Saturday 16 March
Today the Kaikoura Mountains provided a summer vs taste of winter contrast.
Friday morning, 15 March.
Saturday morning, 16 March.
And the whale watch vessel I travelled on on Thursday is the Te Ao Marama.
Passengers are all seated in the cabin ready for the 30 knot dash out over the Canyon.
Hitting 30 knots well out from the marina.
Sunday 17 March
Now for the Sunday Weka Pass trip.
At the photo stopover the train reversed down the track out of sight in a cutting, then travelled back at speed to give us this view. One passenger had stayed on the covered open wagon.
Passing through a typical cutting on the way to Waikari.
Approaching Frog Rock cutting on the return journey. Main road down slope far right centre is near where I took the next photo of the afternoon train trip.
Afternoon train exiting Frog Rock cutting on the climb to Waikari. Uncovered open wagon directly behind the engine.
Frog Rock from the highway.
Weka Pass is home to loads of limestone outcrops both sides of the road and railway.
Monday 18 March
Following my Weka Pass Railway trip yesterday, today was my 2 hour return walk to the Maori Rock Art in a valley behind Waikari. The steep climbing and descents was taxing at times, but it was highly satisfying to have made it.
Half-way up the first climb looking back down to the Waikari Village. My trusty hiking poles taking a rest.
The view into the valley and the rock overhang in which the art work is located. Note from the fence line the steepness of the climbs and descents.
There were dozens of figures spread along 30m or so of overhang. Many had been enhanced by colouring, but you could see lots of faded images below the enhanced ones.
The black and red images were of undefinable creatures. The whole overhang section of the rock art wall was fenced off with wire netting. Many years ago vandals had spread black paint over parts of the wall, and so protective fencing had been erected after restoration work was completed.
Monday afternoon it was on to Hanmer Springs where I freedom camped overnight some 7km out of town.
Tuesday 19 March
Rain set in during the night so when arrived in town 8am Tuesday morning the town was rather dreary with mist low over the surrounding hillsides. However I was really impressed with the huge trees lining the streets, and the modern shops reminiscent of Queenstown. I did not visit the hot pools but sneaked a picture through a back gate.
A small hot pool before 9am opening. By 10am the parking area outside the pools entrance was crowded with cars. Overall Hanmer was a very modern pleasant place.
As I wasn’t going to the hot pools I took off for the west coast over Lewis Pass, enjoying a very scenic drive through to Maruia Springs and Springs Junction. I had lunch at the DoC Marble Hill Reserve where in 1964 a deep concrete wall had been constructed across the Alpine Fault to monitor any creep or other movement. A narrow gap in the wall was sited exactly over the fault line, but nothing has been detected so far.
I spent Tuesday night freedom camping near Reefton. But that afternoon I visited the site of the old power station, the ruins of which were featured in the 1985 Beacons documentary. I did a piece to camera climbing down steps to the generator location and commented on how derelict the site was, and said this place should be a national monument, being the first community electricity scheme in the southern hemisphere. Well, to my surprise, some nearly 40 years later this is exactly what is happening. The site was busy with building activity as a fully restored power generation system is underway financed by $2.5m of grants and $365k of local funds and in-kind work.
You can see the building work through the “window” in this story board. A new 220kw generator from Sweden is to be installed.
Wednesday 20 March
Today I was early on the road through to Westport and the Charming Creek Walkway. The last time Lexie and I visited was in 2017 when the track access from the coast road at Ngakawau (north of Westport) was closed due to huge slips in the gorge leading to the Mangatini Falls at the top of the 2 hour return walk. We had first done the walk back in the 1990s, then again in 2015 and loved it, so missed out in 2017. Well, 7 years later the track is still closed, so I went through to Seddonville, and up a winding 10km gravel road into the Charming Creek Mine location to take a 4 hour return hike into the Mangatini Falls from the opposite direction. The walk is along the tramway via which coal was transported from the mine in the hills above Seddonville along the Ngakawau Valley to the Mangatini Falls at the head of the Ngakawau Gorge before dropping steeply down to the coast road.
