INVERCARGILL, RIVERTON AND BLUFF

Having never been to Invercargill before, I was curious to know what this southern most NZ city  would be like, and I was not disappointed. The city fathers did Invercargill people a big favour when they planned very wide streets and a massive park. I guess there was plenty of space back then.

Eighty landscaped hectares make up Queens Park. It is huge, featuring long wide promenades which meet at a band rotunda in the centre, rather like European formal gardens. The various botanical 'rooms,' include acres of roses, rock gardens, a Japanese garden and large pond, herbacious areas, and stands of podocarps and evergreens - a great mixture of exotics including wonderful rhodedendrons. There is even an aviary. I was so entranced I forgot to take photos! 

Luckily, we both LOVE museums since the weather has been so patchy. The Southland Museum and Arts Centre kept us happy for hours. The museum is housed in a large modern pyramid shaped building, and specialises in displays featuring our natural southern environment and sub antarctic and antarctic explorations. Skeletons, taxidermied animals and dioramas bring it all to life. We loved the  shipwrecks dislays, especially the one of the General Grant which was wrecked on the Auckland Islands in the mid 1800s. There is even a rocking deck to stand on to really get in the mood! It brings it all to life - wonderful for kids and adults too. The museum ALSO has Bert Munro's original Indian motorcycle on which he won the world speed record at Bonneville in America in the 1960s.

We made the most of a good day on Monday to drive out to the coastal town of Riverton, where my great grandmother and her family lived when she was a girl. The town is situated right on a river with a bridge to the residential area on the other side, where there is a beach called, Riverton Rocks. I always wondered why the Vaughan family chose to settle in such an inhospitable place, so far south. It is very cold here in winter and the there is plenty of wind.  But I was delighted to discover what a pretty spot it is. The main street has the usual assortment of shops, old churches and buildings which once housed banks, a post office (now a cafe) and other stores. The Masons were secular businessmen who had their own building here. 

Once again we made for the museum, which has been dubbed New Zealand's best small town museum. There, stories are told of the Maori who lived in the area, and the European fishermen, sealers, who were attracted by large populations of seals, which sadly, they clubbed to death to the brink of extinction for their meat and fur. With the seal population depleted, they turned to the whales. It seems so brutal to us, but they did need the whale oil back then for lots of things, fuel for lamps and lubricating machinery, and of course whale bone was needed for ladies' corsets, a necessity for propriety back then. Wonderful stories are told of people who were shipwrecked and marooned on the southern islands; wild inhospitable places. These stories read like Robinson Crusoe!
Many of the Whalers married into Maori families which resulted in the first mixed race families in this area, going back over 150 years.There is an excellent WW1 display too. Like all areas in NZ many families suffered the loss of their young men.

Then we headed for Bluff, the end of the civilised world as we know it. The Bluff community doesn't seem to have embraced tourism much. Bluff oysters are what the place is most famous for, but it was out of season and there wasn't an oyster to be found. Many of the houses and buildings are 'au naturel,' ie, shabby. The town looks out over Tiwi Aluminium smelter, which isn't a particularly charming aspect. However the smelter does provide work in the area, and the aluminium is shipped around the world. The cheap electricity our Government provides for the running of the factory has been the subject of controversy among New Zealanders.

Heading through the township and out to Bluff's Marine Reserve takes you to a wonderful look out area and walking track, which goes around to the other side of the Bluff hill. We only did a short part of it, but enough to see the rocky coast and a nice bit of native bush. There is a road up to the look out on the hilltop so we went the easy way. Here we could see right out to Steward Island (Rakiura) and several other islands. A long sand spit stretches out to the east, and sandy islands dot the view before there is only sea.  Ruapuke Island, Campbell Island and the Auckland Islands must be navigated by any ships heading south from here.

In the days of sailing ships Bluff was sometimes used as a port or would be passed by ships coming from South Australia, as it was closest geographically and favourable winds would blow them south of New Zealand and onward to Europe. With wild weather and mist, and little in the way of navigational instruments, some ships came to grief on the Auckland Islands.

January 2017 is over (already) and yesterday, the first of February, we moved from our parking spot behind a pub at Lorneville, just out of Invercargill. It was a good park and the cod meal we had at the pub on the day we arrived was the best pub meal we'd had in a while. The only snag was we were so full we could hardly move!

In preparation for the next leg we filled the truck with diesel in Invercargill, got fresh water then took the coast road around to Monkey Island where free camping is available. We stopped for lunch with several other motor homers parked there, but decided to move on as it was so windy on the beach. We were glad to find a dump station at Tuatapere. It is always a great feeling to get rid of grey and black water and have plenty of diesel and fresh water to last the next few days. Though a little sad to leave the south coast, it was nice to be heading back into the mountains. The views through the glacial valleys were spectacular. We arrived in Te Anau in the afternoon and are pleased to settle into the NZMCA park here.

