falls, and this whole tree was stranded during the last flood – these Westland rivers are powerful.

The Falls were modest, but in heavy rain would be a raging torrent.

Because heavy rain was forecast to be on its way, I took off through Haast Township up the coast to Ship Creek for a 20 minute Kahikatea Forest walk, and a 35 minute Lake Dunes and beach walk, completing these by 10am.

Wildlife on these walks consisted of sandflies (sorry, no photo), plus —-

— a South Island robin (and more sandflies) plus ——-

—– a fantail (and more sandflies).

The power of flood waters was evident in the forest trail walk which I did last year, and which Lexie and I have done twice over the years.

The left side of the track was in the past fully tree lined so you could hardly see the stream – now the bank has collapsed taking the forest into the stream bed.

The Dune Lakes are squeezed between the foreshore and the main highway, and are home to loads of fish and birdlife.

This morning they were perfect for reflections with quiet before the coming storm.

My fourth and final walk for the day was at the Hapuka Estuary close to Haast Junction and on the way to Jackson Bay.

The Haast Flats are rich farmland and cattle raising is a major activity (as viewed on my way to Hapuka River).

The 20 minute estuary walk comprises boardwalks and forest trail and viewpoints which Lexie and I have experienced each time we visited Haast over the years.

So, after lunch at Hapuka I checked in to the Haast River Motels & Holiday Park, set up camp, and finished off these notes as the rain sets in.

Sunday 16 February:

Much of the morning was spent dealing with ANZ Bank over a series of hacks into my credit card account which fortunately were stalled due to my use of two factor authorisation. ANZ systems put a hold on these attempts and sent me a text to ask “Yes” or “No” if I initiated any of these requests to pay. I immediately texted back “No” and straight away a reply came back that my card  is “now cancelled” and a new card will be issued. Well done ANZ. I had long follow-up calls with a Bank officer re the fact that as I am travelling in the South Island for a further 2 months I would not have the new card being posted to Tauranga, and how could I pay for things such as forward bookings for campgrounds and ferry crossings.

For the afternoon I explored “Puzzling World” located on the main highway into town.

If you have driven into Wanaka from Cromwell you will be familiar with the above scene – actually, these are false fronts to the Illusion Rooms complex behind them. The other part of Puzzling World is a two stage Maze, one Classic (taking 30 to 60 minutes) the other Difficult (taking 60 to 90 minutes). I stuck with the separate entry fee for just the Illusion Rooms.

People were videoed  when they walked into the room through the two separate doors, and could then view themselves on a 2 minute delay screening afterwards.

That is a real couple who just walked in the separate doors.

I next had a challenge with Ambigrams where two words occupy the same space.

You should spot this one easily —–

—— but this one is a little more mind-bending.

There were two sets of loos in the facility and it was suggested when buying your ticket that even if you did not want to use them, maybe it was worth having a look.

So, watch your step with this one —–

—– and do NOT use the wooden seat latrines on this one.

Perception is often influenced by whether one is viewing foreground or background.

These columns seem sort of ordinary when looking through into the room beyond —–

—- but looking back into the dark corridor behind them, something else is going on.

Monday 17 February

Wanaka had quietened down after the Ironman Wanaka Challenge weekend so I was able to take a long early morning walk along the waterfront to the iconic 70-year-old tree which grows in the lakebed.

Looking out from the foreshore to snow remaining in the high mountains.

Lake levels are low all over the region this year because of lack of rain.

And there were loads of people about at 9am, most from nearby carparks instead of having walked out from the town centre half an hour away as I did.

After a delicious chocolate sundae at Patagonia Chocolate Shop as a morning tea refresher following my walk, I took off south, stopping at Luggate’s notable Red Bridge built over the Clutha River. It was opened on October 28, 1915, and has been described as “one of the most attractively proportioned steel truss road bridges in the country”.

As you can see this Baltimore Truss is due for a coat of paint.

In Luggate village the reserve hosts this 2013 restoration of a 1904 wagon operated by local haulage contractors Reid and Sons Transport from the 1880s through to the 1920s.

As I passed through Cromwell it was time to stop for lunch in the van at the Dunstan View rest area on the lakeside east of town. Nectarines are my favourite fruit at the moment – they are right in season and delicious.

Heading South to Tapanui for the night I stopped off in Roxburgh at Trundles Café for an iced chocolate afternoon tea, and chatted to a local couple regarding the Roxburgh Cinema which burnt down around midday on 7 February. This attracted worldwide news as the cinema, opened 1897, is currently being assessed by the Guinness Book of records as the longest continuously operating cinema in the world. Eight engines from as far afield as Dunedin attended the blaze. I was told the fire had huge flames shooting up well above the roof line and the firefighters did a fantastic job saving the external brick walls of the building and protecting neighbouring properties.

Trundles Café is up the main street next door to this old commercial building.

Tuesday 18 February:

I woke to rain at the Whiskey Gully freedom camping area near Tapanui. This is a neat rural township with some interesting history. Take the local doctor who diagnosed what became known as “Tapanui Flu”.

Dr Snow was a highly respected amateur geologist as well.

Then there is the movie role that Tapanui had in 2015 as the village of Millhaven during the filming of “Pete’s Dragon”.

Did you see the movie? The story is set in timber country in the Pacific Northwest of the USA but was shot mainly in NZ, using Weta Digital to create the dragon, and Tapanui as the timber town, filming in the main street and at the old Blue Mountains Lumber mill. Other locations included Wellington, Taupo and Rotorua.

As a reminder of the production this repurposed old building still carries a poster of the dragon in its main street window.

Passing though Gore on my way to Te Anau I stopped off to check on the old family home at 244 Main Street (was 19A initially) which was a real mess when I saw it in April last year.

19A Main Street in 1964.

27 April 2024 – the house and garden had been neglected for years under tenancy ownership.

Tuesday morning’s view showing how the new owners of June 2024 have tidied up both garden and house.

Heading on for Te Anau I stopped off at the Croydon Aviation Heritage Centre at Mandeville Airfield. This was my first visit to the airfield since annual air shows in the 1950s. I remember Tiger Moths being flown by skilled topdressing pilots who used a spike on a wing tip during a low altitude flyby to pick up a handkerchief strung between two sticks at ground level.

Tiger Moths were the training craft of those early days and converted versions were widely used in aerial topdressing.

In March 1955 the Gore newspaper reported on sisters Jean, Elizabeth (Bub) and Dorothy Cross having all received their pilots licences from the Gore flight of Southland Aero Club, claiming it was a national and even an Australasian record in training three sisters to fly.

Dorothy (centre) was a 6^th form classmate of mine at Gore High School

The Centre houses a lot of active older aircraft still used at air shows and events. This Mount Cook Flightseeing tiger moth is an example. The Croydon Workshop associated with the Centre has a highly respected reputation for restoring old aircraft and has many international clients.

I did a side trip to Manapouri on the way to Te Anau to check out harbour side parking for the motorhome for Wednesday’s trip to Doubtful Sound, and was fortunate to spot the “Two Wee Bookshops” down a side street. Both Barbara in Queensland and Paula in Auckland had recommended to me this little place was worth a visit.

Wee Bookshop 1 is in this cabin.

Wee Bookshop 2 is directly opposite the cabin.

I purchased owner Ruth Shaw’s book “The Bookseller at the End of the World” from Phil, who was minding the books that day. The bookshops close during winter as tourist traffic is low through Manapouri in the offseason.

Wednesday 19 February:

I arrived at the Boat Harbour on Lake Manapouri at 6.30am and had breakfast before packing a lunch and drink for the day.

Boarding was at 20 past 7 for 7.30 departure. There were about 170 passengers on this 7 hour outing.

The day was overcast and misty as we headed for the power station intake and Visitor Centre at West Arm to then take buses to Doubtful Sound Harbour.

Water intake structure to, and electricity output pylons from, the power station 230m deep underground within the mountain range. The tailrace is a 10km tunnel  discharging into Doubtful Sound.

Three buses took the boat passengers up over the Wilmot Pass down to join the 3 hour return cruise up Doubtful Sound out to the Tasman Sea.

Southland is famous for its beech forests which cover Fiordland National Park. The trees normally grow to about 25m and reach maturity at around 150 years.

We stopped to view this giant thought to be at 650 years the oldest beech in the forest. In viewing it Peter Jackson developed his idea for the talking tree Ent’s in Lord of the Rings.

When we hit the top of the Wilmot Pass our driver stopped for the view.

Wilmot Pass viewing point through the bus window in rain and mist.