I packed lunch and a drink and set off 11am along the easy grade of the rail bed, which had its original wooden sleepers still evident in many parts. Arriving at the Falls 1pm I then lunched at a story board shelter and headed back 1:45pm returning to the parking area at the old mine ruins 3:30pm (a four-and-a-half-hour expedition). Wow, it was a taxing venture but very worthwhile. Old coal mining equipment as well as sawmilling ironmongery and accompanying story boards was fascinating.
Walkway commencement.
The old tramway had bits and pieces of old wagons in several places. Old sleepers were still there in many parts of the track.
The “locomotive” hauling the coal wagons was actually powered by a large petrol driven Allis Chalmers tractor engine.
The tunnel at the end of this section of walkway took the tramway through to a view of the Mangatini Falls before the rail track began a steep drop down the side of the Ngakawau Gorge (photo above) to the coast for unloading onto conventional train wagons.
Tunnel entrance heading downslope. The raised rail on the right is actually a wooden centre rail for braking the train on the slope down to the coast (right hand rail is not visible, being covered in leaf litter.) You can see the braking centre rail in the B&W photo above.
The Mangatini falls viewed from the tunnel exit.
So Wednesday evening it was Freedom Camping at Hector alongside the highway bridge over the Ngakawau River right on the coast.
Thursday 21 March
Thursday was an exploration day of the Denniston Incline, starting with a 40 minute return walk to the bottom of the incline at Conns Creek where wagons reaching the terminus of the incline were assembled into trains for transport to the coal loading facilities at Westport Harbour.
Conns Creek bottom of incline in the early 1900s.
The designers of the incline put in rails at the same gauge as the main railway along the coast which meant that the coal wagons coming down the incline were assembled in the large marshalling areas at Conns Creek into full trains which then took the line down the valley to the coast and on to Westport. At the harbour cranes were used to lift the coal wagons off their wheel base, suspend them over the ship’s hold, and workers sprang the doors in the bottom of each coal wagon to dump the coal load into the ship.
Marshalling area at Conns Creek.
Train heading down the Waimangaroa River Valley 2km to the coast main line.
Dozens of wagons made up this full train heading for the coastal main line. The 2km long rail line above is now the walkway I took in on Thursday during my 45 minute return walk to Conns Creek from the coast highway parking area.
Conns Creek bottom of incline today, with the crane for lifting supplies into empty wagons to be taken up the incline still preserved.
A full wagon ready to start rolling over the top of the incline. The brake house (roof in bottom left of picture) controlled the speed of the cable which lowered the wagon down slopes as steep as 1 in 1.3.
Brake house foundations today with coal wagon in same place as 1951 B&W photo above.
You can see two illustrated story boards on the right of the above photo – the Conns Creek and Denniston locations had loads of almost brand-new explanatory boards of exceptional quality. It is from these I photographed the B&W illustrations in the before and after pictures above.
Friday 22 March
Last night and tonight I am at the Westport Holiday Park with internet access, and power to recharge camera and computer batteries. The weather has been fine, sunny for large parts of each day, and warm both night and day. I went indoors today for a couple of hours in the Coal Town Museum, a totally modern facility compared to the one we filmed in for Beacons in 1985.
Tomorrow, Saturday 23 March, I head back over the Lewis Pass via Murchison to Canterbury where I will Freedom Camp en route to Christchurch, arriving there Sunday afternoon for a three night stay. Monday will be housekeeping, and Tuesday 26 March I will take the Coastal Pacific to Picton and back, leaving 7am and returning 7:30pm. I wanted to do this trip before daylight saving ended, and leave a gap of some weeks before doing the Tranz Alpine Christchurch to Greymouth return. I will pick that trip up when I come back through Christchurch later in April. On Wednesday next week I will travel back to the West Coast and to Greymouth via Arthurs Pass.
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