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| Auckland in sight |
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| Rangitoto |
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| Couldn't ask for a better sunset on a journey |
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
The Last Leg
Tuesday 05/07 – Tuesday 12/07/2011
Over the last week we have been quite happy to be stuck in port with strong westerly and north westerly winds and lots of bouts of heavy rain showers. The whole country has been experiencing this horrible weather and the weather maps are quite a sight with isobars packed closely together and weather systems that wont move away.
We have not been bored as we have had a number of visitors. We have enjoyed catching up again with the Gwillam family who we first met in Whakatane and whose family had owned Gunner in her days as a fishing vessel. It has been great to hear of the various stories remembered by Jenny, her sister in law Pam who was Noel’s daughter through to his granddaughter and grandson. Pam used to go out on Gunner on fishing trips with her dad so had very vivid and happy memories of these times. Someone else remembered the story of a flying fish coming in through a porthole and landing up in the frying pan where dinner was being fried up.
We have also been well looked after by the Horns who have lent us a car. We enjoyed a night at their home on Friday along with Ron and Linda.
Sunday 17/07/2011
Eventually we are on our way home after twelve days of atrocious weather which we sat out in Tauranga. We kept ourselves amused with drives around the area thanks to Martins car, visited a museum with a lot of vintage and interesting old airplanes and on Friday drove up to Rotorua for a visit to the Patchell offices.
Saturday was looking good for departure and after going out for breakfast with Ian and Caroline and then dropping the car back to Martin and Cec’s we packed all the loose stuff away that gets scattered around in port, filled the water tanks and left the marina at midday.
We could not have picked a better day with a calm sea and light breeze. By the time we were half way up Matakana Island we had the mainsail up and the breeze strengthened to about 20 knots of south westerly which was fine as it was on our stern quarter. We put the anchor down in Boat Harbour just after dark and spent a calm night in this picturesque bay.
We woke up early this morning to a stunning sunrise and a flat sea. Today was even better than yesterday and we didn’t get very far before we decided to do a spot of fishing. The fishing is not as good as Fiordland but we managed to get a couple of snapper for our dinner before moving on. We chugged slowly northwards past Hot Water Beach – an interesting beach where hordes of people bathe in any weather by digging holes in the sand which fill up with hot thermal water.
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Crossing Mercury Bay we were visited by five or so dolphins that cruised alongside and at our bow for a quarter hour in clear blue water and welcome sunshine.
We tried fishing again around the area known as Hole in the Wall with no luck and then continued up the Coromandel Peninsula as far as Port Charles. As it has been such a stunning day we didn’t feel like rushing back to Auckland and why hurry at this stage!
We are anchored for probably our final night of this seven month voyage in a beautiful spot with magnificent views out to Great Barrier Island. At 8.30pm we tuned in to Bluff Fishermans Radio and spoke to Meri for the last time to thank her for the wonderful attention and service she has provided us, keeping us in touch with the weather and making sure we were safe.
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It is not a bad way to end what has been an awesome, exciting, at times scary and always fascinating adventure.
Monday 18/07/2011
1200 - Cape Colville
This is it - the final run to home.
Tune in another day when we will give you some facts and figures from the trip and will load a whole lot more photos when we have a decent broadband connection again.
Over the last week we have been quite happy to be stuck in port with strong westerly and north westerly winds and lots of bouts of heavy rain showers. The whole country has been experiencing this horrible weather and the weather maps are quite a sight with isobars packed closely together and weather systems that wont move away.
We have not been bored as we have had a number of visitors. We have enjoyed catching up again with the Gwillam family who we first met in Whakatane and whose family had owned Gunner in her days as a fishing vessel. It has been great to hear of the various stories remembered by Jenny, her sister in law Pam who was Noel’s daughter through to his granddaughter and grandson. Pam used to go out on Gunner on fishing trips with her dad so had very vivid and happy memories of these times. Someone else remembered the story of a flying fish coming in through a porthole and landing up in the frying pan where dinner was being fried up.
We have also been well looked after by the Horns who have lent us a car. We enjoyed a night at their home on Friday along with Ron and Linda.
Sunday 17/07/2011
Eventually we are on our way home after twelve days of atrocious weather which we sat out in Tauranga. We kept ourselves amused with drives around the area thanks to Martins car, visited a museum with a lot of vintage and interesting old airplanes and on Friday drove up to Rotorua for a visit to the Patchell offices.
Saturday was looking good for departure and after going out for breakfast with Ian and Caroline and then dropping the car back to Martin and Cec’s we packed all the loose stuff away that gets scattered around in port, filled the water tanks and left the marina at midday.
We could not have picked a better day with a calm sea and light breeze. By the time we were half way up Matakana Island we had the mainsail up and the breeze strengthened to about 20 knots of south westerly which was fine as it was on our stern quarter. We put the anchor down in Boat Harbour just after dark and spent a calm night in this picturesque bay.
We woke up early this morning to a stunning sunrise and a flat sea. Today was even better than yesterday and we didn’t get very far before we decided to do a spot of fishing. The fishing is not as good as Fiordland but we managed to get a couple of snapper for our dinner before moving on. We chugged slowly northwards past Hot Water Beach – an interesting beach where hordes of people bathe in any weather by digging holes in the sand which fill up with hot thermal water.
We tried fishing again around the area known as Hole in the Wall with no luck and then continued up the Coromandel Peninsula as far as Port Charles. As it has been such a stunning day we didn’t feel like rushing back to Auckland and why hurry at this stage!
We are anchored for probably our final night of this seven month voyage in a beautiful spot with magnificent views out to Great Barrier Island. At 8.30pm we tuned in to Bluff Fishermans Radio and spoke to Meri for the last time to thank her for the wonderful attention and service she has provided us, keeping us in touch with the weather and making sure we were safe.
Monday 18/07/2011
1200 - Cape Colville
This is it - the final run to home.
Tune in another day when we will give you some facts and figures from the trip and will load a whole lot more photos when we have a decent broadband connection again.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Gisborne to Tauranga
Saturday 02/07/2011
The wind howled all last night from the south and was still blowing well this morning so we went for a walk up town, had some lunch, listened to the forecast, went for another walk and decided the best time to leave would be around 4 in the morning so that we reach East Cape in daylight (much nicer if you can see where the waves are coming from) and reach Tauranga on Monday morning before more high winds reach the area on Monday night.
On our walk along the wharf area we found another monument which is at the spot where Captain Cook first landed in New Zealand on 8 October 1769. You cannot go far in this country without finding some place that has historical reference to Cook.
Having had an early Chinese take-away meal we will have an early night in preparation for the start at some ungodly hour.