On a rather nasty day weather wise, a visit to Gore's Hokanui Museum was most enlightening. With rain drumming on the roof we read how our Scotts forebears came to this country well prepared to make their traditional brew - whisky. However they hadn't anticipated the strength of the Temperence movement which eventually lead to Prohibition in Southland. The Scotts loved a drop, (and at 60% proof it was powerful stuff), so their stills were secreted away in the hills and a healthy trade in whiskey was established via the black market. The Police caught a few but they couldn't stop it, which is not surprising. Some did quite well. If any of the information in this 1577 advertisement promoting the virtues of alcohol is true, whiskey is amazingly good for your health.

This home made still was brought to NZ from Scotland.

The Edendale 'Crankup' this weekend is a traditional affair, celebrating vintage cars, tractors and country life in general. Hundreds of old tractors blew clouds of smoke and beautiful vintage cars had been shone up for the big day.

There were demonstrations of sheep shearing and dog trails too.

We have moved on to Invercargill. What we do next depends on the weather.

We arrived in Gore yesterday after a 150 kilometer drive southward from Dunedin where we'd had a week of absolutely awful weather. Dire even for here. There's been a few days stuck in the van with rain belting outside and gusts of wind rocking us. It got down to 11 degrees one day. My answer to being cold is to put another layer on and cook something in the oven. That warms the van pretty quickly. We did enjoy Dunedin in spite of the weather. The city is so full of Scottish character with its stone buildings constructed over 100 years and more ago. I decided Dunedin is a lot like Christchurch used to be before tourism and earthquakes, though I'm not quite sure why because the square is octagonal and it is not at all flat! The statue of Robbie Burns still has pride of place in the center. I was amazed that he was only 36 when he died having written all that poetry. There have been some articles in the Otago Daily Times bemoaning the fact that with its population of 127,000, Dunedin has slipped to 6th place for city size in NZ, behind Tauranga (5th) and Hamilton (4th). The city is growing at a slower rate than others and there is a move to attract more people, however others would prefer the city to stay the size it is and we certainly like it. It is not overly busy with traffic, there are lots of young people (and uni isn't even back yet), and plenty of great bars and cafes tucked away inside the lovely old buildings. The shopping is good too. We enjoyed the museums, both the science museum, and the Settlers. At the science museum Warren insisted on taking me to the planetarium for my education. It scares me to realise how small and unimportant we are among of all those stars, planets and galaxies. I especially loved the Settlers Museum. My Scottish forebears came to this area in the 1870s, so I am very interested in what their lives might have been like back then. Not so long ago really. There are diaramas and models which bring it all to life. We also managed to see a couple of movies to while away some wet afternoons, which was a treat. 

Yesterday we made the most of a reasonably decent day to drive 150k to Gore. We had a lovely late afternoon walk and pleasant evening before the next front arrived in the early hours of this morning. As predicted, today it is blowing a gale. We're parked in the Gore A and P showgrounds which are very nice and we'll just wait it out with a few other campers. A bit of rock n roll in the van won't hurt us but I do wonder how some the travellers in their tents and small hired vans are getting along.

Warren was very excited to see the Creamota Factory in Gore, a monument to his favourite food, porridge, and his Scots ancestry.

Lake Wanaka, Alexandra, Roxborough and Dunedin

Wanaka is a pretty town by the shores of Lake Wanaka, with awesome views out to the mountains. It is a popular place for tourists and holiday makers at this time of year. Though new housing is under construction, I believe the number permanent residents is still quite low. A couple of hours and a cup of coffee there was enough for us.

We moved to Lake Dunstan, a man made lake  created by damming the Clutha River at Clyde and Roxbourgh. Here a local orchardist was giving away two trailer loads of cherries which weren't up to export standards. We soon filled bags and bowls with beautiful plump fruit as large as small plums, taking as many as we could eat and froze some too. Yumm! At the small town of Cromwell nearby, we did some shopping at the Salvation Army store for secondhand books and some lighter tops for me. It is so hot and dry here, as well as being extremely windy. The Nor' Wester is a legend in this part of the country, a warm dry wind which built up to hurricane speeds one afternoon.

Half an hour along the road is Alexandra, a fair sized town on the banks of the mighty Clutha River, with a great parking area for self-contained motor homes and caravans. This one was free of charge. The NZMCA (New Zealand Motor Caravan Association) is the best club we have ever belonged to. The club owns or leases motor home parking sites all around the country, which charge members a minimal amount to stay. Some have water, rubbish and dumping facilities and others don't, but the best part is that it the parks are affordable and we always feel safe with other friendly motor homers. Vehicles must be completely self contained and the club is not open to hired campers, but visitors to NZ who own their own van can be members, which I think would be very helpful.