If it had been a fine day, this is what the view would have provided. The drive down from here was extremely steep, but our driver (a Japanese lady named Yuka, which means “good-good” in English) handled both driving and commentary with skill and humour.

So it was off the buses and onto our cruise boat to head up the Sound.

Low cloud created an air of mystery and anticipation as throttles were opened and we surged forward ——

—— with our wake washing vigorously at the shore as we navigated between islands on our way west.

Seymour island was named after an ex-school teacher who retreated there to find solitude and stayed for 7 years, becoming a birdlife specialist.

The low clod persisted throughout our 1½ hour voyage out to the Tasman sea.

We only saw three craft on the Sound as we headed out, two crayfishers close to shore —–

—— and the motorised sailing vessel Fiordland Navigator returning from an overnight voyage.

Our trip up the Sound was billed as a Wildlife Cruise, but we had to wait until we reached the sea to see both seals and sooty shearwaters, and there was plenty of each.

The two rocky Nee Islets were covered in fur seals. These were nearly hunted to extinction in the late 1800s, one ship alone arriving in Sydney with 60,000 skins for sale.

Looking directly south down the coast towards Dagg, Breaksea and Dusky Sounds. Actually, Yuka told us the only Sounds in NZ are the Marlborough Sounds. The Fiordland Sounds are all fiords, carved out by glaciers. By the time it was realised that map makers had made this mistake it was too late to change the names to fiords, so the whole area was instead called Fiordland.

On the return journey we explored various arms of the Sound including Crooked Arm where we delighted in the rata trees which are blooming throughout the Fiordland forests this year. They are NZs tallest flowering tree with Southern Rata reaching up to 15m with a trunk diameter of 1 metre. Southern Rata are spread throughout the country from Northland and Coromandel, the South Island West Coast, and the sub-Antarctic Auckland Islands. They only flower every few years and this summer is a boom period particularly throughout Fordland.

We were treated to individual trees close to water level to ——-

—– whole hillsides sprinkled with blooms.

Our trip missed the rain that was forecast for the day, but at 12.30pm as our bus left the Doubtful Sound harbour the afternoon tour was boarding in heavy rain.

Our cruise vessel, MV Titiroa, docking at West Arm harbour prior to our boarding for the return trip down the lake.

And so a great day out from RealNZ, including the Manapouri Lake cruise, the Wilmot Pass bus ride and the Doubtful Sound trip to the Tasman Sea.

Thursday 20 February:

This day no photos. It was a busy housekeeping day with laundry and van. Then bookings for campsites and tours over the next week followed by a lunch treat at Kea Café (pulled pork sandwich plus ginger beer). Rain set in late afternoon so it may be wet as I head up the Eglington Valley on Friday.

Friday 21 February:

No, the rain cleared overnight, so it was a bright sunny start towards Lake Gunn for the night. Some 28km out of Te Anau was the Milford Track ferry service with a group of trampers waiting for their 11.30 departure to Glade House at the top of the lake where they would commence their adventure.

Water taxi for transfers to the start of the track.

One of our favoured places on the trip north toward Milford Sound is the Eglington Valley with its huge swards of grassland.

There is a lone rock in the centre of this picture of the Valley – where did that come from?

Next stop was Mirror Lakes with the elevated board walk within the bush edge providing an overview of the “lake” (really one elongated pond). To the frustration of the crowd of visitors when I arrived, there were no useful reflections as half a dozen or so of NZ scaup (diving ducks) were diving vigorously like whales (head down and tail up) disappearing beneath the surface for 10 to 15 seconds hunting for juicy weeds and water snails, then popping out of the water several metres away. The ripples created by their diving eliminated any chance of reflections,

I must say these little ducks were cute – this scaup has beads of water sitting on her back and head after surfacing from a dive (yes, I checked my bird book and this one is definitely female).

So I offer you last year’s reflection from 23 April 2024. But see those flax bushes along the edge of the “lake”. I managed a glimpse of one today as I left the board walk.

Looking through a gap in the trees to an area where those little ducks were not scavenging.

I arrived at Lake Gunn mid-afternoon and immediately set out on the 45 minute loop nature walk. The beech trees here are old, covered in moss, with their leaf litter forming a brown carpet on the walking track.

“I “borrowed” this photo from DoC as my shot had too much light in it.

South Island robin are the most likely birds interacting with walkers as the leaf litter becomes disturbed by passing boots enabling these friendly birds to dash down behind one looking for worms. I have several photos of looking down at a robin at my feet, but luckily he (yes, a male according to the bird book) popped up onto a tree branch to take a look at me.

Females have a grey breast, males yellowish white lower breast and belly with a white patch above the bill.

Gunn at Lake Gunn (view looks north).

I set up camp with my Annual DoC Pass at Cascade Creek next door to the Lake Gunn Nature Walk. This was my base for 2 nights while I explored the area.

The camping area has 140 formal numbered sites, and seemed pretty full on Friday night. On Saturday night it was very crowded, so I took a 25 minute walk after tea and counted 162 motorhomes/campervans, plus 10 tenting parties with cars. After I got back at 7.30pm another 6 motorhomes rolled in over the next 2 hours. Each morning vans started leaving from before 6am, presumably heading for Milford Sound.

Saturday 22 February:

I did not intend to travel to Milford this trip, having thoroughly explored it last year, but I wanted to see the outcome of the major construction of a new avalanche shelter at the Hollyford entrance to the Homer Tunnel which was under way in April 2024. So I left 7am arriving at the tunnel location 7.30 and walked up to the entrance some 700m from the carpark at the Milford Road HQ buildings.

You can see the original tunnel entrance as per last year at the curved section where the road suddenly dips steeply into the decline through the tunnel

As per the concrete work on the Kaikoura restoration work, Maori art decorated the facing portal to the avalanche shelter.

I took a long walk up the valley to the right of the tunnel entrance ——

—– which enabled me to look back on traffic entering the tunnel on a green light giving the go-ahead to journey to Milford (the tunnel is operated on a one-way system).

As I climbed steadily up through the valley toward the waterfall in the distance I found the vegetation suddenly changed from scrubby bushes to flowers.

This is one of many species which seemed to exist only above a certain elevation.

During the walk up the valley I could hear the continuous calls of kea, but could not see them anywhere. However as I returned to the avalanche shelter they were suddenly all around me, looking like they would untie my boot laces if given the chance. The have beautiful red plumage on their backs and the undersides of their wings, only visible when flying, but my camera could not catch this colour at the pace they flew.

So I had to make do with this shot of the guy at my feet.

The low cloud Saturday morning persisted throughout much of the day. Coming back down to Lake Gunn the red mountainside caught my attention.

It was not vegetation (such as rata), but lichen growing on bare rock from avalanche debris.

These lichen are soft and squishy to the touch.

My final walk for the day was to the gantry viewpoint on the Lake Marion trail, accessed a couple of km down the Lower Hollyford road to Gunn’s Camp.

It was 20 minute climb to these rapids coming out of Lake Marion down to the Hollyford river. The 1½ hour climb to the Lake from this point was rocky and steep, and not for me.

So I retreated to the top end of Lake Gunn for lunch and a lazy relaxing afternoon, enjoying glimpses of sunshine as the cloud lifted south of the Hollyford divide.

Lake Gunn from the north end looking down to the outlet which borders the Cascade Creek campsites.

Sunday 9 February:

It was a wet morning when I cruised around the University area looking for the boarding house I lived in during my engineering intermediate year 1954 – it no longer existed, replaced by a new apartment block which swallowed the next door property as well. I then returned to the Otago Settlers Museum for the rest of the morning. The modernised museum is three times the size of the 1950s with excellent displays and video presentations re the development of Dunedin and Otago.

The public transportation displays reflected development from horse drawn (above) to horse-powered mechanical including cable cars (not shown) ——–

—– as well as trolley buses for Dunedin’s hilly streets.

Sunday afternoon I visited Margaret and Alister Rae at their retirement village home in Mosgiel. Margaret was Lexie’s Matron of Honour at our 1963 wedding in Christchurch, and the Raes have remained special friends ever since. They first interested us in the idea of retirement village living many years ago (“come and join us in our village”) but we noted how cold Mosgiel is in the winter. Tauranga has been a much better choice.

Monday 10 February:

I freedom camped at Sutton near Middlemarch Sunday night and woke to one of our favourite places near the start of the Otago Rail Trail —- the Sutton Railway Siding. Grahame Sydney’s painting is iconic.

A print of this painting has a special place in our hallway at home.

And here is the building today — a little run down.

Nearby is the Sutton Salt Lake with a 1 hour loop track walk through limestone tors littering the landscape – Lord of the Rings country.