Sunday 03/07 – Monday 04/07/2011
Awake at 3am and out of the harbour by 4.15 we were pleased to find that the swell in the bay had died down considerably and we along with a couple of fishing boats headed out into the darkness. We were soon on our own as the fishing boats were heading out further offshore while we made our way around the shallow areas at the northern end of Poverty Bay before turning north.
As we neared the Cape there was a distinct line of change in the colour of the sea from deep blue to a milky green around the Cape which we had also noticed on the way south. By 3.30 we were heading westward into the first spot of sunlight seen that day but it was short lived and the swell from the south east on this leg of the journey got larger along with a strengthening easterly wind.
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The night was unbroken by any moonlight and seemed to stretch on forever like this stretch of water across the Bay of Plenty. Around 1.30 in the morning we were abeam White Island, an active volcano which is constantly emitting steam, but the pitch black night didn’t offer us even an outline of the 320 metre high island from a couple of miles off although I think I got a whiff or two of its sulphurous breath.
The wind howled all last night from the south and was still blowing well this morning so we went for a walk up town, had some lunch, listened to the forecast, went for another walk and decided the best time to leave would be around 4 in the morning so that we reach East Cape in daylight (much nicer if you can see where the waves are coming from) and reach Tauranga on Monday morning before more high winds reach the area on Monday night.
On our walk along the wharf area we found another monument which is at the spot where Captain Cook first landed in New Zealand on 8 October 1769. You cannot go far in this country without finding some place that has historical reference to Cook.
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| Peter and James (Cook) |
Sunday 03/07 – Monday 04/07/2011
Awake at 3am and out of the harbour by 4.15 we were pleased to find that the swell in the bay had died down considerably and we along with a couple of fishing boats headed out into the darkness. We were soon on our own as the fishing boats were heading out further offshore while we made our way around the shallow areas at the northern end of Poverty Bay before turning north.
A very grey dawn appeared before we reached Gable End foreland which is an impressive white cliff face. It appears that the end of the cliff has been sheared off and fallen into the sea leaving a grassy top and white limestone face. A south easterly swell gave us a reasonably comfortable ride up to East Cape which we rounded at about 3pm.
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| East Cape and East Island |
As we neared the Cape there was a distinct line of change in the colour of the sea from deep blue to a milky green around the Cape which we had also noticed on the way south. By 3.30 we were heading westward into the first spot of sunlight seen that day but it was short lived and the swell from the south east on this leg of the journey got larger along with a strengthening easterly wind.
To add to the enjoyment of being tossed around in a washing machine sea for endless hours, at about 3am we had the fun of realising that the automatic bilge pumps had stopped working and an inspection of the rear bilge caused a moments panic. Water was up to the floorboards and Pete was quickly at work with the manual pump. It took about 10 minutes of pumping to empty the bilge and then an anxious watch through the rest of the night to see if the water was continuing to come in. It turned out that water was coming through the rudder shaft seal and as there was no way to fix it while underway we had to manually pump the bilge every half hour for the rest of the trip. Thank goodness for a manual back up system otherwise we could have been calling for help!
It was 7 in the morning before daylight set in and we were very happy to reach the Bridge Marina by 9.30 and fall into a shower and then have a good sleep.
We were definitely feeling better when Ian and Caroline arrived at the boat later in the afternoon with a couple of bottles of red wine and then took us out for a tasty Thai dinner.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Napier and Gisborne
Thursday 23/06 – Sunday 26/06/2011
So far we have enjoyed being in Napier again but it looks like we will be stuck for a few more days to come. The forecast is all over the place but with anything from 35 to 50 knots of Southwesterlies we will wait here a little longer.
Having found out that a friend who we had not seen since our days living in Wellington was now living just outside of Napier we made contact and enjoyed catching up on about 10 years of news. Charmayne is an artist and she took us to see her home/studio/workshop where she creates wonderful jewellery as well as holding classes. We enjoyed a drive around the bay towards Cape Kidnappers and lunch of magnificent seafood chowder at the Clifton café on the beach.
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Monday 27/06 – Tuesday 27/06/2011
After lunch we fuelled up the boat and headed out of Napier harbour into Hawke Bay. This is an enormous bay and it took about 7 hours to arrive at the northern entrance to the bay. The swells rolling across the bay were large but there was little wind so the sea conditions were fair. We rounded Portland Island off Mahia Peninsula at dark and had an reasonably good trip up the coast to Poverty Bay, Gisborne where we made the decision to go into Gisborne rather than try to reach East Cape before a forecasted Sou-easterly front that would make rounding the Cape unpleasant the next day.
We punched into a 20knot head wind across Poverty Bay and arrived into Gisborne harbour at around 3am and found our way into a vacant berth at the marina for some sleep. We have found that these single overnight legs of the voyage seem to take more out of us, probably because we don’t get into a set watch rhythm and just take snatches of sleep during the night.
Wednesday 28/06 – Friday 01/07/2011
In between bouts of showers and the strong winds that have prevailed over the last few days, we have walked the streets and shops of Gisborne. During a walk along the waterfront where the swells were smashing over the harbour seawall and up the beach, we were glad that we had made the decision to come into the port rather than battle the big seas up the East coast.
We have decided that it is looking okay for leaving tomorrow although there could still be quite large swells evidenced by the fact that a large log carrier ship postponed their departure out of the harbour at the last minute by 24 hours due to high swells still running.
Next stop Tauranga.
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| Gunner at the Napier Sailing Club |
Having found out that a friend who we had not seen since our days living in Wellington was now living just outside of Napier we made contact and enjoyed catching up on about 10 years of news. Charmayne is an artist and she took us to see her home/studio/workshop where she creates wonderful jewellery as well as holding classes. We enjoyed a drive around the bay towards Cape Kidnappers and lunch of magnificent seafood chowder at the Clifton café on the beach.
Monday 27/06 – Tuesday 27/06/2011
After lunch we fuelled up the boat and headed out of Napier harbour into Hawke Bay. This is an enormous bay and it took about 7 hours to arrive at the northern entrance to the bay. The swells rolling across the bay were large but there was little wind so the sea conditions were fair. We rounded Portland Island off Mahia Peninsula at dark and had an reasonably good trip up the coast to Poverty Bay, Gisborne where we made the decision to go into Gisborne rather than try to reach East Cape before a forecasted Sou-easterly front that would make rounding the Cape unpleasant the next day.
We punched into a 20knot head wind across Poverty Bay and arrived into Gisborne harbour at around 3am and found our way into a vacant berth at the marina for some sleep. We have found that these single overnight legs of the voyage seem to take more out of us, probably because we don’t get into a set watch rhythm and just take snatches of sleep during the night.
