Christchurch to Temuka and Oamaru

 From Christchurch we headed south - we had intended to go back over to the West Coast, but the weather there was due to be absolute pants for the next week. And when it rains on the West Coast it can hose down like all the water in the world has to come down NOW!

So instead we headed down the east coast, and went to Temuka for a couple of days. There is a lovely campsite there that is around the outside of what seems like at least 2 rugby fields - huge! And it was very hot both days; fortunately we had a shady spot under two big trees, one on each side of us. We didn't do much while we were there apart from blobbing (me), making coleslaw (also me), juicing (David). However we did go for part of a riverside walk that started in the botanical gardens next to the campsite. We shortened the planned walk because once we were out of the gardens, we had to walk along the street for several blocks, and it was unsheltered and just too hot for this delicate wee flower ... We did find our way to the supermarket (a small amount of shopping only) and back to the camp via the Temuka pottery store - no shopping, just looking. 

There were a number of oak trees in the park and along the street - reminded us of the UK

Almost every town, large or small, has a memorial to the Glorious Dead - I struggle with the concept of the dead being glorious, especially when I am aware of the circumstances of their dying and the waste of such young and promising lives.

And into the riverside walk, across the little river no less!

And, my English readers (I'm sure there must be at least 2 of you!), do you notice that there is not a single upended supermarket trolley in the river?

 

There is a cafe in the Temuka Pottery Shop, so on our way out of town the next morning, we stopped for a very lovely breakfast. Once again the staff were very happy to accommodate David's needs for a yummy but totally vegan breakfast. 

When we were in Temuka it was early in Auckland's new community outbreak of COVID-19 (remember that this was early in March ...) and they were in Alert Level 3, with the rest of NZ (inc us) in AL2. So scanning in at the door was important, as was maintaining social distancing. Quite interesting to overhear a couple of people complaining - I am always tempted to ask if they would prefer to be in the UK, Europe or the US and deal with intense rates of infection, and in the UK at least, continued lockdown ...

A lovely breakfast and then it was off to Oamaru. The drive down the easy coast was peaceful and pleasant - long straights, a lot of long bridges over braided riverbeds that were rather dry given the long fine spells of summer weather to that point. 

We took a while to find the Top 10 motorcamp in Oamaru as I managed to miss a turning and we had to go round the block - a very large one that took us into the main shopping/business area with one way system, then down near the harbour, and on to the lower slopes of some of the lovely homes in Oamaru - with no opportunity to do a U-turn! But it was a good mistake as it helped us get oriented!

We had decided that we would do more sightseeing and touristy stuff if we hired a car and could scoot about without having to disconnect the motorhome from power, remove stabilisers, make sure everything was securely stored, turn off the gas ... So we had organised a car and the guy came to collect me to sort the rental out. More getting oriented as I found my way back to the campsite and realised how I had managed to miss the turning - always good to reflect on the errors, don't you think?

So that we took advantage of the car to do the sightseeing we had agreed on, we went south that very afternoon - to see the Moeraki Boulders and to go to Shag Point even though it was now raining quite steadily. I objected to paying to cross the cafe's deck and go down their steps to approach the boulders, so we went back to the DOC area and walked along the beach from there. That was a good call as the interp at the DOC area was very good. And we also found a Charges Apply camping area (Red Barn by the Sea) beside it, in an asphalted farm yard. Looking at the comments about it on the NZMCA app, it seems to be very good and very popular.

At DOC's area at Moeraki we found this interp about the Vanished World Trail with information about places to investigate. As we were going to be heading to Wanaka in the next couple of days, we thought it would be worthwhile checking out some of the stops on the way.

There appears to be lots to see at Duntroon ...

 

Here you are - info about the Moeraki Boulders - explained much better than I ever could!

 

Maori have a pertinent legend to explain most natural phenomena or they use the natural phenomena as symbols in their stories about coming to Aotearoa from Hawaiiki so many centuries ago. Given their history was an oral tradition, stories that are memorable and can be handed down through the tribe through constant telling were invaluable.