After Sunday’s rain the track was wet, long overhanging grass saturating my boots, socks and trouser legs, but the walk was great. That white spot is the van in the distance — only a few minutes into the walk.

The salt lake is in a hollow in the landscape, having no outlet. Over centuries evaporation has led to salt accumulation, which does not inhibit wildfowl, although there were no birds this day.

The total lack of wind is “reflected” in this view across the lake.

I spent the rest of the day at the Hyde Railway Disaster Memorial on the Rail Trail north of Middlemarch.

On 4 June 1943 a passenger train rounded a corner at twice the recommend speed and derailed – 21 people lost their lives, NZ’s second worst rail disaster after Tangawai, Christmas 1953.

Why spend the day at this location? Well the carpark was a good place to watch the TVNZ broadcast 12 noon to 4.15pm of a one hour playing time NFL championship final in the USA between the Kansas Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles. I wanted to understand how this game worked – it was boring, with four 15 minute quarters playing out agonisingly slowly as the clock stopped following each play, with plays often lasting only 20 seconds or so followed by several minutes as the teams faced off to restart. It took over four hours to get through the game and half-time music show. Give me rugby union any time.

Tuesday 11 February:

I decided to head east from Hyde some 19km to Macraes Flat and check out the Oceanagold mining operation. Oceanagold had sweetened their deal with the community when applying for consents to enhance the village with artwork and visitor attractions. They did a pretty good job all round (my view – maybe not all the locals view).

The hotel was the centrepiece of the village, but across the road was the wetland landscaped and maintained by the company.

From the bird hide at the wetland I viewed dozens of swallows swooping around chasing insects, but the real “bird” surprise was on the adjacent track behind me.

This massive Haast’s Eagle Sculpture was unannounced on any signposts in the village. It was created by Mark Hill (son of Michael Hill Jeweller) and flown in from Arrowtown by helicopter for installation on 18 December 2008.

The Visitor Centre at the mine provided great views of operations as well as excellent storyboards regarding both the open pit and underground gold mining plus videos of mining operations and people.

The large open pit was enormous – it made the Waihi open pit look like a pothole. Only a fraction of its extent is visible above, this photo showing huge trucks coming and going moving material in opposite directions, no doubt all with specific loads for specific locations.

Underground ore on its way to the processing plant.

The processing plant is close to one of the earlier open pits (there are three of them), but the main gold bearing ore is currently from underground mining (since 2008), with some 80km of access tunnels now snaking around 720m deep under these Central Otago hills.

From Macraes Flat I backtracked to the Rail Trail to camp for a second night at Tiroiti Rail Station, and found I had neighbours at my freedom camping location – three women who were riding the trail (good to see other than cyclists for a change).

The horses were contained by an electric fence overnight after being watered at the nearby stream, and grazed on long grass behind them (this view through the van window). The Rail Trail embankment is in the background.

Wednesday 12 February:

This morning low mist covered the valley – the 3 horsewomen were away south by 6.30.

They would have taken a horse track around this bridge as happens on several  viaducts. However some have no bypass, and riders need to dismount and lead their charges carefully across, as indeed they have to do for the three tunnels on the Rail Trail.

I headed north to the Daisybank access to the trail, setting off 7.30 for a 54 minute 3½ km return walk. I then headed to Kokonga and accessed the trail at the basalt loading station.

Still misty at Kokonga as I drove onto the trail to reach a parking area.

Some 2000 tonnes of bluestone basalt in blocks similar to those showing above were railed from here to Dunedin for use in the 1902-03 construction of Dunedin Railway Station.

I walked in mist from here in a 1 hour 32 minute trek of around 6km return passing alongside rich cropping lands and sheep pastures (no sheep pictures this week).

By the time I got to Ranfurly the sun had chased the mist into a hot day. I took a back road into town and by chance came across the Annual A&P Show.

Dressage judging was under way as I stopped for a view.

And in the background there was loads of kids yelling from the Bouncy Castle next to the many stalls that lined the showground embankment.

Ranfurly is well known as an Art Deco township.

There was plenty of artwork around, including this metal sculpture with its shadow on the Museum wall (the refreshment rooms has a new role now).

Ladies had real style in the 1920s-1930s.

After lunch it was out to Patearoa Station with its original stone woolshed.

The Maniatoto Plains has an area-wide irrigation water scheme with the whole valley served by irrigation channels snaking across the farmland. However, rather than flood-irrigating fields as in the past nowadays huge spray irrigators circle slowly around a pumping wellhead.

The busy end of an irrigator, the well-head being maybe 500 to 1000m away in the distance.

Thursday 13 February:

Another misty morning, this time in the Domain at Waipiata where there were only four of us freedom camping overnight.

One of my neighbours as I left the Domain at 7.30 to park up and walk south on the Trail, going nearly 6km return over 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Excuse the “close-up” but mist limited forward visibility to around 50m, and it was really cool.

This was the first day cyclists passed me on the Trail.

From Waipiata I took a side road upcountry to search out the Sanatorium that looked after tuberculosis patients from all over NZ from 1918 to the 1960s when antibiotics took over treatment of TB. The location was chosen because it was known that local miners who had respiratory problems thrived in the Maniatoto goldfields.

The Green Bridge on this road is a very popular swimming spot (not this morning, obviously).

I eventually reached the Sanatorium Buildings now occupied by a religious group as a retreat and refreshment centre.

Entrance to the old sanatorium complex.

There were extensive buildings in the complex – one set of dormitories with kitchen and dining area was being used by the annual field camp of the Survey School from Otago University.

I spoke to the supervisor of the group (the guy in the hat second from the right) and asked if he knew Alan Blaikie, one of my two best friends at Gore High (the other being Russell Graham). Alan was a foundation staff member when the School was set up in 1963 – indeed he knew Alan well, as both a staff member and then a board member.

On the hills above the Sanatorium was the Hamilton Gold Diggings so I took the van up a narrow dirt road to access the area. When I reached the parking area and turned to look back into the valley I had travelled up from, this is what I saw. ——-

——- The whole of the Maniatoto Plains was still covered in the mist I hiked in at Waipiata earlier in the morning, while here above the mist layer it was hot and sunny.

Hamiltons diggings behind me is now a large open field surrounded by hills covered with the scars of gold sluicing. From the discovery of gold in December 1863 the township population rose to 3,000 by January 1864, peaked in the early 1870s at 4,000 with 40 stores and 25 hotels. However the gold ran out by 1874 leaving a population of 90.

The diggings remains as they are today.

My final challenge for the Rail Trail was a visit to the Poolburn Viaduct and Tunnels (for the fourth time). I drove up the Ida Valley to park on a remote gravel road miles off the beaten track but immediately below the railway embankment close to the viaduct. Lexie and I had camped there overnight years ago during our first visit.

Set up for camping on 8 March 2006.

Resting after our climb to the railway embankment (beyond the top right of photo) and the walk to the tunnels on 9 March 2006.

The view of today’s van parked on the stream side in the same spot as in 2006. Floods over the last 19 years have changed the stream banks somewhat.

After all the effort of the climb I could not resist photographing my achievement in reaching again the viaduct and tunnels (you saw similar pictures during last year’s trip.)

This is a stunning piece of engineering built over 3 years from 1901 by 300 workers.

And Poolburn Tunnel No 1 is also extremely well crafted.

The stone and brick work is immaculate.

The 4km return trip (1 hour 20 minutes climbing and walking) was really hard work in 30 degree temperatures, so I was ready for a shower and rest up when I reached the Alexandra Holiday Park at 3.30pm to conclude the day.

Friday 14 February:

No walks today – this had to be a rest day. Overnight I investigated Doubtful Sound Tours and found the earliest one available is next Wednesday 19 February. So I thought I may as well spend the weekend in Wanaka before travelling down to Te Anau early next week. On the way to Wanaka through Cromwell I stopped for a view of the Clyde Dam.

This sculpture near the Dam overlook is of the Karearea (NZ Falcon) a protected species which is found in Central Otago. Lexie and I saw one flying around above the Poolburn Gorge during our March 2006 walk.

The dam operates daily tours (late afternoon and evening) so I will try for one when back through here in a couple of weeks on my way to the West Coast.

At Wanaka I got the second last powered site in the Top 10 Holiday Park, as Wanaka hosts an Iron Man (and Woman no doubt) Challenge Wanaka event tomorrow, and the place is buzzing.

Saturday 15 February:

Yesterday Alexandra topped NZ temperatures at 31 degrees.  This morning promised another scorcher as I headed 30 minutes and 2 km down to the waterfront to watch the Iron Man activity. This is a top notch international event, and at 7.45 swimmers were still completing the water stage while leaders were off on their 90 km bike run (three 30 km laps with turn-around at the waterfront).