Wednesday 28/06 – Friday 01/07/2011
In between bouts of showers and the strong winds that have prevailed over the last few days, we have walked the streets and shops of Gisborne. During a walk along the waterfront where the swells were smashing over the harbour seawall and up the beach, we were glad that we had made the decision to come into the port rather than battle the big seas up the East coast.
We have decided that it is looking okay for leaving tomorrow although there could still be quite large swells evidenced by the fact that a large log carrier ship postponed their departure out of the harbour at the last minute by 24 hours due to high swells still running.
Next stop Tauranga.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Going Home
Tuesday – Wednesday 21/06-22/06/2011
Its been a while but we are back on the waves again and after a month in Wellington it certainly is great to be moving again although I wasn’t saying that when we were bouncing across Palliser Bay and feeling decidedly queasy, but once we were around the Cape the seas were behind us and all was well again.
We have had a great time at Mana, a very social time catching up with lots of old friends and family. It took quite a bit of getting used to the pace of city life again and the noise of trains, cars and sirens is rather disturbing after the peace and stillness of Fiordland. Another down side to being in town and around people again was that we were also exposed to all the nasty winter bugs and as a large number of people we met had colds it didn’t take too long before we too were sneezing and coughing and feeling thoroughly miserable and sorry for ourselves. Our planned departure a couple of weeks ago when there was a perfect few days of calm weather was delayed because I was feeling so bad. (Yes, that’s me that had been boasting about never getting colds – hadn’t had one for years!). We then waited for the next weather window and a week ago it was looking like we could make the break but in the end the forecast deteriorated and we were still feeling pretty grotty – the prospect of 36-40 hours at sea when you are feeling bad is not very exciting.
I believe it was the shortest day and it certainly felt like it with a gloomy afternoon becoming dark at 6.30 and no moon rising until after 10.30 that evening and then only a glimpse through the low cloud cover.
By 8pm we had rounded Cape Palliser and with a more comfortable motion we heated up some soup and toasted rolls. We caught up once more with Meri on Bluff Fishermans Radio as we had not been able to hear her when we were in the marina.
Today has been uneventful – sea pretty flat with a bit of a south easterly swell and about 15 knots of North westerly wind. The sun has been shining but its still pretty cold out and last night was really cold. Around midday we stopped to top up the engine oil and while we were stationary I got the chance to see about 8 or 10 Royal Albatross landing on the water nearby. They are huge birds and look pretty impressive on the wing.
Our biggest dilemma today has been the decision about whether we would go to Napier or carry on to Gisborne. With a front approaching the country that will bring strong northerly and then westerly winds we have opted for Napier where we should arrive around 7.30 this evening. The disadvantage of Napier is that it adds extra miles onto the journey but as we may be in port for quite a few days we decided that Napier is more interesting place to be stuck than Gisborne.
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Its been a while but we are back on the waves again and after a month in Wellington it certainly is great to be moving again although I wasn’t saying that when we were bouncing across Palliser Bay and feeling decidedly queasy, but once we were around the Cape the seas were behind us and all was well again.
We have had a great time at Mana, a very social time catching up with lots of old friends and family. It took quite a bit of getting used to the pace of city life again and the noise of trains, cars and sirens is rather disturbing after the peace and stillness of Fiordland. Another down side to being in town and around people again was that we were also exposed to all the nasty winter bugs and as a large number of people we met had colds it didn’t take too long before we too were sneezing and coughing and feeling thoroughly miserable and sorry for ourselves. Our planned departure a couple of weeks ago when there was a perfect few days of calm weather was delayed because I was feeling so bad. (Yes, that’s me that had been boasting about never getting colds – hadn’t had one for years!). We then waited for the next weather window and a week ago it was looking like we could make the break but in the end the forecast deteriorated and we were still feeling pretty grotty – the prospect of 36-40 hours at sea when you are feeling bad is not very exciting.
| Leaving Mana Marina |
Yesterday we left Mana just after midday in perfect calm conditions. Leaving on the high tide gives a good run with the tide all the way down the coast and across Palliser Bay. At times we were doing 10 knots so it was a quick trip past the wind turbines on the barren hills of the south west coast to Cape Terawhiti and round past Karori Rock. The Karori Rip was in fine form and full flow with the nearly flat sea suddenly standing up in big waves forcing us to slow right down and pick our way through the jumble of white water. Luckily it is only a small patch like this and with no wind it is no problem however it would not be a good place if a serious southerly wind was blowing.
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| Karori Rock off Wellingtons south coast |
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By 8pm we had rounded Cape Palliser and with a more comfortable motion we heated up some soup and toasted rolls. We caught up once more with Meri on Bluff Fishermans Radio as we had not been able to hear her when we were in the marina.
Today has been uneventful – sea pretty flat with a bit of a south easterly swell and about 15 knots of North westerly wind. The sun has been shining but its still pretty cold out and last night was really cold. Around midday we stopped to top up the engine oil and while we were stationary I got the chance to see about 8 or 10 Royal Albatross landing on the water nearby. They are huge birds and look pretty impressive on the wing.
Our biggest dilemma today has been the decision about whether we would go to Napier or carry on to Gisborne. With a front approaching the country that will bring strong northerly and then westerly winds we have opted for Napier where we should arrive around 7.30 this evening. The disadvantage of Napier is that it adds extra miles onto the journey but as we may be in port for quite a few days we decided that Napier is more interesting place to be stuck than Gisborne.
| Pinnacle off Cape Kidnappers |
We rounded Cape Kidnappers with a stunning sunset outlining the sculptured hills at the Cape with the distinctive pinnacle off the end and a couple of hours later tied up at the visitors berth at Napier Sailing Club.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Back at Mana
Tuesday 17/05/2011
We left Nelson this morning and were escorted out of the harbour by a pod of dolphins which were lazily feeding around the Boulder Bank.
The morning was clear and calm and a magnificent day looked like we would have a reasonable trip up to French Pass. A couple of hours later though things were starting to look a little different with white caps forming out in Tasman Bay. The forecast was for 25 knots of south westerlies which would be right behind us and initially there was little wind but the sea state was something else.
We decided we would head into Croisilles Harbour which is about half way between Nelson and French Pass. As we turned across the very confused seas the wind started to crank up and we were quite pleased we had decided to drop the mainsail a short time before.
We surfed into Croisilles – not bad for an old 15 tonne wooden boat – and found ourselves a spot to anchor in Okiwi Bay. Very shallow all around here so we had to watch the depth sounder carefully and we got down to about 1.6 metres under us at low tide.
The wind blew from every direction and at times gusted up around 40 knots.
