Sunday 16 March:
A bright sunny day attracted loads of families to visit the Willowbank Wildlife Reserve in the northwest Styx area of Christchurch. This facility is quite different from the Orana Wildlife Park I visited during my Week 2 stay in the city. Orana was like an open-range zoo with long walks between animal enclosures. Willowbank is a compact area of boardwalks and tracks around ponds, lawns, gardens and bush enclosures, and configured into three zones;
- Wild NZ (with 18 types of NZ and overseas “residents” from eels, water fowl, deer, wallabies, iguana, otters, gibbons, lemurs, tortoises);
- Heritage NZ (with 13 types of domestic and wild donkeys, pigs, chickens, goats. cattle, sheep, rabbits, all within a barnyard environment); and
- Natural NZ (18 areas for mainly native birds, including a kiwi house where you were “guaranteed” to see at least one of their 3 resident kiwi).
At the reception and ticketing area you could purchase a feed “bucket” (the green topped plastic containers with handles for kiddies) or a food packet to assist in making contact with those birds/animals where there was a sign “Feed Me”. [There were lots of species where the signs said “Do NOT feed me”).
Kiddies of all ages had no trouble interacting with the animals, whether it was fallow deer —–
—— or an Arapawa goat, an animal thought to have been brought out to NZ in early settler ships and now resident only on Arapawa Island in the Marlborough Sounds.
There were several unusual geese in the displays, including ——
—– the Sebastopol Goose from Europe with its curly feathers, and —–
—– the Cape Barren Goose from Australia. It is not common in NZ and makes a double-note pig-like grunt earning it the nick-name “pig goose”.
On the unusual animals side is the Capuchin monkey from the Americas ——
—– thought to be one of the world’s most intelligent of the monkey species. A great hit with the visiting kiddies was —–
—– the mother and baby Capuchin. Moments after this photo was taken the baby reached down and grabbed the piece of carrot from under mum’s elbow to yells of delight from the watching children.
Kune pigs were a favourite for feeding.
All the young lad on the edge of the picture had to do to feed this lot was —–
—– to drop the food pellets straight into the open mouth. Those animals which can be fed by visitors know the drill, and when people are around they line up expectantly —–
—– such as this Waipu goat, who is quickly rewarded —–
—– as is his partner. The Waipu is derived from Angora goats which escaped into the wild near Waipu in the late 1800s and became feral. They are the world’s rarest goat breed with less than 40 breeding animals domesticated.
So, did the guarantee re seeing a kiwi eventuate for me? Yes, but only because I stayed much longer in the kiwi house than most other visitors. It takes over 15 minutes to get one’s eyes accustomed to the dark, with low level red lamps the only lighting. There was no floor to ceiling glass between kiwi and viewers as in the last two kiwi houses I have visited, just a glass “fence” topped with a rail at breast height so you could peer over into the forest floor and watch for movement. When a large kiwi moved into my view and scurried around feeding in the undergrowth for over ¼ hour I was able to whisper and point to others arriving in the kiwi house, “over here, over here”.
Monday 17 March:
On Friday during the wheel bearing replacement at Team Hutchinson Ford they discovered both front wheel brake linings were worn out, so booked me in for today. I therefore took the van in for service from 7.30am, carried on site-seeing till 12noon, drove the repaired van back to the holiday park, and then bussed back into town for the rest of the day (just as I did on Friday).
My objectives today were an in-depth look at Turanga (the new library) and to visit Te Puna O Waiwhetu, the Art Gallery. The library was unlike most libraries I have visited in the past, with loads of art work ——-
—– including at the main entrance these “urban sheep” which are —–
—– part of the City Council’s “Enliven Places” programme for delivering public space art works throughout the city.
Although books are the staple information source ——
—– there were computer stations everywhere, and ——
—— reading areas with comfortable chairs/sofas, plus cultural displays (Gay Pride exhibits and no Brian Tamaki “heavies” around) and —–
—– a Persian New Year display (Happy Nowruz).
And then there was an alcove where videos could be shown on a large screen. It was showing a 2023 dance film collaboration between a crochet artist and a choreographer to present a Maori world view through dress and movement.
Dancers wore crocheted dress items and carried crocheted artefacts with crocheted panels and figures in the background, including —–
—– this figure here.
I was also told to visit the fourth floor outdoor garden to get a view of the city. With a post-quake building height limit of 28m set for most of the city, rebuilds were from four to six stories in height depending on the ceiling height set by the architects. The Turanga building had high ceilings, hence only four floors.
The roof garden views (see reflection in the window on the right) set out the variety of buildings filling the city from the new 4 to 6 story ones and the older high rises that survived the quakes and were able to be refurbished and strengthened at their original height.
The Art Gallery was once such survivor, having been constructed to modern earthquake building standards, with its external glasswork ——
—— remaining firmly braced by clever design (view looking directly up from my lunch table in the café).
In addition to a wide range of exhibitions inside the gallery, such as this ——
—– water sculpture “Fountain in Transit” in the main foyer, there was the notable outdoor sculpture —–
—– that has been a feature of the Christchurch art work scene for decades.