 

Lots of seaweed on the beach and not just baby strands either. And yes, it was raining, but not too hard.

This boulder is gradually coming clear of the cliff - so it's quite a recent arrival, I think. It shows clearly the concretions and lime in the splits in the boulder.

I know I'm not tall, but that is a bloody big boulder, eh?

Doesn't look quite so large with the excessively tall David 😃 standing beside it, but hey!

One of the rocks has split apart - interesting, but sad to see.

Who is this brat climbing on one of the boulders? He got a rark up about not going any further on to it - I wonder who did that? Between him and the water are some of the smaller boulders which in the mythology were the kumara (sweet potato) brought from Hawaiiki - and yes, they were brought across the ocean in open canoes, paddled and sailed using the stars to navigate. Nothing unsophisticated about their sailing and navigation skills!

 

It won't be many years before this boulder splits, I think. More battering by the rougher sea will damage it.

The yellow crystals of lime seem to be harder than the concretions given the erosion. It reminded me of a really crusty loaf of bread.

 The weather cleared as we walked back along the beach to the car and by the time we got to Shag Point a few kilometres south, the cloud had lifted. There is a bach/beach settlement along the bay before the walk to the viewing area. Once again, the quality of the work that DOC does is evident. Their budget is not huge but they get a lot done with what they are allocated - and all of it is for the benefit of the land, the flora and fauna as well as the people, both NZers and tourists. Can you tell I really appreciate DOC?

Shag Point was fascinating - no shags to be seen but lots and lots and lots of fur seals - they are so lovely and playful (in an anthropomorphic way) and indolent - smelly, but fascinating to watch.

The paths are well defined so that the habitats of the fauna are not disturbed unduly - nesting birds, insects etc need to be protected. And there are fewer human accidents if paths are in good shape.

At the end of the point - next stop, South America (or possibly the Chatham Islands ...)

A seal at rest

I think the two up on their haunches were having a conversation. None of the others seemed that interested.

It's clearly a tough life, being a seal once you have reached that size where your predators are not such a threat.

All the info you need about the fur seals...

Looking north back towards Oamaru - clearer skies there too

Even though we had called in to a supermarket on our way back, we decided that dinner out was the go instead of going back to the motorhome to prepare something, especially as we had done a fair bit of travelling that day. So we retraced our route into town from that morning because I had seen a Thai restaurant on the main road in from the north and it had good reviews. I was very impressed with their cautious approach to Alert Level 2 for COVID. The waiter asked if we had scanned in, and every second table had a Reserved sign on it so there was plenty of space between groups of diners.

I couldn't decide on just one dish so I had satay sticks (yes, I know - chicken which has a face ...), curry puffs and a small serving of fried rice. Shortly after our meals were served, a woman at a nearby table  said she would like what I was having. The waiter burst out laughing saying it wasn't a real dish but agreed that if it was popular, he may need to add it to the menu ...

David had vegetarian Tom Yum soup - no tofu ...

We were not quite finished with Oamaru - we had an assignment to complete that we had given ourselves - our grandson Karol had recently done a virtual tour of Oamaru, so the following day we decided to do a bit of a walking tour so we could send him photos. Contain yourselves and wait to see them in the next post ...

Photos from travelling to Christchurch and the party of the decade

Getting from the West Coast over to Canterbury on the east coast requires travelling across the Main Divide. It is an amazing piece of road through absolutely stunning scenery - mountains, ranges, more ranges and more mountains, and deep rocky rivers. Locally the road is known as Arthur's Pass, but actually Arthur's Pass is just one place on the route, and the route follows the valleys in a large S shape. And even then, you reach quite a height on the way through.

The distance as the crow (what is the NZ equivalent of that bird?) flies between Hokitika and Christchurch is 160kms (101 miles) and to drive it's ˜248kms (154 miles). Over 3.5 hours to drive (for me, but quicker for others ...) and a flight time of about 40 minutes in a little plane.