Wednesday 18/05/2011
The wind dropped away during the night and all was calm and peaceful until around 5.30 am when a front came through that was really fast and furious with violent gusts. As quickly as it arrived though it moved on and once again all was calm. By the time we had breakfast and moved out of the bay the sea was looking quite respectable again. It was a stunning morning as we motored along the coast. In the distance on the other side of Tasman Bay all the mountains were topped with a good layer of snow. A week earlier we had been coming up the coast on the other side of those mountains.
French Pass is a passage between D’Urville Island and the mainland about a quarter of a nautical mile wide. The navigable channel between the mainland and a lighthouse midway between the mainland and the island is about 130 metres wide. The pass is notorious for the tidal stream that runs through at its peak at around 5 – 7 knots. This means that it is a good idea to go through at slack water or at least with the tide going with you rather than against you. Even a boat with that is capable of motoring against the flow can get caught up in the eddies and whirlpools that are created as the water is squeezed through the narrow and shallowing passage.
Our speed as we entered the area known as Current Basin increased as the tide drew us towards the pass, creeping up from 6.5 to 7 then 8 knots. After we were through we checked the gps and saw that we hit 12.8 knots for a period at the centre. Quite exhilarating going through but also a little scary as the eddies take hold and the boat heels over and the bow swings round for a moment towards the land until Pete managed to correct the swing and bring her back on course.
After that excitement we enjoyed the almost glassy calm of Admiralty Bay and as there were birds diving and fish jumping we cut the engine and tried to catch some Kawai. Unfortunately all that took the line were Barracuda and small spiny dogfish shark.
We headed down past the Chetwode Islands at the top of Pelorous Sound and into Annie Bay on Forsyth Island. Having passed through here in January we can now claim to have circumnavigated the South Island.
Thursday 19/05/2011
A thin single cloud stretched out over the hills towards Alligator Head to the east while the full moon dropped away in the west. Time for us to get moving to get across Cook Strait in time to make the tide for crossing the bar at Paremata.
Of course this is Cook Strait so what you think is going to be a wonderful crossing soon becomes one with spray flying high over the cabin top (more than anything we got down in the furious fifties) and short confused seas making for a bumpy ride. Six hours after departure we arrived back at Mana and into the marina.
It certainly doesn’t feel like 3 ½ months since we left here. We couldn’t arrive into Mana without being spotted from their house on the hill by our friends Dick and Enid and it wasn’t long before they came to visit.
We have spent the last few days catching up with family and friends and will be in Wellington for a week or two before heading up the East coast again.
More when we get moving- again.
We left Nelson this morning and were escorted out of the harbour by a pod of dolphins which were lazily feeding around the Boulder Bank.
The morning was clear and calm and a magnificent day looked like we would have a reasonable trip up to French Pass. A couple of hours later though things were starting to look a little different with white caps forming out in Tasman Bay. The forecast was for 25 knots of south westerlies which would be right behind us and initially there was little wind but the sea state was something else.
We decided we would head into Croisilles Harbour which is about half way between Nelson and French Pass. As we turned across the very confused seas the wind started to crank up and we were quite pleased we had decided to drop the mainsail a short time before.
We surfed into Croisilles – not bad for an old 15 tonne wooden boat – and found ourselves a spot to anchor in Okiwi Bay. Very shallow all around here so we had to watch the depth sounder carefully and we got down to about 1.6 metres under us at low tide.
The wind blew from every direction and at times gusted up around 40 knots.
Wednesday 18/05/2011
The wind dropped away during the night and all was calm and peaceful until around 5.30 am when a front came through that was really fast and furious with violent gusts. As quickly as it arrived though it moved on and once again all was calm. By the time we had breakfast and moved out of the bay the sea was looking quite respectable again. It was a stunning morning as we motored along the coast. In the distance on the other side of Tasman Bay all the mountains were topped with a good layer of snow. A week earlier we had been coming up the coast on the other side of those mountains.
After that excitement we enjoyed the almost glassy calm of Admiralty Bay and as there were birds diving and fish jumping we cut the engine and tried to catch some Kawai. Unfortunately all that took the line were Barracuda and small spiny dogfish shark.
We headed down past the Chetwode Islands at the top of Pelorous Sound and into Annie Bay on Forsyth Island. Having passed through here in January we can now claim to have circumnavigated the South Island.
We felt like fish for dinner and so dropped the lines off Forsyth Island but all we managed were more sharks (five) and more barracuda (two). Pasta for dinner..
Thursday 19/05/2011
A thin single cloud stretched out over the hills towards Alligator Head to the east while the full moon dropped away in the west. Time for us to get moving to get across Cook Strait in time to make the tide for crossing the bar at Paremata.
Leaving the Sounds and passing Cape Jackson, Cape Komaru and the Brothers Islands the sea was calm and a near perfect day. Forecast – Nor’ west 15 knots going to Variable 10 – who could ask for better for Cook Strait.
It certainly doesn’t feel like 3 ½ months since we left here. We couldn’t arrive into Mana without being spotted from their house on the hill by our friends Dick and Enid and it wasn’t long before they came to visit.
We have spent the last few days catching up with family and friends and will be in Wellington for a week or two before heading up the East coast again.
More when we get moving- again.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Nelson
Monday 09/05/2011 – Tuesday 10/05/2011
Provisioned up, fuelled up and on our way after a quick check with the harbour master that all was clear for us to go. The Navy ship was leaving around 1400 so we decided to leave earlier than originally planned to get away before them and also one of the cement boats that was coming in to port.
We followed a large fishing boat out of the port and across the bar. Even on a calm day the swell on the bar was noticeable making for a sloppy sea.
The trip across the Karamea Bight was calm and uneventful and it was good to be on the move again after a week in port. We coasted along in sunshine on a sparkling blue sea while cloud hung over the plateau onshore. By sunset we were abeam the area where we had driven to a couple of days earlier.
Around 11 pm the moon set dropping into the Tasman sea then lights of Kahurangi Point, Cape Farewell and Farewell Spit kept us company through the dark night and also large pods of dolphins streaked through the water like torpedos streaming phosphorescent trails.
We were well down Tasman Bay by the time it got light and we decided to head straight for Nelson where we were soon tied up at the town marina.
Wednesday 11/05 – Monday 16/05/2011
The prime reason for coming to Nelson was to see if we could get the radar fixed. That turned out to be a shock. After talking to the Furuno agent they said that it was possibly the magnetron and to replace would be about $1200 but could not look at it until the following week. We found someone else who came and had a look at the unit and identified the problem as a faulty circuit board in the display unit. Cost for new part ± $2000 plus installation etc. We swallowed hard and said okay – we really were quite keen to have the radar working properly however it seems that there was only one of these circuit boards available in New Zealand and it had been promised to someone else. It took until this morning to find this all out and with no hope of getting said part the electronics man put our unit back together again and returned it to the boat. We then decided that it was blowing rather fiercely and we would wait until tomorrow to leave here.