Heading in from the last section of the swim.

Running to the cycle changeover area.

The stiff climb out of town on the 30 km leg out along the Glendhu Bay Road.

The turnaround in town. We were warned that incoming cyclists could be doing up to 40k/hr and we needed to be clear enough to avoid anyone sliding off the turn across into us.

After hiking back the 2 km and 30 minute walk to camp, I then drove 10 km out of town to the airport where the Transport and Toy Museum is located. The museum contains the lifelong collection of one man, businessman Gerald Rhodes. It is huge.

There are loads of outdoor exhibits (such as this Vulcan Bomber and UK tank), but four large buildings contain the bulk of cars, trucks, earthmoving machines, aeroplanes and toys.

This view in Building 1 shows how different types of exhibits are mixed up, such as cars and toys. There are 100s of thousands of toy kits and models (a tiny fraction shown here in the cabinets at top right corner) throughout the first two buildings. 

Building 4 shows how an aeroplane (Air NZ Fokker Friendship) and cars (squashed door to door) are mixed together. There are items from all over the world ——-

—– including the USSR with this 1968 MIG 21.

Well, it has been another busy week, so tomorrow, Sunday, I will relax lakeside before heading to Southland on Monday for another adventurous week.

Sunday 2 February:

I spent the morning at the Christchurch Botanical Gardens which although it was a grey and overcast day was full of families and tourists, particularly Chinese folk.

The “Chugger” train ride (which chuffed just like a steam engine) had queues of parents and kids waiting their turn for a spin around the gardens.

Roses, dahlias and rhododendrons were in full bloom.

And I found a full grown tulip tree in the grounds. Do you remember my last year’s visit to Hundertwasser country in Kawakawa and Whangarei and mentioning that he wished to be buried on his property in the “Garden of the Happy Dead” with a tulip tree planted over him to be sustained by the humus from his composting body? His tree started as a small sapling in an open paddock and is now 24 years old, and a sizeable tree in a dense forest.

Tulip trees are a native “whitewood” from North America. Not sure I would wish to be buried under this one.

Sunday after lunch I started off on Route 72, the Inland Scenic Route where the Canterbury Plains borders the Southern Alps, with first stop at Oxford and the Ashley Gorge Holiday Park. I had time to visit Williams Flat Reserve that afternoon and take in the Fairy House bush walk up to the Gorge Lookout.

Ashley Gorge from the lookout.

There were over a dozen of these “houses” on trees adjacent to the walking track, each with a pithy saying contributed by locals. Opening the door on this one and —–

—– this is what was revealed. Another example was from Dave of the Oxford Mens’ Shed who wrote in his “house” that “It always amazes me how exercise and extra-fries sound alike”.

Monday 3 February:

A brilliant sunny day with a 1 hour forest loop walk over the river from the camping ground.

There were some pretty steep steps to climb up into the forest above the river (hiking poles invaluable) —–

—–but there were great views, such as here across to Williams Flat Reserve with the motorhome the only vehicle at 8am ——

—- and later a view of the Ashley River cutting through the plains farmland. I met three locals doing the forest loop, one of whom said they have an underground counter on the track entrance which recorded 10,000 walkers last year (around 27 per day on average).

The next river gorge on Route 72 was the Waimakariri.

River access at the bridge provided great opportunity for canoeing enthusiasts.

And finally for the day it was the Rakaia Gorge where two bridges spanned across to and from an island in the middle of the gorge outlet.

Bridge 1 was a sort of upside-down steel truss —-

—– while Bridge 2, a few metres across the island, was a conventional concrete arch.

Tuesday 4 February:

This was an engineering visit – the Lake Coleridge Power Station, constructed in 1914 to serve Christchurch City growth. I backtracked over the Rakaia Gorge and travelled up the left bank of the river to Coleridge Village and the power station.

It always amazes me how every time you stop at the side of the road with a mob of sheep grazing happily away in an adjacent paddock, as soon as they see the camera, they all turn with a quizzical look to have a group photo taken.

The power station has 6 turbines with the outlet from turbine 4 shown here.

A dual tunnel system 2.2km long feeds lake water to two surge chambers 176 metres above the turbine intakes.

Looking down the feed pipelines from the location of the surge chambers. This view is similar  to that taken from a helicopter and featured in the 1987 Beacons TV series Part 4 episode relating to the engineering use of water.

Back on Route 72 the rain had set in, so a rest stop was in order at Staveley cafe, famous for its varieties of sausage rolls.

The café today – the Topp Twins lived along the road from the café in years past. I stocked up on sausage rolls.

A few km up a side road from the café was a series of forest walking tracks built and maintained by the Mount Somers Walkways Society. I took off in the rain to visit the Sharplin Falls, a I hour return walk with several zig-zag climbs and descents.

The first bridge 20 minutes up the track.

Second bridge at the foot of the falls 35 minutes up the track.

The falls are a series of cascades dropping down through the valley. It was a 25 minute walk from the falls viewing platform back down to the parking area.

Wednesday 5 February:

After overnighting at Geraldine I backtracked up country to Peel Forest where on the Acland Estate there is the Anglican Church of the Holy Innocents where Ngio Marsh is buried in the graveyard. Lexie and I visited it twice in past years, so this was a trip down memory lane.

The Holy Innocents name comes from the fact that the location in years past was the resting place for three children of the district who died very young.

The Acland homestead viewed from the gravel access road to the church.

At Geraldine there are two vehicle museums come heritage centres.

The Roger Mahan Heritage Centre exhibited the collection of one man assembled over a lifetime of contracting success in earthmoving as well as owning and operating Milburn Lime Company.

The Military Museum was opened in November 2023 by a local man who had 14 years in the NZ territorial army service during which he collected odd bits of military equipment which he stored on his farm. After being given a host of Vietnam military pieces by a guy from Waimate he decided to pool all this material into formal collection. This has now expanded substantially as donations of equipment rolled in when other ex-military folk heard what he was doing. Everything has been beautifully restored, and excellently presented.

Wednesday afternoon on my way to Oamaru I detoured up to Duntroon to visit the second of two Maori rock drawing sites which I missed out on in 2024.

These drawings are within a large limestone overhang high above the road up a steep track.

These pre-European symbols are thought to represent sea creatures.

But some drawings of sailing ships indicate post-European contact, drawn by people far from the sea.

Thursday 6 February:

It was a really wet morning travelling from Oamaru to Dunedin, but the rain cleared after I arrived at 9.30. I then checked around the railway station to see what all-day parking was available for my Taieri Gorge rail trip on Saturday.

The Station is one of NZ’s most iconic buildings and is still a fully functioning railway station.

It also houses the Otago Arts Society studio and gallery as well as a sports museum and a Cobb and Co restaurant (remember these from the 1960s and 70s?).

The tile work throughout the main foyer and stairwell is unique —–

—– as is the stained glass work.

The rest of the day was a visit to Taiaroa Heads at the end of the Peninsula and the Royal Albatross Centre. When Lexie and I first visited there over 45 years ago it consisted of a parking lot and walking track with a climb to an outdoor viewing area behind a board fence. Now it is a huge complex with excellent historical and wildlife displays, and access to a viewing building by guided tour at $60/adult (50% discount for Gold Card holders).

There were 4 nesting pairs in residence with this bird egg sitting while its partner was out for a couple of days gathering food. They then will swap over for the next couple of days.

[Last season’s web-cam photo.] Once the chick is hatched and puts on weight it takes two parents fishing daily to feed both themselves and the ravenous youngster. These birds breed here and once the new family member grows strong they all fly east to Argentina returning a year or so later via South Africa and the Southern Ocean to breed again.

Two of the four nests are visible in the grass below the viewing building. Taiaroa Head is also at the entrance for shipping into Port Chalmers.

Friday 7 February:

I spent the day exploring the city centre with a three hour trip mid-day out to Glenfalloch on the Portobello Road to visit the gardens and have lunch at their restaurant.

The refurbishment of George Street’s pedestrian conversion included (I was told) this $600,000 see-saw complex which had ratepayers flabbergasted!!

The entrance path to the Glenfalloch Restaurant passed by a sculpture which was easy to photo as it was not darting around like the live ones I chased during last year’s travels.

The 30 acres of gardens occupy a deep valley and stream to the side of the homestead (originally built in 1872 and renovated in 1920) with loads of trees lining the slopes and several tracks from easy to difficult threading their way throughout the valley.

In the city there was First Church and the Octagon on my after lunch visit list.