The Otago Rail Trailhttp://www.otagocentralrailtrail.co.nz/   




We are not very intrepid cyclists but Warren was keen to do part of this 152 kilometer long trail which runs from Clyde to Middlemarch. The Otago Rail Trail opened in 2000 and is one of NZ's original cycling routes. We hired one bike from the Altitude cycle shop in Alexandra (my old banger is a bit ordinary), and drove us the 45 kilometers to a rural spot called Auripo so we could cycle the easy way - downhill! In our defense it was only a slight downward gradient most of the way and we had to push into a strong head wind too. 47 kilometers was a long way for me and I worried that I wouldn't manage it, but when Phil, our driver, told me children have done it and some very old folk including a 90 year old, I had no choice but to stop winging and get on my bike. In reality my anxiety was unfounded. It was an easy enough route which I handled well.

Being in these wide open valleys surrounded by dry hills dotted with weird black  pancake shaped rocks was awesome. The beer at Chatto Creek Tavern was welcome too.

There are only a few wild flowers growing, but the hills are covered in low growing wild thyme, apparently planted by the pioneers who needed it to flavour rotting meat. No refrigeration then!

I was so tired after our ride that I thought I couldn't manage and eight kilometer bike ride to Clyde the next day, so we took the truck. Clyde is one of the original gold mining towns in Central Otago. Old stone houses, shops and pubs have been refurbished and there are several good eateries and cafes.

 These small towns have been built on the banks of the powerful and fast flowing Clutha River, New Zealand's longest river, which is fed by lakes Hawea and Wanaka.

The Clyde Post Office

A short drive from Clyde took us to the Clyde Dam, the site of a massive electricity generator which supplies Dunedin and Christchurch and parts of the North Island too. This is NZ's  biggest concrete dam, an impressive sight.


From Alex we moved on to Roxborough, a small village where we visited an elderly relative, cycling 5.5.kilometers along the lovely 'Gold Trail,' which runs beside the river. She loves it here and I can now understand why. Central Otago has a micro climate unlike anywhere else in the country. It boasts both the hottest and the coldest temperatures in the county, so is usually reliably warm and dry in summer, and crisp in winter with amazing mountain views.

The hills slowly changed from golden straw to green during the 150 km trip from Roxborough to Dunedin, the country's southern most city, and the weather forecast is for rain. Time to enjoy some city life, shops museums and to catch up on some minor repairs. Perhaps some movies are in order.

To Wanaka

BLOGPOST JAN 7 2017

It is quite delightful how friendly and helpful NZMCA members are, especially the men. I love how they gather together to nut out any mechanical problem. The club is sometimes a bit like a travelling men’s shed. After the torrential downpour in Hokitika on New Year’s Eve our gas-powered fridge decided not to function, although it hadn’t given us any trouble before. Some of the guys came over to help solve the puzzle. After many puzzled frowns and several unsuccessful attempts to get it going, we were ready to buy a bag of ice to keep our food cool until we could get professional help, when one of the local members came across for a look. He pulled out a plug and put it back in, and hey presto our fridge works again!

Franz Joseph is a touristy alpine village these days, sporting a variety of bars, restaurants and the usual assortment of shops selling souvenirs. We arrived in sunshine and sat outside the van baring our skins for a dose of vitamen D for 15 minutes or so when the dark clouds moved in. Before long it was raining heavily. Well they did say we are in rain forest. 

Flights over the glaciers are a huge draw card here and are probably worth the price. There are several different options which I wished we could afford, but we were happy with our walk to the glacier. The signage calls it a one-and-a-half hour walk, but it took us more than two by the time we read all the information boards and sat on the rocks to gaze in awe. This is my own country but I was impressed and can now understand why the tourists come. Though the glacier has receded back like the head of a balding man from where it was only twenty years ago, is still a wonderful sight. Not only that, the whole river valley is an amazing environment to experience, with almost vertical rock faces scoured out by glaciers, leaving a wide river bed with a snow fed river rushing along in several streams. We were lucky with a fine day and blue sky. The helicopters and small planes buzzing overhead as they flew tourists over the glaciers weren’t too distracting. 

Our lives are dictated by the weather these days, which makes a change from jobs and traffic. We would have stayed in Franz Joseph longer to do one or two of the other walks, but rain was predicted (no surprise there), so we decided to move on to Haast before it totally deteriorated. Even so we ended up driving though moderately heavy rain, but Warren, in his inimitable style, managed our big rig over some bloody big hills so well. I have to say, I have never been scared as the co-pilot, which is something for a nervous traveler.