We had an enjoyable few days in Nelson, spending our time reacquainting ourselves with the world of shops, farmers markets and art galleries and looking at the property press – this is still an area we might like to live in, if and when we move out of Auckland.
We also enjoyed catching up with Dennis and Marka who had brought Kuri to Nelson to do some work on her. Kuri is the boat that we travelled down the east coast to Stewart Island with. They had returned up the east coast and it was a shock to see their photos of Lyttelton after the earthquake. We had heard that damage was extensive and it was sad to see buildings we had seen that had just totally crumbled and collapsed.
Today we went walking along the Matai River which runs through town and followed it to a park which led to what is purported to be the Centre of New Zealand. We followed the signs and the track up the hill and arrived after a 15 minute climb at the spot which is apparently central between Cape Reinga in the north and Puysegur Point in the south. Not a very spectacular monument but the view over the city and Tasman Bay was pretty good.
There are still gale warnings out for most areas but we will head out of here tomorrow back into the Marlborough Sounds and wait for better conditions for crossing Cook Strait to Mana.
Provisioned up, fuelled up and on our way after a quick check with the harbour master that all was clear for us to go. The Navy ship was leaving around 1400 so we decided to leave earlier than originally planned to get away before them and also one of the cement boats that was coming in to port.
We followed a large fishing boat out of the port and across the bar. Even on a calm day the swell on the bar was noticeable making for a sloppy sea.
The trip across the Karamea Bight was calm and uneventful and it was good to be on the move again after a week in port. We coasted along in sunshine on a sparkling blue sea while cloud hung over the plateau onshore. By sunset we were abeam the area where we had driven to a couple of days earlier.
Around 11 pm the moon set dropping into the Tasman sea then lights of Kahurangi Point, Cape Farewell and Farewell Spit kept us company through the dark night and also large pods of dolphins streaked through the water like torpedos streaming phosphorescent trails.
We were well down Tasman Bay by the time it got light and we decided to head straight for Nelson where we were soon tied up at the town marina.
Wednesday 11/05 – Monday 16/05/2011
The prime reason for coming to Nelson was to see if we could get the radar fixed. That turned out to be a shock. After talking to the Furuno agent they said that it was possibly the magnetron and to replace would be about $1200 but could not look at it until the following week. We found someone else who came and had a look at the unit and identified the problem as a faulty circuit board in the display unit. Cost for new part ± $2000 plus installation etc. We swallowed hard and said okay – we really were quite keen to have the radar working properly however it seems that there was only one of these circuit boards available in New Zealand and it had been promised to someone else. It took until this morning to find this all out and with no hope of getting said part the electronics man put our unit back together again and returned it to the boat. We then decided that it was blowing rather fiercely and we would wait until tomorrow to leave here.
We had an enjoyable few days in Nelson, spending our time reacquainting ourselves with the world of shops, farmers markets and art galleries and looking at the property press – this is still an area we might like to live in, if and when we move out of Auckland.
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| Trees in the city are a little different to what we have been used to.. |
Today we went walking along the Matai River which runs through town and followed it to a park which led to what is purported to be the Centre of New Zealand. We followed the signs and the track up the hill and arrived after a 15 minute climb at the spot which is apparently central between Cape Reinga in the north and Puysegur Point in the south. Not a very spectacular monument but the view over the city and Tasman Bay was pretty good.
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| Centre of NZ ?? |
There are still gale warnings out for most areas but we will head out of here tomorrow back into the Marlborough Sounds and wait for better conditions for crossing Cook Strait to Mana.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Fiordland to Westport
Sunday 24/04/2011 – Friday 29/04/2011
Our week in Milford was broken up by a trip into Te Anau. After our arrival in the dark we woke up to find ourselves in a basin surrounded by huge peaks. Milford Sound is quite different to the other Sounds we have visited with its mountains that rear up straight out of the sea and keep going up 1000 to 3000 metres.
In the basin we have in front of us Barren Peak at 1560m with another peak behind it rising to 1930m, to our right is Sheerdown Peak at 1877m, behind us is the Devils Armchair and Mt Phillips at 1626 and 1445
and out to left a little further away is the most photographed peak of them all – Mitre Peak.
This is the one the tourists all get to see (and there are a LOT of tourists), while it is not the highest peak around (1682m) I believe it is one of the worlds highest peaks to rise out of the ocean and it makes a pretty spectacular picture. From our deck we can also see across to Mt Pembroke and the glacier on its slopes. The highest around the area is Mt Tutuko at 2722m.
We spent the next couple of days wandering around the area, feeling rather stunned by being back in civilisation with hoards of people around; checking out the ferry terminal and the café and doing our washing at the Lodge up the road.
On Wednesday morning our plan was to go to Te Anau, taking a bus that left at 9.30am from the lodge a couple of kms down the road. Loaded with our packs, all scrubbed up and dressed in our city clothes, we called in to the marina supervisors office on our way up the road only to be told that the berth we were in was required later in the day and we would have to move the boat before we went. This meant we missed the early bus and so after we had re-parked the boat we went off to the main ferry terminal to enquire about other busses. It looked like we would have to wait until the following day but as we walked past the airstrip on the way back to Deepwater Basin we saw three guys talking and went to ask if they knew of any alternative ways of getting to Te Anau. After a bit of banter one suggested that we hire a helicopter to which we laughed (local flights are around $300-400 per person and we are on a cruisers budget), however after a bit more talk about helicopters one of the blokes said that he was heading back to Te Anau about 1pm and could do a special deal for us for $50 each but was not going direct as he had to drop others off on the way. We assumed he was talking helicopters and we jumped at the chance to see this spectacular area from the air at a bargain price. He said he could pick us up at the boat about 1 at which point he pointed to his vehicle with a Tour company logo on its side. We went and packed our bags again and while waiting for his arrival we started to speculate on the fact that he had driven off in a small tourist van after speaking to us and it suddenly dawned on us that the fabulous helicopter ride was in fact going to be a van ride! Sure enough at one o clock he arrived at the boat with an Australian couple on board. In our minds there was still a slight possibility that he was simply taking us to the helipad in a nice tourist van and we knew that if he turned left at the main road it would be “helicopter” or if he turned right it would be “van”. Unfortunately the indicator went right. It was however a good trip fully commentated with lots of stops to see the incredible sights.
The trip took about three hours climbing up out of Milford Sound to the Homer Tunnel which is an impressive bit of engineering. This tunnel was completed around 1954, taking about 5 years to build. It is about 1.2 kilometres long and has a gradient of 1:10 which we did not notice on the outbound (uphill) journey but could definitely see and feel the slope on the return trip when going downhill.