First Church was closed while renovations are carried out ——–

—— while in the Octagon this 2021 sculpture is a “doorway to different dimensions” based on the doorway to the Otakou Marae where Southern Tribes signed the Treaty on 13 June 1840.

Saturday 8 February:

Taieri Gorge Railway today, leaving in brilliant sunshine at 9.30am for a 5 hour return trip to Pukerangi (about 2/3^rd of the way to Middlemarch). There were 10 tunnels and maybe 20 bridges including the renown Wingatui Viaduct.

The Gorge is really rugged – in this shot the railway is in the top left-hand corner where a scree slope heads down toward the river.

Entering one of the tunnels after crossing a viaduct.

The Wingatui Viaduct.

Taieri River in view as we cross a viaduct over a side stream.

And a leg-stretch stop at Hindon where this sculpture of dog Sue acknowledges the contribution that Collies have made to farming activity in Central Otago over the last 150 years.

So, quite a busy week.

Sunday 26 January:

I left Kaikoura on a really sunny day and started photographing the art work on the reconstructed SH1 concrete retaining walls built in 2016 after the Kaikoura Earthquake.

This protection wall to a railway tunnel entrance encompassed Maori artwork as did other walls alongside the road.

Once again while stopping for photos the Coastal Pacific came thundering into view.

There are two fare classes on this train, the top class (in the black and white carriage above) has formal dining and waiter-waitress meal and bar service included in the fare. The “peasant” class (behind the b/w carriage) can purchase takeaway meals and drinks from a separate café to have at their seats.

The tourists in the observation car got a good view of me as they passed by.

There are two sets of double road tunnels on this part of the highway (not to mention the 20 railway tunnels on this section of the rail route).

I messaged Zayell Johnston (the Canadian walker guy) on Facebook to ask how he managed walking through these tunnels, and he replied that he went through at 6am (no traffic), otherwise he might have had to run (there is absolutely no clearance for a cyclist or walker in these road tunnels).

This trip I am again doing side road visits to areas Lexie and I never visited over the years, though passing these many times. Today it was to the coast at Nape Nape south and east of Cheviot. This involved a side road to the Hurunui River mouth, then cross country gravel roads to Nape Nape Reserve on the coast.

The coastal view south from the Hurunui River mouth (the small patch of blue water in the left centre of this photo). It turned out that Nape Nape is right at the foot of those white cliffs on the horizon.

After crossing the Hurunui suspension bridge it was 30km of gravel road to the coast at Nape Nape.

But, I then hit the coast and did a right turn to follow a gravel track to the Reserve, but no-go with the motorhome (I did not trust the “high clearance” claim) – so a good walk was the order of the day.

I got to 1½ km and decided not to go all the way to the bush line at the reserve (beyond the white 4WD ute in the distance), but as you can see, I was almost at the edge of those white cliffs.

So it was on to Glenmark Reserve at Waipara to freedom camp for the night, arriving in brilliant sunshine to relax with a drink under the awning.

There was eventually a line of 10 campers set up for the night here.

I had just finished my drink (green tumbler in the doorway) when there was a loud burst of thunder in the distance behind me and soon the sky darkened and two thunderstorms took out the rest of the day.

The Coastal Pacific came past 7pm on its return journey to Christchurch, just visible through the pouring rain.

Monday 27 January:

I took off early from Glenmark and drove in steady rain to Christchurch and on through the Lyttelton Tunnel to visit the township. It was busy with a huge cruise ship in town.

The ship was the Royal Princess. As I explored the main street of Lyttelton locals greeted me and asked if I was from the cruise liner (??). After more rain the sun suddenly came out and the rest of the day was hot and fine.

There was loads of street art in Lyttelton, but this statue of a husky sled dog commemorated the fact that both Shackleton and Scott departed the port after resupplying for their Antarctic expeditions.

I then took the Evans Pass road over the hills into Sumner, but on stopping to view the Foreshore Esplanade noticed a half flat rear left tyre. So I called the AA and they sent a patrol guy out to change the wheel. I then went back into town and arranged to purchase two new tyres for the rear wheels (they were well worn after 10 years) and booked in with Bridgestone Tyres near my Holiday Park for 8am Tuesday morning.

Tuesday 28 January:

It only took an hour from 8am to 9am to get new tyres fitted leaving me a full day to explore Christchurch. The “grotty” spare wheel was returned to its storage area under the van after the new tyres were fitted.

So I headed for the Gondola Summit at Heathcote for the middle part of the day.

The view south and west takes you all the way to the Southern Alps, but real hazy conditions obscured the distant mountains.

However, the view of Lyttleton was clear (the cruise ship had sailed overnight).

Late afternoon I visited “The Tannery” where the industrial buildings had been redeveloped into a specialised shopping area. “Penny Black” (on the left) was a good place for afternoon tea.

They served old fashion “high tea” here, but I resisted the temptation and went for an iced chocolate (“would you like cream and ice-cream with that?”)

Wednesday 29 January:

The bus into city central from Papanui (where I was staying at the Tasman Holiday Park) was free with my Gold Card. However, Christchurch residents can use a Metro Card which allows them a $2.00 fare to anywhere throughout the city. They only need to tag on, and if the journey is short or long the price is the same (no need to tag off). They can make as many transfers as they like within an hour of tagging on. Most buses are now electric with incredible acceleration away from pickup stops, and fast smooth runs into the city – I was most impressed.

An “All Day” tram ticket took me on a circuit of 18 stops around the CBD enabling on/off access to loads of attractions.

The Riverside Market reminded me of Melbourne and Adelaide markets, with a narrow access alley and extensive food and drink stalls and eating places.

Mischief Cellar Door and Wine Bar was next door to Bellbird Bakery.

Chinese New Year decorations were a Market feature at this time.

However, my favourite refreshment place was “She Chocolaterie”.

It was the World Buskers Festival this week in Christchurch, with this act outside the Market entrance adjacent to the Cashel Street Bridge of Remembrance.

Another significant visit was accessed via Stop 16 on the tram route – “Quake City”.

The excellent displays covered the earthquakes of 4 September 2010 and especially the disastrous quake of 23 February 2011 (when 1,000s of homes and inner city buildings collapsed, resulting in 185 deaths and 156,745 insurance claims). The spire of the Christchurch Cathedral toppled, bringing down the Spire Cross above. This is on loan to “Quake City” until the Cathedral Restoration project wants it back to refurbish and reinstall.

So, from “Quake City” it was a two stop trip through Regent Street to Cathedral Station (Stop 1 on the tram circuit).

Regent Street is famous as it has “mirror image” buildings down its length.

Each side has an identical façade, with cafes everywhere, and the tram track passing down the centre (pedestrians – watch out!!). 

Thursday 30 January:

The Margaret Mahy Family Playground on the banks of the River Avon near the Edmonds Rotunda was just that, for kids and adults together.

Mother and daughter racing each other to the top of the communal slide.

And kids are always fascinated with water.

It is quite remarkable that many older special structures like the Rotunda survived the earthquakes with minimal damage.

The rest of Thursday I spent at Ferrymead Heritage Park.

At weekends the Park is busy with tram and train rides. Today it was very quiet as can be seen by the view of Main Street below.

At one stage there only seemed to be me and a group of 5 Chinese young people around. They are here for 2 weeks touring. They spoke excellent English.

There were several large buildings displaying motor vehicles (as above), plus tractors, plus farm machinery, plus fire engines (from all over the South Island, including Invercargill).

Friday 31 January:

Orana Wildlife Park was established 1970 on 80 hectares of land on the outskirts of Christchurch and opened in 1976 with 28 animals. It now has 45 species of animals and birds and receives 95% of its income from gate takings. I spent a full day there and walked for miles. The animals have loads of area in free range settings. I was quite impressed given the free range zoos we have been to overseas.

Animals range from the small —–

—- to the tall ——

—– to the really heavy (at 2 tonne).

Saturday 1 February:

Last full day in Christchurch before heading south, and as it was to be possibly a wet one I kept the indoor Air Force Museum of New Zealand as the final day out for the week.

This rather spectacular mural greets you in the entrance atrium. The text at the base of the mural reads “Born of the sun, they travelled a short while toward the sun and left the vivid air signed with their honour” is from a poem by Stephen Spender entitled “The Truly Great”.

Displays ranged from this replica of the Bleriot which was the first plane to cross the English Channel from France to England ——-

—— to this twin pilot Skyhawk —–

—- to this DC3 VIP aircraft which the Queen used during her 1953 tour, to dozens of military aircraft and the stories of men, women and machines.

On my way south tomorrow, and probably freedom camping on the Canterbury Plains.

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.