Whenever I drive it, I think of the people who traversed this route on foot, and of the people who surveyed and then built the road. These days it is a doddle - even when I first drove it regularly back in 2016 while working in Hokitika, there were parts of it that I did not enjoy, especially when the road was being worked on and large trucks were still making their way between CHCH and the Coast - they didn't leave much room between them and the cliff edge ...

As you can see, the climb starts just a few kilometres from the West Coast (just out of Kumara) and it's lots of up and down until Springfield before crossing the Canterbury Plains.

Anyway, I digress - yet again!

As we travelled, David took photos from the passenger's seat; sometimes he took them as I pulled over for following traffic. I know there is nothing more annoying to car drivers than snail-like motorhomers crawling along in front of them, so I pull over wherever I can.

This where we stopped for lunch - lots of drivers were pleased I was off the road and letting them make their speedier way over the hill.

Just past Otira Gorge is a lay-by/viewing area. Looking back you see the rock protection platform and the waterfall diversion - both of which are vital to keeping this part of the road open. This was a sunny day, and still there was water coming down that shute. During and after heavy rain, that is an absolute torrent.

A rockslide from a few years ago - well away from the road fortunately.

Apparently this kea lives near the lookout back down to the Otira Gorge and the huge bridge. It (not sure if it's male or female) was quite keen on investigating if there was any rubber bits it could purloin on the roof of the motorhome - in lieu of food, you understand. I think people feed it just to save their windscreen wipers...

An amazing piece of engineering and construction - it may not look it, but that bridge is at a very steep incline. Trucks are generally in an extremely low gear coming up it. Before I took this photo though, I was diverted by the kea ...

I am rather partial to palindromes ...

So then we had a gap in photos - none taken obviously in Oxford of the town or of Dean and Phaedra, dammit!

David and I are not that good at selfies, as you can tell. David tries to see himself in the screen so he is often squinting, and I forget to arrange my face properly... However, that notwithstanding, this is us on the Christchurch Tram which is a hop on hop off affair that goes around the city. Both of the drivers we encountered, given we did the HOHO thing, were really great at their job - friendly, informative, entertaining.

I don't know where this is in Christchurch, nor do I know what it is. But it looked vaguely Parisian to me.

The River Avon in central Christchurch. Lots of punting takes place here in the summer.

The old tram - across the road from the museum, I think.

One of Christchurch's buildings still undergoing repair more than 10 years since the major earthquakes.

The exhibition in the museum that moved me the most was the Taonga - treasures. 

The 3 waka huia displayed on the rear wall are beautifully carved and preserved. I cried.

Footwear made from flax - a precursor to modern sandals.

There was a photographic exhibition - this photo made me think of Irene Jameison from NB Free Spirit. I think she would have loved the exhibition, and would been a worthy entrant given the beauty of her photos.

A street coordinated to lift its image. I think there were lots of cafes along here.

Sunset at the camp - I was awake!

I am not sure why I thought this was noteworthy - David is rolling up the grey-water waste hose to fit it into a plastic container - to make it stay in place in its coil, it has to be secure with a bungee cord. It is not easy to roll the hose and then wrangle the bungee cord one-handed. I think I may have asked if I could assist but was assured that wasn't necessary. Maybe this photo was my looking for proof that he should have accepted my offer ... 

The only reason we came back to Waikanae was for Bruce and Gary's 40th anniversary party. They have been married for at least 8 years - shortly after same sex marriages became lawful, but they have been partners for 40 years.

The piece of ruby coloured glass that we bought in Hokitika as their ruby anniversary gift.

There was a whole bunch of us that went out for the usual Saturday breakfast, and I asked these two to come back to ours before heading home, so we could give them their present more privately.

At the party there was this wonderful cake.

Gary and Bruce - lovely friends, fabulous hosts, amazingly kind and generous people.

At Wellington Airport on the Monday morning, ready to fly back to CHC to carry on with our holiday. And even though I had found a lovely fruit compote with meusli and yoghurt for David, he then complained that the piece of sandwich I couldn't finish was out of bounds for him as it had egg and ham in it.

OK, the date of that last photo was 1 March. It is now 31 March - I only have a month to catch up on! I can do this, I am sure ...