We stopped at the Mirror Lakes and the Chasm, a short walk into the forest to a spot where a river has carved the most incredible potholes in the rock as it plunges down a gulley. Very much like Bourke’s Luck in South Africa (on a much smaller scale) that we visited a couple of years ago.
Arriving in Te Anau was really hitting the bright lights for us and we stayed two nights and enjoyed eating out in restaurants, sleeping in crisp white sheets, having endless hot showers and even a sort of soak in a bath (although it was rather small – what they call a shub)!
The highlight was going to the local cinema to watch a movie called Ata Whenua – Shadowlands. This is a stunning documentary, purely visual – no commentary, of scenes from the Fiordland area filmed mostly from a helicopter. The pilot and photographer compiled the footage over a five year period and it is superb with scenes that we would never get to see from the land or sea.
Te Anau is a pretty town situated on the shore of Lake Te Anau which stretches some 60km but is not much more than 6 kilometres wide. It also has a number of Arms off its western side and is part of the feed into Lake Manapouri which is the lake which feeds the hydro electric scheme dropping into Deep Cove in Doubtful Sound.
On Friday we returned to Milford having booked seats on a tourist bus. We turned up at the bus stop at the appointed time ten minutes before departure, along with our backpacks, big box of groceries and a 20 litre drum of engine oil. As we were loading this all into the luggage compartment the bus driver spotted the oil and said he couldn’t carry it as it was dangerous goods. After a bit of an argument that we were never going to win Pete took off with the oil back to the service station from which we had purchased the oil and managed to arrange for them to have it trucked into Milford. Unfortunately the next delivery was not till Wednesday but as there was no other option and the bus was not going to wait he left it to be delivered to Milford.
The drive back to Milford was stunning, the day was sunny and warm and the scenery down the wide glacial Eglington valley stunning with the yellow tussock grass plains and a backdrop of snow capped mountains.
After arriving back at Gunner we unpacked our gear and went for a dinghy ride to the Bowen Falls.
Later in the day Maggie Rose arrived and we had a chat with Tony who we had last seen down at Thomson Sound. Going on his advice and the fact that the forecast was so fantastic for the next couple of days with a huge high sitting over the country we made the decision to leave the following day. It meant that we would have to bequeath the oil to the fishermen at Milford but we didn’t know how long we would have to wait for another weather pattern like this one.
Saturday 30/04/2011
We fuelled up at the wharf and got underway about 1130 for this the longest leg of our trip - 380 nautical miles to the top of the South Island, about 63 hours away.
We motored slowly down Milford Sound. It is a stunning sight with sheer cliffs and waterfalls that drop into the sea but we felt that we were glad to leave. At this time of year there are not many hours of sunlight that reach down the steep mountains and dew on the decks never really out and inside felt damp and clammy. I can’t imagine spending a winter there although I suppose if you are in a house with good heating it would be a spectacular place to see covered in snow. The other detraction for us after the solitude of the more remote sounds was the number of tourists, busses (150 per day), boats, planes and helicopters buzzing around.
At entrance to the Sound it was dead calm – quite an unusual event for this area – and because of this we were able to motor close to the coast and up past Martins Bay, Big Bay and towards sunset we were off Cascade Point south of Jackson Head. Taking leave of Fiordland was quite a wrench, we have been in this area for nearly two months and it has been an amazing journey and adventure. We have been privileged to see places that not many others get to see and have loved every minute of it.
Sunday 01/05/2011
By sunrise we were some 20 miles off the coast somewhere southwest of Abut Head.
The sky flared in the east with the sun and the moon rising about the same time. Deep reds and oranges reflected off the sea and dolphins jumped and played in our bow waves. The dolphins had been with us on and off all the way up the coast with huge numbers of them racing over to the boat at times.
In the morning light the Southern Alps dominated the skyline with New Zealands highest, Aoraki, Mount Cook lording it over the others. The Franz Josef Glacier could be seen glistening white and cold and all the peaks were covered in a fair amount of snow signalling that winter was definitely here. All day we were entranced by the changing view of the Alps sliding past us.
The day was good and the sea calm however the old adage of “red in the morning, sailors warning” had us checking what was to come. The weather report was talking of a depression in the Tasman sea that was deepening rapidly. Speaking to Tony on Maggie Rose (who had left just before us and was home to Tarakohe in 24 hours) later in the day he said that it was starting to blow up around the Farewell Spit and we made the decision to head for Westport.
We spoke to the Westport harbour master who advised that if we had not been in before it was advisable to wait until daylight before entering the port.
Westport
Monday 02/05/2011
We had always said that Westport and Greymouth to the south were places you only went into when you didn’t need to. In other words – only in calm weather. The Westport bar harbour is notorious for huge swells and numerous boats have come to grief trying to enter in adverse conditions. There are in fact many plaques set into the breakwater stones remembering those souls who have lost their lives crossing the bar.
With this in mind we approached the area with trepidation. We had slowed down during the night and headed in close to the coast to get shelter from the easterly wind that was gradually increasing making our way up from Greymouth past Cape Foulwind.
After an uncomfortable few hours with a northerly swell on our beam daylight eventually broke as we sat outside the port and we called up the harbour master for permission to enter. It was going to be a busy day for the port with two ships arriving and there was one of them behind us on the horizon steaming up fast. The harbour master said that we should get in before the ship as the waves on the bar were likely to start increasing with the wind. The dredge was working at the entrance which caused us a bit of confusion as we couldn’t see the lead in lights. After talking to the skipper of the dredge he gave the okay for us to proceed into the channel. Even with the moderate swell that existed at the time it was easy to see how this could quickly become a dangerous situation to try and enter in adverse conditions. The rip simply wants to take the boat off course and if this were to happen in big swells a boat could go beam on to the swells and capsize or forced into the rock groins. However we made it safely into port and were allocated one of the fishermen’s berths where we soon crashed for a few hours badly needed sleep. Later in the day we had a walk up town to see what Westport was all about – fairly quiet on a Monday it seemed but a good wee shopping town just the same – and friendly.
Being still a bit fatigued we settled for an early night.
Tuesday 03/05/2011 – Thursday 05/05/2011
After 10 hours sleep we woke up still rather zombie like but definitely feeling better.
The day consisted of a wander around town, doing our washing at the local laundrette, and getting haircuts.
Wednesday was my day for doing our GST returns. In the afternoon we had a visit from Mal Garrod, an old school mate of Petes who came up from Moana which is on Lake Brunner near Greymouth. It was good to have a yak about old times and catch up with the latest news.