Saturday 4 May

Saturday’s visit to the International Antarctic Centre at Christchurch Airport was most educational. In addition to NZ’s Antarctic research programme Christchurch is the base for supporting other countries research groups including the USA, Republic of Korea, Italy, and China (it resupplies the Chinese icebreaker “Snow Dragon” at Lyttelton). There are 34 research stations in Antarctica, a majority being based on the Antarctic Peninsula south of the tip of South America.

The carpark leads to the Main Entrance, passing a group of Hagglund transporters on the way.

Front view of these “standby” Hagglunds.

There were two Hagglunds on duty Saturday, with my ride in the black one. These all-terrain articulated vehicles were developed by the Swedish military in 1974 and are particularly suited to ice and snow conditions as in Antarctica, as well as being used all over the world by military and commercial operators. The 15 minute ride offered to visitors is over an exceedingly bumpy obstacle course, but great fun as passengers get tossed up and down and sideways.

The last two obstacles are a steep hill dropping into a “swamp”.

Climbing out of the swamp – driver on the right of the picture (left hand drive), front passenger on the left. I travelled in the articulated section behind the driver section.

In addition to the outdoor Hagglund transporter ride the Centre’s main indoor visitor attractions are an Antarctic storm room, the penguin rescue project, a husky display, a general display area, a climate theatre, and a 4D theatre experience.

I did not venture into the Storm Room (pre-storm temperature minus 8 degrees centigrade) where visitors are provided with special footwear protectors and quilted over-jackets. The “storm” consists of blasting frozen air into the room from 0kph at start up to 45kph final speed and dropping the temperature via wind chill to minus 24 degrees centigrade. 

Monitor showing close to maximum wind speed.

I was able to watch the room monitor safely from outside the storm room as it revved up to its maximum cold level (well on the way to it as recorded here). There were over 20 people in the room during the storm event I watched, and you could see the blast of the wind flapping their clothing vigorously.

They have 19 Little Blue “rescue” penguins in their Penguin Welfare Centre, all with some sort of injury. Little Blues are the world’s smallest penguin, but are not one of the penguin groups that live in Antarctica.

The hasky handler gave a very good historical background to the use of huskies in Antarctica.

Later, visitors could go to the Husky Zone and handle the dogs. Dog teams were last used in Antarctica by the British in 1994, being replaced by motorised vehicles and helicopters.

There were good films on in two theatres as well as TV presentations at many locations in the general display areas. The 4D experience was in a special theatre that had seats which moved up-down in following the 3D images of boats in stormy seas, or bumping with a jerking motion into icebergs. The back of the seat facing you would spray your face (and 3D glasses) with water as well as blast wind storms onto you, and even wet us as a seal spat right in our face as it lunged at the camera. A final scene had artificial snow coming down from the ceiling over us as we watched a huge congregation of penguins enduring a snow storm.

Sunday 5 May

Sunday was a travel and rest day as I drove to Kaikoura to spend a couple of nights.

Monday 6 May

On Monday I walked from South Bay up the Cliff Trail to connect with the shearwater colony behind the predator free fence I visited on 13 March when I climbed up from the seal colony at Point Kean on the end of the peninsula.

Kaikoura from the Reservoir Lookout on Monday 6 May. There was too much haze from the ocean to get a clear view of the snow on the Seaward Kaikoura Range in the far distance.

South Bay viewed from the cliff top walk.

The predator control fence protecting the Huttons Shearwater Colony from rats and stoats.

A coastal view from the South Bay to Point Kean Walkway.

So, the walk up took an hour with stops for photos, and back (mainly downhill) it took 30 minutes.

Tuesday 7 May

This day turned out fine but cool after rain overnight, so it was on to Kekerengu for lunch at The Store and overnight camping above the surf beach.

Leaving Kaikoura I found a rural mailbox that reflected the Whale Watch theme associated with the tourist industry. This reminded me of the Hurunui Valley mailbox I saw on Monday.

Yes, it is a mailbox – farmers often get big parcels!

And before I reached Kekerengu I stopped off to investigate a heritage area associated with development of bridges over the Clarence River. The first bridge constructed in 1883 had two of its five spans washed out to sea in 1923 by a huge flood. It took 2 years to complete repair work which included three extra spans to widen the floodway under the bridge.

The current bridge replaced the 1925 bridge in 1975. You can see the railway bridge on the horizon beyond the span over which the car is travelling.

The railway bridge has a picket fence wind break on the up-river side to protect trains from the gale-force winds that can roar down the Clarence River valley.

The Heritage area was busy with birdlife, and a fantail followed me around as I explored imploring me to take his picture.

The Store is a busy coastal restaurant about an hour from Blenheim, and where Lexie and I usually timed to stop for a meal, and over the years freedom camped between railway and beach many times during our travels south. However The Store has now taken over and fenced the whole area and charges for overnight camping, which is fine. They provide coin operated showers in a new toilet and ablution block.

The Store at Kekerengu.

The camping area at Kekerengu with the van on the beachfront at the left, and the railway line behind the fence on the right. The remains of a railway siding are in thee right centre of the photo. In years past we freedom camped in the exact spot the van is in here, but no longer. However, The Store only charged me $12.60 for the night.

Tuesday seemed to be fantail day – they could not leave me alone and insisted I take their picture. There were over half a dozen darting around the beach debris as I walked the sand and gravel areas below the van.

OK – I gave in. Here is the close-up this guy wanted me to take. Tuesday has become the day of the fantails.

Wednesday 8 May

Wednesday morning’s sunrise welcomed in a cold but bright day.

Looking east from my Kekerengu foreshore campsite, the rising sun still below the horizon, but catching the top of the clouds out at sea.

Into Blenheim for the day had me passing miles of vineyards full of autumn colour with the February/March harvest well and truly over.

Close-up of a roadside vineyard is just after Lake Grassmere.

Roadside view across the valley just before Seddon provides an expansive view of Yealands Vineyards covering most of the land back to the hills.

In Blenheim the Taylor River walkways were flooded in places after heavy rain last week.

Thursday 9 May

This was my last sightseeing day on tour in the South Island. I spent it in Picton visiting the Edwin Fox Museum and the Edwin Fox remains The ship was a derelict hulk in Shakespeare Bay in January 1985 when we filmed it for the Beacons series with me talking to camera about how it was on ships like this that early migrant engineers travelled to New Zealand in the 1800s. In the 1960s a Preservation Society was formed and they purchased the hulk for 1/- (one shilling). However it was not until 1987 that they had raised enough funds and gained Harbour Board approval to move the remains (which were able to be floated) into a purpose made dry dock.

The Edwin Fox, built in India in 1853, pictured in this painting in full sail.

The ship hulk is now in a sheltered dry-dock, the aim being to “preserve” what remains, not restore to near original condition.

Surprisingly the lower hull was in very good condition when they came to move the ship from Shakespeare Bay, and divers were able to mend several holes and enable the hulk to be floated and towed round to a permanent purpose built dry dock.

So I leave the South Island on Friday 10^th via the Interislander to Wellington, sailing 2:15pm, arriving 5:45pm.

Thursday’s 2:15pm sailing of Kaitaki heading out from Picton. Tomorrow I will be on this ship.

Finale

And so, this highly successful trip comes to an end, with several thousand photos of places and storyboards on file to pour over in coming days and years as I relive the fabulous memories of my days in the South Island, March to May 2024.

Saturday 27 April

I left Milford Lodge just after 7am Saturday heading up to the Homer Tunnel with rain falling as I climbed steadily upwards. I had to wait for the green light to enter the tunnel and went through on my own, no one else being on the road south that early. However, there was a queue of traffic waiting to proceed down to Milford as I left the tunnel.

Saturday morning waiting for green light at Homer Tunnel entrance on Milford Sound side of the mountain. Snow from Thursday nights fall had largely melted away in Friday and Saturday rainfall.

Inside the tunnel – as I was the only vehicle travelling up the steep climb I stopped to take this photo.

Tunnel exit into the Hollyford Valley and pouring rain.

The road cones were part of the diversion lanes to keep traffic away from the reconstruction project renewing the avalanche shelter on the Hollyford entrance to the tunnel.

However, by the time I reached Lake Gunn on the road south to Te Anau the rain had stopped and the road was dry.

The mountains around Lake Gunn retained their snow cover from Thursday’s fall.