On my walk four blocks back to the bus interchange through the after-work crowds heading for the evening bars and restaurants, I noticed a large group of people on the River Avon access steps near the Bridge of Remembrance.
They were feeding Tuna kuwharuwharu, the longfin eels that live in the Avon at these steps.
Tuesday 18 March:
Leaving Christchurch for Waipara I managed to get in two wetland walks (around 35 minutes each) plus a sculpture viewing before forecasted heavy rain set in from late morning.
The Styx Mill Conservation Reserve challenged one to observe some 8 waterfowl species, but although I saw —–
—– one Australian coot (above) and one female Paradise shelduck on their extensive pond areas —–
—— it seemed that Canadian Geese (not on the 8 bird list) had taken over as the main residents.
The second wetland was near Kaiapoi, the Otukaikino-Living Memorial, being a collaboration between DoC and Lamb and Hayward Funeral Directors which since 1992 have facilitated planting of this culturally significant area sacred to Ngai Tuahuriri Romagna. Over the years a native plant has been provided for every funeral conducted by Lamb and Hayward, with a volunteer group doing monthly plantings.
The wetland walking loop has ——
—– picture boards showing pre-planting views which ——–
—– you can compare with the current view today.
There were no waterfowl on the ponded areas at Otukaikino, but plenty of song birds in the short forest walk from carpark to wetland.
The Fanfare Sculpture was my final visit before travelling in rain to Waipara for an overnight freedom camp at Glenmark Reserve.
This distinctive 20 metre diameter globe is placed at the beginning of the main motorway entrance to Christchurch which starts near Kaiapoi. It was originally hung below the Sydney Harbour Bridge to mark New Year 2005, and then was gifted to Christchurch City by the City of Sydney in 2007. It was reassembled here in 2015 by the City Council in collaboration with the designer, NZ born sculptor Neil Dawson.
There are 360 stainless steel fans (each 1.5 metres diameter) of which there are always some spinning whatever direction the wind is coming from. These remind me of the plastic windmills on a stick we used to run around with on A&P Show Days when I was a kid.
Wednesday 19 March:
I seem to be having a sculptural feast this week with today’s visit to ——-
—— Iron Ridge Quarry sculpture garden 11km west of Waipara up Ram Paddock Road into the Waipara River Gorge.
This old lime quarry was purchased by Raymond Herber in 1997, and after bringing in 170 truckloads of topsoil to “sculpt” and landscape the quarry floor set up his metalwork sculptural workshop, extending the skills he used in producing large metal sculptures for the new Te Papa in Wellington. He and partner Heidi live on-site in their home alongside the workshop, with Heidi tending the grounds while Raymond carries out commissions for clients local and international.
This stainless steel Clydesdale is a “flagship” feature of the park —–
—– which is sprinkled with dozens of steel and iron works ——
—— including this “Dandelion Flying” sculpture.
Scattered around the quarry floor garden as well as the hillside walk are limestone sculptures from guest artists, these selling well according to Heidi (this one priced at $1,050). The hillside walk provided a view out over the Waipara River Valley, with this view —–
—— framing the highest sculpture on the hill above the workshop area. Those hills in the background provided an interesting perspective on the Waipara River Valley.
They almost seem to have been painted by a landscape artist.
Thursday 20 March:
Today was a lazy day walking around Hanmer Springs after overnight rain cleared in the morning, then after lunch continuing my sculptural feast by walking the Forest Amble Sculpture Track.
Hanmer was established as a spa resort in 1860 by the Government, which then in 1897 opened a sanatorium to take advantage of the “healing waters and alpine environment” to treat sickly people. After the sanatorium burnt down in 1914, it was replaced in 1916 by —–
—– the Queen Mary Hospital to treat wounded soldiers from WWI. It continued as a military hospital during WWII, then under the national hospital service as a treatment facility for drug and alcohol dependency up to closing in 2003.
The Hot Pools were used by the hospital over many years to help patient recovery, and no, I did not use them – this photo of one of the outdoor pools was taken through the back fence.
I then discovered on an information board at the Hot Pools that the Hanmer Heritage Forest had a Forest Amble Sculpture Trail. OK, I was up for another dose of sculpture viewing so off I went. The Heritage Forest was established by the NZ Forest Service in the early 1900s in experimental trials of introduced exotics to study those best for the NZ environment. Today Ngai Tahu owns the wider commercial Hanmer Forest of which the Heritage section comprises 204 hectare.
Sculptor Andrew Lyons of Christchurch used timber from a redwood tree that grew outside the Hot Pools facility to create a series of wooden sculptures along the 1 km circuit. I teamed up with an Australian couple form Perth to spend around an hour ambling along in the quietness and windless ambience of the forest with sunlight touching the tops of the very tall trees above us, and birdsong all about us. Here is a selection of what we found.
First, at the entrance, we were greeted by a dog on a tree stump, and —-
—- were invited to “follow the dog” around the walk. A picture of this dog was attached to trail markers throughout the walk.