We have hired a vehicle and tomorrow are going to head up the coast to a place called Karamea about 100km north of Westport.
From Denniston we passed through the small settlement of Granity where we stopped for a coffee and a pie at the local café and then on up to Karamea. The road winds inland for a stretch climbing up through some beautiful forest before dropping back to the coast at the Little Wanganui river. The West coast is known for its delicacy of whitebait fritters and there are a number of big wide rivers up the coast which are obviously prime spots for the whitebait fishermen.
Nikau Palms and Cabbage trees stand like sentinels singly and in groves all along this coast and the surf crashes onto wild sandy beaches where huge piles of driftwood accumulate.
Seeing the size of some of these logs is enough to make you want to stay home and never go to sea again when you imagine that some of these are probably drifting around out there.
At Karamea we found the village hotel and checked in for the night. The bar was friendly and warm with a good fire going and the food was good.
We were woken early to the sound of gunshots but had been warned that today was the opening of the duck shooting season and it is good duck country around here. The rain was pretty heavy in contrast to the previous days sun so it wasn’t looking good for walking. We decided to have a look at the weekly craft/produce market we had seen advertised. Because of the weather it was held inside the RSA hall. We drove past just before 9.30 and there didn’t appear to be much happening so we took a drive up river returning an hour later. Inside the hall there were five or so stall holders. The elderly couple selling knitted wear – bibs, bootees and the like; the lady selling relishes, chutneys and jams; another with second hand books and other bits and pieces and the younger women with organic veges – mostly garlic, radishes and pumpkins. We managed to get out with a couple of books!
We then headed the 25 or so kilometres further up the coast to where the road ends. This is the start or end of the Heaphy track which is one of the great New Zealand walking trails. It is a four to five day walk with huts along the way. The track has just recently been opened up again to mountain bikers on a trial basis.
The rain cleared enough for us to have a wander along the beach but it threatened further downpours so we meandered back to Westport and had a look at Tauranga Bay at Cape Foulwind before heading home.
Sunday 08/05/2011
Today we noticed that the Navy ship Hawea which is still in port was having an open day for the public so we headed over to have inspect the ship. They are heading down to Fiordland from here and it was their sister ship, the Taupo that we had seen while we were in Bradshaw Sound where the Fisheries officers boarded us. There were a few crew onboard to answer questions and show visitors around. Good to check out what our tax is being spent on.
It looks like we will be ready to head off tomorrow. High tide is around 1400 so we will leave at that time for the next leg of 22 – 23 hours around Farewell Spit and into Golden Bay.
Our week in Milford was broken up by a trip into Te Anau. After our arrival in the dark we woke up to find ourselves in a basin surrounded by huge peaks. Milford Sound is quite different to the other Sounds we have visited with its mountains that rear up straight out of the sea and keep going up 1000 to 3000 metres.
In the basin we have in front of us Barren Peak at 1560m with another peak behind it rising to 1930m, to our right is Sheerdown Peak at 1877m, behind us is the Devils Armchair and Mt Phillips at 1626 and 1445
This is the one the tourists all get to see (and there are a LOT of tourists), while it is not the highest peak around (1682m) I believe it is one of the worlds highest peaks to rise out of the ocean and it makes a pretty spectacular picture. From our deck we can also see across to Mt Pembroke and the glacier on its slopes. The highest around the area is Mt Tutuko at 2722m.
We spent the next couple of days wandering around the area, feeling rather stunned by being back in civilisation with hoards of people around; checking out the ferry terminal and the café and doing our washing at the Lodge up the road.
On Wednesday morning our plan was to go to Te Anau, taking a bus that left at 9.30am from the lodge a couple of kms down the road. Loaded with our packs, all scrubbed up and dressed in our city clothes, we called in to the marina supervisors office on our way up the road only to be told that the berth we were in was required later in the day and we would have to move the boat before we went. This meant we missed the early bus and so after we had re-parked the boat we went off to the main ferry terminal to enquire about other busses. It looked like we would have to wait until the following day but as we walked past the airstrip on the way back to Deepwater Basin we saw three guys talking and went to ask if they knew of any alternative ways of getting to Te Anau. After a bit of banter one suggested that we hire a helicopter to which we laughed (local flights are around $300-400 per person and we are on a cruisers budget), however after a bit more talk about helicopters one of the blokes said that he was heading back to Te Anau about 1pm and could do a special deal for us for $50 each but was not going direct as he had to drop others off on the way. We assumed he was talking helicopters and we jumped at the chance to see this spectacular area from the air at a bargain price. He said he could pick us up at the boat about 1 at which point he pointed to his vehicle with a Tour company logo on its side. We went and packed our bags again and while waiting for his arrival we started to speculate on the fact that he had driven off in a small tourist van after speaking to us and it suddenly dawned on us that the fabulous helicopter ride was in fact going to be a van ride! Sure enough at one o clock he arrived at the boat with an Australian couple on board. In our minds there was still a slight possibility that he was simply taking us to the helipad in a nice tourist van and we knew that if he turned left at the main road it would be “helicopter” or if he turned right it would be “van”. Unfortunately the indicator went right. It was however a good trip fully commentated with lots of stops to see the incredible sights.
We stopped at the Mirror Lakes and the Chasm, a short walk into the forest to a spot where a river has carved the most incredible potholes in the rock as it plunges down a gulley. Very much like Bourke’s Luck in South Africa (on a much smaller scale) that we visited a couple of years ago.
The highlight was going to the local cinema to watch a movie called Ata Whenua – Shadowlands. This is a stunning documentary, purely visual – no commentary, of scenes from the Fiordland area filmed mostly from a helicopter. The pilot and photographer compiled the footage over a five year period and it is superb with scenes that we would never get to see from the land or sea.
Te Anau is a pretty town situated on the shore of Lake Te Anau which stretches some 60km but is not much more than 6 kilometres wide. It also has a number of Arms off its western side and is part of the feed into Lake Manapouri which is the lake which feeds the hydro electric scheme dropping into Deep Cove in Doubtful Sound.
On Friday we returned to Milford having booked seats on a tourist bus. We turned up at the bus stop at the appointed time ten minutes before departure, along with our backpacks, big box of groceries and a 20 litre drum of engine oil. As we were loading this all into the luggage compartment the bus driver spotted the oil and said he couldn’t carry it as it was dangerous goods. After a bit of an argument that we were never going to win Pete took off with the oil back to the service station from which we had purchased the oil and managed to arrange for them to have it trucked into Milford. Unfortunately the next delivery was not till Wednesday but as there was no other option and the bus was not going to wait he left it to be delivered to Milford.
