On Saturday 17th January I travelled north to Waipara and Freedom Camped overnight at the Glenmark Reserve on Church Road. Next morning I drove down Church Road to near the junction with SH1, and visited the historic —–
—– St Paul’s Anglican Church, built in 1906.
This outstanding brick building is visible from SH 1 —–
—– sitting on a knoll above the road when heading south toward Waipara (above photo from Heritage NZ website), and I have always been curious as to its stately presence so far out in the countryside.
It was built and paid for by Annie Quayle Townend in memory of her father, Glenmark farmer George Henry Moore (1812 -1905). In addition she had a 12 room vicarage —–
—– provided on the property with foot access to the church some 200m away via —–
—– a bush walk and creeper covered archway through to a lychgate at the edge of the church grounds.
The first Canterbury earthquake in September 2010 caused considerable but repairable damage to the building, After years of restoration work and spending some $2.5m the Friends of Glenmark Church were able to open the church for worship mid-2023 while continuing internal refurbishment. This culminated in the shifting of the wooden pews back into the church (no more deck chairs) in November last year. The Vicarage —–
—– now has a life of its own.
For Sunday 18th January I had booked for a repeat trip on the Weka Pass Railway, leaving from —–
—– Glenmark Station. The Weka Pass Railway originally operated with a classic —–
—– steam engine (photo from a display in the station), but unfortunately it’s boiler failed inspection last year and restoration will take considerable funds and several years of work. So we had to settle for diesel powered locomotives, two being involved ——
—– in today’s excursion.
After we got underway —–
—– I turned to look back on the train’s rear ——
—– and saw we were being followed by a Suzuki SUV which turned out to be the fire truck. The train now has to be followed by fire control as a precaution in case an engine spark starts a rail side grass fire. The SUV carries two crew, a large water tank, a pump and long hoses. This year’s rain frequency has kept the grass green and fire risk is thus resultantly low.
Weka Pass provides loads of examples of road and rail-side —–
—– limestone formations with —–
—– Frog Rock being the most photographed as we headed toward —–
—– the cutting behind the rock.
I was well wrapped up with extra jerseys and a wind-jacket —–
—– for the trip via the open-air wagon – here I am waiting for the engines at the Waikari terminus ——
—— to change to the front of the train for the return journey.
After the rail trip I headed for Hanmer Springs for another Freedom Camping night so as to position myself for a Hanmer Forest Walk Monday morning. That turned out to be a major disappointment. Remember this photo from 20th March 2025 ——
—– with the dog on a pedestal at the entrance to the wooden sculpture trail? Well, —–
—– here is the view Monday 19th January 2026. A huge wind storm swept through the area in October last year snapping the tops of trees off so they are dangling dangerously over the track – access will take months to restore.
So I took a forest walk back across the road, and soon came to —–
—– some of the tree damage there. Because there were plenty of alternative tracks, access had not been closed off —–
—– and I was able to see some of the damage the winds had wrecked in this other part of the forest.
I took off back out of Hanmer, across the —–
—– 1887 Waiau Ferry bridge to take SH 7 up to Lewis Pass.
The entrance via SH 7 to the 67km 4 to 6 day tramp on St James Walkway is accessed from a carpark just before the Pass. I stopped there to —–
—– view The Tarn, a tiny lake which can freeze up with 6 inches (150mm) of ice during the winter. There was also a 30-minute alpine walk near The Tarn which —–
—– was well worth a visit with several information boards and many plant species with name posts. On the hillside across the valley ——
—— a small stream was cascading down the steep slope.
The carpark at the St James entrance was also designated as a Freedom Campsite, but being full of cars as well as water filled potholes I gave it a miss and went 5 minutes back down the road to the DoC Deer Valley —–
—– campsite.
Monday night was cold (5 degrees C) but Tuesday 20th January I was up and away 7am and pleased I had not attempted to stay at the carpark up the road as it was full of —–
—– two helicopters, a concrete truck and a host of construction workers and vehicles about to begin construction of a new cell tower on a nearby high spot.
At 8:45 I arrived in Reefton where I visited the new water powered electricity station on the site of the old 1888 generator which was the first to provide power for community street lighting in the Southern Hemisphere. The wooden flume ——
—– is now delivering water to the new generator building ——
—– alongside which is a replica of the original 1888 generator.
The new generator, I was told by a local resident, generates enough power to supply half the current street lighting system in Reefton. The replica unit is yet to be commissioned.
Before moving on from Reefton I stopped off for morning coffee at ——
—– the historic bakery on the main street —–
—— which I found was “worth a detour” ——
—– on the recommendation of the “hidden places” travel book given to me for Christmas by Calum and Ali. Author Peter Janssen said their traditional Scottish shortbread was “near the top”, so I took the book in with me to show the staff who were thrilled to read the book’s entry on the cafe. I purchased a pack of shortbread to enjoy with my flat white.