The journey from Franz Joseph to Haast was a jaw dropping one in spite of the rain. I found myself gazing into the treetops, (never mind paying for a tree top walk), where the variety of natives is astounding. Big totara, many varieties of beech with their black bark and small light green leaves, huge matai, miro, rimu and kahikatea  (NZ white pine, our tallest and the most ancient of our native trees). Here there are no kauri and few pohutakawa (NZ’s Christmas tree), both North Island natives, but the hills bear the pink blush of the Southern Rata, a shyer relative.

It was exciting to drive from the West Coast to the East, through the Southern Alps via Haast Pass, the most southern of the three passes through the alps. These mountains were created eons ago when the earth was squeezed between two of the earth’s tectonic plates and apparently they are still growing. As a child in Christchurch, I was taken on holidays to the West Coast, but I don't remember much about that and this part of the country is all new to me. Once again, I was spell bound. This place is so beautiful! Big mountains and deep valleys, native bush, gushing shingly rivers with a winding road and many one way bridges. Totally my cup of tea. We parked behind the very modern Hawea Hotel with its views over Lake Hawea, which is almost as large as Lake Wanaka but less well known. It is time for a break from cooking, with dinner at the hotel restaurant.

This morning we drove the short distance to Albertown and are now safely tucked up behind another pub. Pubs are often kind to motor homers

All we need to do is have a couple of drinks at the bar which keeps everyone happy.

We tried out one of the many fabulous cycling tracks around here. This one is along the Clutha River.

After leaving Karamea we moved on to Granity (where there are very nice vege pies to be had). The weather had deteriorated so we free camped the night beside the Granity community centre, ready to do the Charming Creek Walkway next day. The morning dawned bright and clear and the two hour return walk was as charming as promised. Beautiful native bush, the history of coal mining to be observed in the remains of the old rail way which had to be blasted from sheer rock faces, a tunnel and swing bridge. That night we parked beside the Fox River with just one other bus. We had noticed a small marquee in the property next door and were informed that an event was planned that evening! A fire was lit and guests started to arrive. The party was revving up about 10pm so we thought we went over for a look. It was fun and we met all sorts of people there.

It is so long since I was last in Hokitika, it seems as if it must have been in a previous incarnation, which in a way it was. 1970 on my first honeymoon back when I knew it all! Things have changed since tourism found the place, that's for sure, but the history never does and overseas visitors have inspired councils and communities to make something of it. The history walk around Hokitika is interesting  although I was sad that the museum was closed due to earthquake strengthening. Men keen to dig for gold began arriving in the 1860s. Hokitika must have been a rip roaring place back then with over 70 pubs! The conditions were harsh and the few who found gold kept quiet about it but Hokitika must have been a colourful place. Eleanor Catton's 2013 Booker prize winning novel 'the Luminaries' was set here. These days Hokitika is a pleasant beachside town with wide streets, nice cafes and the usual fare of tourist shops. It is also characterised by exciting and changeable weather.

 Hokitika Gorge is 33 kilometers east of Hokitika. The 15 minute gorge track is well developed with board walks to a swing bridge. (I hate those things especially when others make them bounce), but the walk is truly rewarding. I could not have anticipated the intensity of the turquoise of the river water, apparently due to suspended glacier ground 'rock flour.' If you are thinking of going my advice is to get there early. We arrived about 11am and could barely find a park. We shared our walk with groups of Chinese, Germans and English people. All very nice I'm sure but peace and quiet are preferable. Yesterday we drove 25 kilometers south to Lake Mahinipua and the small township of Ross, where again, the gold rush brought hundreds of men and their families to these remote areas.

After a few days in Westport and a memorable visit to the Coal Museum where we were educated on the tough job of extracting coal from the hills and the difficult lives of the miners and their families, we headed north to Karamea, about 100 kilometers, though we had no idea of the size of the hill we were to drive over. The day was a little rainy and as we progressed,  a misty cloud enveloped us and covered the whole Karamea bluff. It cleared enough for me to be able to see the pristine native rain forest, huge matai trees, punga and southern rata which are coming into flower. It's an eye boggling drive and I couldn't help feeling a little nervous when looking down at the very sharp slope close to the road. Once parked up behind the Village Hotel, we were ready to roam and armed with a map if the area after a visit to the wonderful information center, we set of for the Fennian walk, an old gold mining trail which follows a river and was supposed to take us to some limestone caves. It turned out the caves were too far, but the walk was beautiful. On the way back we met Duncan from Scotland. Duncan is not young, probably in his 70s, but is much fitter than me and says he intends to do the Tongariro Crossing. I think he'll make it. The next day, with new friends Allen and Maureen, we headed out to the DOC camp which marks the entrance to the Heaphy Track and walked an hour in to Scotts Beach. The day was glorious and the scenery so beautiful.

We had no plan for Christmas Day, but it turned out happily, as I knew it would. We shared our Christmas meal with new friends made on the road and raised a glass of Christmas cheer. That was enough.