The drive back to Milford was stunning, the day was sunny and warm and the scenery down the wide glacial Eglington valley stunning with the yellow tussock grass plains and a backdrop of snow capped mountains.
After arriving back at Gunner we unpacked our gear and went for a dinghy ride to the Bowen Falls.
Saturday 30/04/2011
We fuelled up at the wharf and got underway about 1130 for this the longest leg of our trip - 380 nautical miles to the top of the South Island, about 63 hours away.
We motored slowly down Milford Sound. It is a stunning sight with sheer cliffs and waterfalls that drop into the sea but we felt that we were glad to leave. At this time of year there are not many hours of sunlight that reach down the steep mountains and dew on the decks never really out and inside felt damp and clammy. I can’t imagine spending a winter there although I suppose if you are in a house with good heating it would be a spectacular place to see covered in snow. The other detraction for us after the solitude of the more remote sounds was the number of tourists, busses (150 per day), boats, planes and helicopters buzzing around.
At entrance to the Sound it was dead calm – quite an unusual event for this area – and because of this we were able to motor close to the coast and up past Martins Bay, Big Bay and towards sunset we were off Cascade Point south of Jackson Head. Taking leave of Fiordland was quite a wrench, we have been in this area for nearly two months and it has been an amazing journey and adventure. We have been privileged to see places that not many others get to see and have loved every minute of it.
Sunday 01/05/2011
By sunrise we were some 20 miles off the coast somewhere southwest of Abut Head.
In the morning light the Southern Alps dominated the skyline with New Zealands highest, Aoraki, Mount Cook lording it over the others. The Franz Josef Glacier could be seen glistening white and cold and all the peaks were covered in a fair amount of snow signalling that winter was definitely here. All day we were entranced by the changing view of the Alps sliding past us.
The day was good and the sea calm however the old adage of “red in the morning, sailors warning” had us checking what was to come. The weather report was talking of a depression in the Tasman sea that was deepening rapidly. Speaking to Tony on Maggie Rose (who had left just before us and was home to Tarakohe in 24 hours) later in the day he said that it was starting to blow up around the Farewell Spit and we made the decision to head for Westport.
Westport
Monday 02/05/2011
We had always said that Westport and Greymouth to the south were places you only went into when you didn’t need to. In other words – only in calm weather. The Westport bar harbour is notorious for huge swells and numerous boats have come to grief trying to enter in adverse conditions. There are in fact many plaques set into the breakwater stones remembering those souls who have lost their lives crossing the bar.
With this in mind we approached the area with trepidation. We had slowed down during the night and headed in close to the coast to get shelter from the easterly wind that was gradually increasing making our way up from Greymouth past Cape Foulwind.
After an uncomfortable few hours with a northerly swell on our beam daylight eventually broke as we sat outside the port and we called up the harbour master for permission to enter. It was going to be a busy day for the port with two ships arriving and there was one of them behind us on the horizon steaming up fast. The harbour master said that we should get in before the ship as the waves on the bar were likely to start increasing with the wind. The dredge was working at the entrance which caused us a bit of confusion as we couldn’t see the lead in lights. After talking to the skipper of the dredge he gave the okay for us to proceed into the channel. Even with the moderate swell that existed at the time it was easy to see how this could quickly become a dangerous situation to try and enter in adverse conditions. The rip simply wants to take the boat off course and if this were to happen in big swells a boat could go beam on to the swells and capsize or forced into the rock groins. However we made it safely into port and were allocated one of the fishermen’s berths where we soon crashed for a few hours badly needed sleep. Later in the day we had a walk up town to see what Westport was all about – fairly quiet on a Monday it seemed but a good wee shopping town just the same – and friendly.
Being still a bit fatigued we settled for an early night.
Tuesday 03/05/2011 – Thursday 05/05/2011
After 10 hours sleep we woke up still rather zombie like but definitely feeling better.
The day consisted of a wander around town, doing our washing at the local laundrette, and getting haircuts.
Wednesday was my day for doing our GST returns. In the afternoon we had a visit from Mal Garrod, an old school mate of Petes who came up from Moana which is on Lake Brunner near Greymouth. It was good to have a yak about old times and catch up with the latest news.
We have hired a vehicle and tomorrow are going to head up the coast to a place called Karamea about 100km north of Westport.
Friday 06/05/2011 – Saturday 07/05/11
Picked up the rental van and drove down to have a look at the harbour entrance and watched the pilot boat guide one of our new Navy inshore patrol craft, the Hawea, into the port.
Picked up the rental van and drove down to have a look at the harbour entrance and watched the pilot boat guide one of our new Navy inshore patrol craft, the Hawea, into the port.
We then headed north up the coast to Denniston which is the site of an old coal town high up on a plateau above the coast. Denniston is famous for the incline railway where a cableway was used to get the coal cars up and down from the plateau to the railhead. In the early days before a bridle path was constructed everything had to go up and down to the town on the plateau in the coal cars, this included the miners, their families, furniture and all the supplies. A pretty scary ride by all accounts as the drop is 500 metres and a pretty steep gradient. Operations continued on the Denniston Incline from 1880 until 1967 when the demand for coal dropped and maintenance costs forced its closure.
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| Top of the Incline |
From Denniston we passed through the small settlement of Granity where we stopped for a coffee and a pie at the local café and then on up to Karamea. The road winds inland for a stretch climbing up through some beautiful forest before dropping back to the coast at the Little Wanganui river. The West coast is known for its delicacy of whitebait fritters and there are a number of big wide rivers up the coast which are obviously prime spots for the whitebait fishermen.
Nikau Palms and Cabbage trees stand like sentinels singly and in groves all along this coast and the surf crashes onto wild sandy beaches where huge piles of driftwood accumulate.
Seeing the size of some of these logs is enough to make you want to stay home and never go to sea again when you imagine that some of these are probably drifting around out there.
At Karamea we found the village hotel and checked in for the night. The bar was friendly and warm with a good fire going and the food was good.
We then headed the 25 or so kilometres further up the coast to where the road ends. This is the start or end of the Heaphy track which is one of the great New Zealand walking trails. It is a four to five day walk with huts along the way. The track has just recently been opened up again to mountain bikers on a trial basis.
Sunday 08/05/2011
Today we noticed that the Navy ship Hawea which is still in port was having an open day for the public so we headed over to have inspect the ship. They are heading down to Fiordland from here and it was their sister ship, the Taupo that we had seen while we were in Bradshaw Sound where the Fisheries officers boarded us. There were a few crew onboard to answer questions and show visitors around. Good to check out what our tax is being spent on.
It looks like we will be ready to head off tomorrow. High tide is around 1400 so we will leave at that time for the next leg of 22 – 23 hours around Farewell Spit and into Golden Bay.
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