After shopping in Te Anau I headed towards Gore, with a diversion to Piano Flat north of Waikaia. From Balfour I drove up the Plains Station road to Waikaia, the large sheep run that Aunty Lila and Uncle Ernie worked and lived on after they got married. Piano Flat was a holiday retreat they used a lot, and I remember being there when I was 5yrs old and after they moved to Diamond Peak

The “plains” of Plains Station relates to the Mataura River Valley which stretches from Round Hill (behind the sheep) of the Mataura Range south past Riversdale and Mandeville to the Hokonui Hills near Gore. Piano Flat consists of several meadows adjacent to the Waikaia River, with holiday cribs (baches to a North Islander) at the edge of the bush lined valley. A precarious swing bridge crosses the river into a bush walk.

The swing bridge deck is wire mesh.

Lexie tackled the bridge with determination in January 2002 during our visit there.

In Gore I looked over the fence into No. 244 Main Street, which had been renumbered from 19A Main Street, the address when Aunty Lila and Uncle Ernie retired there in the late 1950s.

The garden is a jungle today.

Lexie took this picture during a 1960s visit when the garden was a Gore visitor attraction to horticulture enthusiasts, and was featured on Eon Scarrow’s “Dig This” TV series.

This pergola leads though to the sunken garden.

My Dad and Aunty Lila in the sunken garden which included a pond and fountain. All this has gone now.

The neglect that has happened to the Gore property has not been foisted on the farm at Howe that Aunty Lila and Uncle Ernie retired from. It also had a huge garden which attracted visitor groups over the years. The current owners have extended and upgraded the house and have developed the swamp area below the house into a landscaped feature which really looks good.

The farm house was called “Rosedale” when I lived there in the 1940s and 50s.

Now the farm is called “HOWEPARK” and the house has been extended, with landscaping of the swamp area on the flats below now called Lake Crispin.

Lake Crispin at HOWEPARK.

The other family related property locally is Mackie Reinke’s cottage on the side of State Highway 1 at McNab. This cottage was used as a prop in the 1981 movie “Goodbye Pork Pie” when the police chased the two characters in the film over the hedge and roof of the place. Now the cottage is gone and ——-

——- a huge new “Mataura Milk” processing factory occupies the site.

I also travelled a few km up the Waikaka Valley Road from HOWEPARK to a place called Mandeville where we attended the Presbyterian Church while living on the farm, and it was there I got this week’s bird picture.

There were three spur-winged plover fossicking for grubs in the church grounds.

Saturday night had me freedom camping at Whisky Gully near Tapanui on the road from Gore to Central Otago.

Sunday 28 April

Sunday morning I explored local farmland as I headed north through Roxburgh, Alexandra and Cromwell over the Lindis Pass to Omarama, ready for a Mt Cook visit on Monday 29 April.

Farmland north of Tapanui with the Blue Mountains across the valley.

Monday 29 April

Omarama on Monday morning had the coldest overnight temperature in the country (as per the radio weather forecast), and leaving for Twizel and Mt Cook there was low cloud and ground fog either side of the road.

The frosty morning did not put off these merino sheep grazing on the frozen grass.

The objective of the Mt Cook visit was to walk up to the Hooker Glacier Lake from the Whitehorse camping area. This involved a 1hr 35 minute hike into the Hooker Valley, over three suspension bridges and a steady but moderate climb on a well formed track.

The morning sun shone on the eastern face of Aoraki Mt Cook, and the track up the Hooker Valley gave access to a view of the western face.

I packed a sandwich lunch and decided I would wait at the glacier viewpoint for a couple of hours or more to watch the sun move around to shine on the west face of the mountain.

The third of the suspension bridges, with the Muller Glacier valley in the top left of the photo.

The west face of the mountain at 2pm. The actual summit is to the right of the high peak in this view. It appears lower due to the angle of view from this location. The face of the glacier ice is at the head of the lake, with the surface of the glacier covered in rocks.

The ice cliffs at the front of the glacier shed mini icebergs which are blown down the lake to the visitor viewing spot.

This iceberg was below us right in front of the viewing location.

The place was crowded with mainly Chinese visitors, but we were joined by a touring Paradise Shelduck couple.

These “tourists” had an ulterior motive for their visit – they wandered around peoples feet looking for lunch crumbs.

Near the glacier face huge rockslides tumbled down the valley sides every half hour or so.

As this rockslide roared down the mountainside near the head of the lake, it was sufficiently far away not to worry anyone.

Near the walking track the rock fall debris was clearly from landslips formed under heavy rain conditions, but eventually this material will likely reach out across the valley to the track.

Tuesday 30 April

So, it was farewell to Aoraki Mt Cook as the next morning I headed for Lake Tekapo.

Just short of Tekapo is the Mt St John Observatory operated by the University of Canterbury. The road up to the Observatory is very very steep and winding, but the only thing at the top available for the public is the Astro Café and great views of the surrounding countryside.

Tekapo Village from Mt St John.

I gave away the idea of having a coffee at the Cafe as it was jammed with Chinese tourists, so retreated to Tekapo and sought out the Dark Sky Project in its huge domed pavilion.

The dome houses the historic 1894 Brashear telescope gifted to NZ by the University of Pennsylvania.

The Dark Sky Project is a Ngai Tahu initiative which offers both in-house and top of Mt Bruce experiences, the latter at night subject to weather conditions. I did the in-house Dark Sky Experience which explored science and Maori astronomy related to the manner in which seasonal food gathering and fishing was triggered by star positions. One of the four rooms involved in the experience had four star models to scale, one being our sun.

Our guide is holding a pea sized ball between finger and thumb to illustrate the size of the earth (the pea) relative to the size of the sun.

The final room of the experience was with the Brashear telescope. This was the telescope used by astronomer Percival Lowell in “discovering” the canals on Mars. Our guide showing us this instrument said that it turned out there was a smudge on one of the lens that resulted in Lowell seeing a reflection of the blood vessels in his eye which appeared to him as canals on the surface of Mars. I checked Wikipedia which made no mention on the blood vessels in Lowell’s eye, stating instead that the Mars canals turned out to be an optical illusion.

Wednesday 1 May

During Tuesday night at Tekapo heavy rain set in and continued most of Wednesday as I travelled to Christchurch.

Thursday 2 May

Thursday was laundry and housekeeping catch-up day prior to Friday’s TranzAlpine experience Christchurch to Greymouth return.

Friday 3 May

Leaving Springfield via the TranzAlpine heading for the Torlesse Range and 17 tunnels alongside and above the Waimakariri Gorge.

A narrow part of the Gorge.

I managed to get the railway shed at Cass as we thundered by. This complements the earlier picture I got of the TranzAlpine passing through Cass on Thursday 28 March while I was having morning tea in the van alongside the shed.

The train was long, and travelling to Greymouth the Viewing Car was behind the engine, so I could only get good shots of the rear carriages.

However, on the return journey we could see well ahead to the two engines as the Viewing Car was now at the end of the train.

Leaving Arthurs Pass after climbing up through the Otira Tunnel with two engines at the front pulling and one engine at the back pushing. When we descended through the tunnel from Arthurs Pass to Otira earlier in the day we had two engines at the rear helping the two front engines with braking to control the downhill speed.

And so night fell on our journey with this shot between one of the17 tunnels along the Waimakariri, allowing me to then rest in a carriage for the final 1½ hrs to Christchurch, concluding another great train travel day out.

Saturday 20 April

Jan and Talitha collected me 9:45am to visit Colleen at Peacehaven. Colleen did not know it was her birthday (87years), and when told it was today said “No, my birthday is in April”. We left it at that. She accepted that I was Ian, but I think she did not really recognise me. I did talk to her about the Howe farm and her pony Cheeky, to which she responded knowingly. Although her memory is all over the place, physically she can feed herself and crack jokes with the family, but she is not aware that husband Ron has passed away, and the family go along with this. The photo of the four of us was taken on Jan’s iPhone and emailed to me.

Talitha and Jan to my left.

Earlier in the week I emailed Jan to say I would like to take her and Sharon’s families out to a meal while I am visiting and for her to choose the date, time and venue and book for the numbers attending in my name. (Julie is still estranged from her sisters due to ongoing legal issues about the monies she took from Ron’s estate). Nine of us met at the Pizzeria 5:30pm this evening, Jan and husband James, Talitha and husband Hayden, Sharon and husband Ken, Jan’s daughter Acacia, Sharon’s granddaughter Beverly, and me. We left the restaurant at 7:45 with leftover pizza – everyone of us (without asking) was given a pizza box near the end of the meal in order to take home what we did not finish. In addition the Manager at the restaurant gave us a complimentary dessert pizza because Jan had told them this get-together was a special occasion with their not having seen me for 7 years.

Sunday 21 April

Sunday started wet and windy as I travelled down to Bluff, but the weather cleared for a good view of the township from Bluff Hill Lookout.

Bluff Port has its own island serviced by road and rail.