From Reefton I travelled through the Buller Gorge to divert south near Westport to Charleston and visit —–
—– Mitchell’s Gully Goldmine with its walkway —–
—– along the old ore carrying railway passing through ——
—– a series of tunnels. The water powered stamper battery —–
—– was not operating at the time.
In the limestone valley behind Charleston is the Nile River Rainforest Train which carries Cave Rafting adventurers and sightseers up the valley. I had missed the last train for the day so drove into —–
—– the rail terminus ——
—– to take the rail-side walking track beside the river. There were great views of —–
—– limestone cliffs across the river. I also encountered —–
—– a feral goat nannie and ——
—— her two kids on my trek.
Returning from my 1 hour walk up the valley trail I was about to drive out when —–
—– the afternoon train arrived back with a full load of passengers.
From Charleston I headed south along the coast —–
—– with its many rocky headlands ——
—– to spend the night at the Fox River Freedom Camping spot, enduring thousands of sand-flies during an evening walk.
Punakaiki was my destination Wednesday morning, not to see the blowholes, but to visit the Paparoa National Park exhibit —–
—– at the DoC information and Visitor Centre. I had missed out on this experience during my 2025 visit.
The highly professional exhibition covered cultural, geological and natural features of the Paparoa National Park with an ever-changing video wall entrance ——
—— leading to four rooms ——
—— covering cultural history, ——
—– wildlife, —–
—— forest growth and —–
—– geology (with an active replica of a blowhole).
With a rainy weather forecast for the next few days for both Westland and Canterbury I set off for Christchurch via Greymouth, heavy rain setting in as I climbed up the Otira Gorge in first gear —-
—– behind a huge transport truck.
The next day, Thursday 22nd January, was a total washout with steady and at times heavy rain all day. Confined to the motorhome in the Tasman Holiday Park in Papanui gave me an opportunity to plan my route ahead and highlight the best of the “worth a detour” visits on the way.
The weather forecast for Friday indicated thunderstorms from late afternoon, so I took advantage of the dry but overcast morning to bus into the city and get an All Day Tram Pass —–
—– allowing me to hop-on/hop-off throughout the day on the 50-minute circuit.
First hop-off was to view the new covered 30,000 seat venue, —-
—— the One New Zealand Stadium (Te Kaha), here shown from the One NZ website. All I could see at street level ——
—– was this view looking east down Cashel Street. It will be completed for opening this coming ANZAC Weekend for a 3-day Super Rugby Tournament involving 10 teams from NZ, Australia, Fiji and the Pacific.
I also noticed new murals on buildings that had been added since last year’s visit, the most notable being —–
—– this very tall girl.
The sun came out as I travelled another few tram stops to the Pop-Up Museum where an —–
—— International photographic exhibition was on. The Museum is undergoing a 5 year total reconstruction on its original site, hence the temporary Pop-Up location in a commercial building nearby.
I actually found the photos from the local Christchurch competition more interesting than the overseas ones. The following two bird pictures were especially good, —–
—– a spoonbill at sunset and —–
—– a kea coming in for a landing.
So following lunch at the Thirsty Peacock restaurant in the Art Gallery and some more hop-on/hop-off tram riding I caught the No.1 bus back to Papanui and put my feet up for the rest of the day as rain clouds threatened on the horizon.
Saturday 24th January started overcast with rain forecast again for mid-afternoon. Fortunately my first visit was in the morning at Trott’s Garden in Ashburton where it stayed dry. My next visit was after lunch to the Ashburton Aviation Museum, housed under cover in three huge hangers. The rain started at 2.30 as I left the museum and headed off for Geraldine.
Trott’s Garden is 4.5 hectare property —–
—– with an extensive garden planted by Catherine and Alan Trott beginning in 1978. It is now recognised as —–
—– a garden of international significance, and incorporates —–
—– a wedding chapel —–
—– and a British style Pub, the Brantwood Arms.
Particular features of the extensive gardens and woodland include —–
—– this dovecote and pond, ——
—– the Red Garden —–
—– with its Adam and Eve at the tree (yes, that’s an apple in Eve’s right hand), —–
—– plus stands of trees —–
—– including those around the pond, —–
—– and the ornamental Knot Garden with its four plots (two of which are shown here).
The Aviation Museum occupied two hangers with a third new larger hanger being fitted out to take other aircraft waiting to be displayed. I must say I was impressed, having visited several such aviation heritage centres in NZ and Australia.
Hanger One had a viewing platform —–
—– from which I could get a good overview of the exhibits such as this DC 3 civilian plane and the Vampire jet fighter above, ——
—— and the Skyhawk and Harvard in the centre of this group.
Overall it was a great exhibition of flight with small and large planes plus gliders, microlights and helicopters.
So I have ended my Saturday travels at Geraldine Top 10 Holiday Park where I will be based through to Monday morning.
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