After we passed couple of very large squirrels I was the first to spot ——
—- these wooden fantails in a tree above us. From then on we kept looking up as well as around to spot whatever might come next, like this —–
—– climbing bear.
Depictions of NZ wildlife included ——
—– this falcon, and ——-
—– this iguana.
Overall the 15 sculptures (singles and groups) were an absolute delight, set amongst Corsica Pines, Austrian Pines, European Elders, Norway Spruce, European Larch and Macrocarpa, with an understory of sycamore, silver birch, rowan and cherry, some of which were starting to show autumn colours.
Friday 21 March:
Leaving Hanmer Springs you reach SH7 north to Lewis Pass by crossing back over the Waiau Gorge river bridge to then travel up the Waiau Valley.
The Waiau Valley is broad as is the braided river that covers a large part of the valley floor.
The Gorge has this 1887 wrought iron one-way bridge providing the only road access to Hanmer. [The original wooden bridge of 1864 was destroyed in a northwest gale in 1874.]
The road up to Lewis Pass has an imperceptible upward grade through mostly open country with tussock river flats until suddenly there is a sign for the pass, and then there is a steep forest lined descent down to Maruia Springs and Springs junction.
This descent provided views of the rugged country on the western side of the pass, which then flattens out at ——
—– Marble Hill Conservation Area where I stopped for lunch, and a bush walk to ——
—– the “Sluice Box”, where the Maruia River squeezes through a narrow rock-lined channel.
From Springs Junction the road branches either north on SH65 to Murchison, or continues as SH7 northwest to Reefton. I stopped off at the entrance to Reefton township to have a look at the old powerhouse and generator restoration work that was in progress last April when I went through. Reefton was the first community in the Southern hemisphere to receive reticulated electricity.
The original power scheme was commissioned in August 1886 and went through two upgrades until it was decommissioned in 1946 with the arrival of main grid electricity. The current project has spent over $3 million to install a new 220w turbine to again supply the township of 1,000 people (same size as in 1886) with local power, and at the same time they have upgraded the ruins of the original station.
A new timber flume will carry river water from well upstream direct to the turbine in the generator building (or powerhouse) on the river bank – the scheme is not quite completed yet with opening date still to be advised.
Display panels with a frame through which you can take photos provided an overview of the new scheme.
My photo through the last frame shows the new red painted power house and alongside (towards the camera) the grey mock-up of the original 1886 turbine fed by a black pipe.
Reefton’s main street was spick and span with bright buildings and verandahs hung with flower baskets.
Fancy a pizza delivered by TukTuk?
Saturday 22 March:
Had another “that looks interesting” moment today when I saw a sign “Historic Gold Mining Town – 17km” about 8.15am on my way south from Reefton. I presumed it would be a winding gravel road into the bush, but the first 10km were on a one-way sealed road with freshly mown verges to the fence line on both sides of the road, and which took me to —–
—– Blackwater Historic School. The building is being restored in stages (new paint on the entrance porch) but inside the school room, with desks and children books and papers all around, it looked like they were in class here this past week.
It was the sign at the school entrance —-
—– that had me scratching my head in a “will I or won’t I” moment. The “will I” won out and off I went on —–
—– a gravel, very narrow, windingly steep road 7km into the forest and hills —–
—– to suddenly burst out onto a plateau and shallow valley that comprised what was left of Waiuta township, now looked after by DoC. There was only one other sightseer here when I arrived at 9.15am, but on the way out at 11.30am I met two cars, and had to reverse uphill to a wider section of the narrow road so these uphill folk could squeeze past with cm to spare.
Waiuta became a goldmining township from 1905 when 4 lucky prospectors found rich gold bearing quartz on the ridge. Over 45 years it became NZs second richest goldmining area (Waihi mine was the richest). It comprised two main shafts, the Blackwater and the Prohibition. Prohibition was worked to a depth of 879 metres being some 300 metres below sea level. However, in July 1951 the Blackwater shaft collapsed and flooded, resulting in closure of the total mining operation. With no employment available the 600 population of Waiuta had to leave, and within 3 months only20 residents remained.
I spent 2 hours walking the whole series of tracks viewing ruins —–
—– such as the miners bath-house —–
——- as well as restored cottages —–
—– and the police station. The lockup seemed to be mainly used for letting drunks sleep off their inebriation rather than for dealing with criminal offenders, as the place was generally pretty law abiding.
The hospital building is now restored as a community hall and group bunkroom.
The roads and tracks were excellently maintained, with a grass areas mown and trimmed, and remnant buildings freshly painted with detailed story boards everywhere – a real credit to DoC.
They even had a rugby field plus paved tennis courts for staff and community recreation.
My original programme for today had been to explore Blackball Mining Town east of Greymouth, so with the diversion to Waiuta I ended up in Blackball after lunch. I spent 2 hours there, including a 45 minute Mine Walk, before heading to Greymouth for a Sunday housekeeping day. So I will tag the Blackball experience onto tomorrow, Sunday, in next week’s Travel Notes as there will likely be no photos for the first day of Week 10 and I will thus give you the Blackball photos then.
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