Across the other side of the Harbour entrance is the Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter, seen here as rainclouds begin to lift.

On the town side of the harbour entrance is the pilot station which sits on the rocky foreshore frequented by oyster catchers.

This guy was busy feeding while keeping a watchful eye on me, so becomes the first bird of this week.

At Stirling Point, the southern end of Bluff, the legendary story of Maui fishing up New Zealand from the ocean is represented by a recent sculpture.

Maui, standing in his canoe (the South Island), steadied himself by anchoring the canoe (Stewart Island being the anchor) while he fished up the giant fish which became the North Island. Here we see the anchor chain bolted onto the bottom of the South Island while stretching out over the foreshore towards Stewart Island.

From Bluff it was through Invercargill and Riverton to take the scenic coastal route via Orepuki then up to Tuatapere.

Orepuki’s leaning trees were listed as one of the several local sites of interest.

Tuatapere’s reputation as the sausage capital of New Zealand has taken a bit of a hit as the last time Lexie and I passed through seven years ago the butchers shop was shuttered up.

However, the image of the Tuatapere “sausage” is still used by the tourist industry to publicise one of the country’s best wilderness walks.

From Tuatapere the scenic route runs through farming country past the road into Lake Monowai, one of the country’s earliest hydroelectric schemes. I featured the lake in the Beacons documentary because when they raised the lake to increase the head for power generation all the shoreline trees died and became stumps sticking up out of the water. I took the Lookout Walk from the carpark at the head of the lake to check on this situation 38 years after filming there.

It was still a mess, but the lake itself was a great sight.

Lake Monowai provides water to the power station and is still operating since commissioned in 1926.

While walking in to the lake lookout a South Island male tomtit began fluttering around me, dashing from branch to branch in on the forest tempting me to take pictures. They all turned out blurry. But on the return walk he took pity on me, and set himself up on a tree branch as though to say, “here I am, and you can now take my picture”

“Would you like my left side?”

“Or maybe you prefer my right side?”

This posturing went on for some time as he changed positions on the branch, so these two best shots are my second bird of the week.

Re farming activity, the Southland farmland from Riverton to Manapouri was primarily sheep country with densely packed mobs grazing on rich green grassland.

Sheep were always interested in what I was up to with the camera.

Monday 22 April

Monday morning at Tasman Holiday Park in Te Anau was clean-up time with the motorhome given an internal and external “spring clean”. The afternoon was my visit to the Te Anau Glowworm Caves. This involved boat travel from the harbour on Te Anau waterfront up past the South Fiord and Deadman’s Point to the west side of the lake.

The “Luminosa” took the 2pm tour up the lake with around 50 of us on the trip.

The caves were known about from local Maori lore, but it was 1948 that they were “rediscovered” by Europeans and guided visits began. They consist of two sections, total length 6.7km – the upper Aroura Cave system 30 to 35 million years old, and the more recently formed lower Te Anau Glowworm Caves system, 250m in length and around 12,000 years old.

The upper Aroura system consists of four levels of interconnecting passages accessible only by diving though submerged tunnels. The 250m cave walk is above the roaring Tunnel Burn stream on steel grid walkways bolted to the sides of the chasm though which the stream flows. The cave is totally different from Waitomo Glowworm Caves with their stalagmites, stalactites and huge caverns, and where the glow worm boat trip is on a lake in a huge cavern with the whole ceiling glowing all around you.

Here the 250m climbing walk is in a narrow 3m wide cleft with layered limestone walls reaching up to 40m high. Each layer of limestone is about 15 to 20mm thick with a thin black band separating each grey coloured layer. The Tunnel Burn thunders through the cleft a metre or so below the walkway tumbling over waterfalls on its way to its outlet to the lake.

The boat trip to view the glow worms was through a low roofed tunnel (about a metre above our heads) to a ponded turning area with the glow worms in occasional pockets in depressions in the tunnel ceiling, nowhere near as spectacular as Waitomo.

This publicity photo shows how cramped the glow worm viewing experience is – of course we had no lights and had to remain totally silent during the 20 minute boat ride. Then it was back down the walkway the way we came in. Two sections of the walk involved crouching low to pass under the roof of the cleft, and at other times we had to watch out for low headroom.

Tuesday 23 April

In the morning I drove down to Manapouri to look at Pearl Harbour where boat trips left for a day trip to Doubtful Sound (boat to the power station, then bus to Doubtful Sound).

Pearl Harbour at Lake Manapouri.

Then it was north, with a cuppa at Te Anau Downs in the Mistletoe Lake carpark. Lexie and I did the Mistletoe Lake walk in November 2013, so I repeated the walk to see if anything had changed much.

Mistletoe Lake, 2013, with the camera on the picnic table.

Mistletoe Lake this past week, with the picnic table having received a coat of paint since last visit 11 years ago. The bush by my right ear has grown a bit if it is the same one.

The Mirror Lakes further up the road had story boards and a modern walkway since 11 years ago, with me once more having to dodge crowds of Chinese tourists to get my photos.

There were loads of good reflections at Mirror Lakes on this visit with this being one of the best.

Tuesday night and Wednesday night I camped at the DoC camping area in Cascade Creek which provides direct access to the lake Gunn Nature Walk. I took the walk late afternoon before rain set it. The beech forest included loads of old fallen trees, all covered in green spongey moss. Even living trees have up to a two metre high mass of moss around the trunks. The whole forest is sort of “snug” with moss.

Lake Gunn with rain advancing down the Lake toward Cascade creek.

However, the view from the van at the campsite next day was typical of the Eglington Valley landscape.

The Earl Mountain Range southwest of Lake Gunn. The cloud layer in the valley below the mountain tops hung around day and night for the two days at Cascade Creek.

Wednesday 24 April

Camp Gunn in the lower Hollyford was my day trip on Wednesday. Many of its accommodation huts were wreaked by a huge landslip which bundled down the hills above the camp during a big storm in 2021, thus closing the camp for good.

We visited Murray Gunn at the camp in January 1996 (above photo).

Now the place is a sorry sight. The main two buildings were untouched by the landslide but many of the cabins to the right of the “Hollyford Camp” building (Murray and I were standing where that green box is) are now under rubble.

Thursday 25 April

After raining all Wednesday night it was still raining heavily from 7:10 am Thursday (ANZAC Day) when I left Cascade Creek to drive through to Milford Sound. The steep mountains on either side of the valley up to the Homer Tunnel were covered with waterfalls.

The downhill exit from the Homer Tunnel on the Milford side.

Both sides of the valley were streaming with water just as seen above and below. As the road wended its way downhill through the forest it was littered with beech tree leaves and small branches stripped overnight by the downpour. Rivers were beginning to rise.

Miles of streaming slopes both sides of the Homer Tunnel.

Thursday night after an excellent dinner in the Pio Pio Restaurant at Milford Lodge I had to run for the van in a loud thunderstorm with bucketing rain. The Lodge sent out an email before dinner to say that the Homer Tunnel was closing early in the evening and that snow was expected overnight.

Friday 26 April

Today was Milford Sound cruising day. As I was about to set off early at 9:00am for the Cruise Visitor Centre, the sun came out and mist on the mountain tops began to lift, and all the tops were covered in snow.

Mitre Peak looked superb in its cloak of white, but it was short lived as cloud descended on the tops as we left on our cruise at 10:30 in rain.

Cloud and rain coming in from the west.

The trip was really great with good views and commentary on all the features of interest. Of course the waterfalls attracted the most attention from photographers.

Bowen Falls just around the corner from the boat terminus.

The Four Sisters Falls ——

—– and the Stirling Falls, which the boat nosed into on the return journey.

We could not get much closer than this.

About 1/3^rd of the travellers on our cruise were dropped off at the Underwater Observatory, and were picked up by a separate boat 3/4hr later.

Both the reception building and the underwater observatory are floating structures, with the top of the observation section on the far right.

There are 60 steps down (the height of a 3 story building) and a circular observation area at a depth of 10 metres has loads of windows. The water was a little murky as a result of all the runoff over the last 2 days of heavy rainfall, but external lights attracted fish to the windows for good viewing. However it was hard to get good focus though the thick plate glass windows.

These fish with their black spot were present in their dozens, accompanied by 100s of teeny little fish that can just be seen on the right of the frame. Then there is the coral growths.

There were only a few of this type of fish around, here pictured over one of the external trays on which marine life was growing.

And so as our cruise ended at 1pm it was the time that bus loads from Queenstown and Te Anau had arrived for their 2hr voyage up the sound. From Queenstown it is a 12 hour day, 5 hours in the bus each way, and 2 hours on the water. Whew!! And yet thousands do this trip each season.