Greymouth to CHC, but no photos because this does need to be posted before I turn 71 ...

I may have mentioned that our original plan for the South Island had been a 3 ½ week trip to circumnavigate the island – we had done it twice before in that timeframe. The first time was back in 1993 with my mum and my Aunt Molly who we had brought out to NZ as a surprise for Mum’s 70^th birthday. And the second was in 2001 when we had intended to fly to the US (David had a work commitment there) and then on to the UK, but 9/11 (or more properly 11 September) put paid to that.

Back in 1993, I was 42, and in 2001 I was nearly 51 and somehow in the intervening 3 and 2 decades, I appear to have lost the capacity for driving long distances and still having energy to do touristy things. Having said that, twice in the last 5 years, I have driven to Auckland from Waikanae with only a stop for lunch with John and Adair in Pukawa, when flights from Wellington to Auckland have been cancelled all day due to execrable weather and we have had to get there to fly on to the UK.

So I think it may be that driving the noisy motorhome could be the tiring factor – the motorhome is easy to drive, but it does rattle even when things are insulated, wrapped, cushioned – the whole body of the habitation area is flexible and makes a constant noise – so maybe it’s the noise that tires me.

Our original plan of 3.5 weeks was predicated on needing and wanting to be back in Waikanae for Bruce and Gary’s 40^th anniversary party. Given our very very snail-like progress, we decided to fly back to Wellington for the party weekend and then return to the South Island and continue our perambulations at a suitable pace for those in their 8^th decade.

So on the Sunday morning, we headed south for a quick shopping expedition in Hokitika – we were keen to buy a piece of glass in red to give B&G for their ruby anniversary. Present purchased, we headed away – slinking out of town hoping that we would not be seen by any friends. We had already failed though – I bumped into Jose in the supermarket, and David caught up with her dad to give him back a tape David had copied for him. But lovely to catch up on some of the news.

Our intention had been to stay at Jackson’s Alpine Retreat, but they had not answered their phone and had not responded to a voice mail, so we carried on past. We then decided that Klondyke Corner would be the place and stopped in Arthur’s Pass at the DOC site to pay for a night at Klondyke. When we got there it didn’t look that appealing so we tried the place that was up the road opposite. I didn’t like that either – it turns out I am not so comfortable about freedom camping on a weekend when there are no other motorhomers around to give the comfort of company. I am a scaredy cat, obviously!

So on we went.  And as always occurs when I am low in blood sugar, making decisions is beyond me! 

We stopped on the side of the road near the turn off to Hawden Hut, another place Jose had suggested, to have some lunch. We stopped briefly at Lake Pearson to check that out - a beautiful spot that I would be happy to stay at but it was as windy as all get out and we would have been confined to barracks as it was not pleasant outside. But with lunch eaten and blood sugar topped up, I made a silent decision that we would go on a lot further than planned and stay at the Oxford Club. Decision made, it was a doddle to do the drive.

The site was excellent, no power, but no need for it. And the bonus was that we called Dean and Phaedra and they joined us at the club for dinner that evening. And we had a cuppa with them late the next morning before we headed for Christchurch.

We only did one day of touristy things in Christchurch – the Antarctic Experience and the Canterbury Museum plus a hop on hop off tram tour. The rest of the time was blobbing, getting the washing up to date and avoiding the extreme heat (over 30 degrees C) and strong wind! Six pegs required for each sheet – so definitely a bit breezy!

When we flew home, we left the motorhome at the same holiday park (North South) which is very casual and comfortable and felt very safe.

The party was lovely, we saw a lot of people we knew and it was great. Then I developed a migraine and had to head home quickly after downing two ibuprofen – the speed is required so that the aura doesn’t get too overwhelming and stop me seeing anything. Bugger! I missed most of a very, very good party, dammit!

I spent most of the next day in bed apart from a short visit to see Joy and Grahame. And the following day we flew back to Christchurch. It was a good thing we had the motorhome hooked up to power while we were gone – we had left one of the little spotlights on … Without the electricity, we would have well and truly drained the leisure battery!