Christchurch to Pounawea

Lake Ellesmere

Left H&R and Christchurch to head off all the way to Lake Ellesmere (Te Waihora) - yes we did a total of 46km - big day!

Lovely spot looking across the lake - not that the lake is that pure. Lots of other campers & motorhomes. It was a good spot to stay two nights and have a day travelling around in the Suzuki exploring that part of the country. We drove down to Fisherman's Point, where they open the lake occasionally to prevent flooding and freshen the fish stocks. (Flounder / eels / mullet / whitebait). 

Seed propagation in Canterbury

We did a bit of tiki touring ( Bill loves tiki touring - the Kids weren't quite so keen). Driving across to the Rakaia Huts where Bill & I were both soooo sure we had stayed another time in Big Yella. But no! We hadn't been here before and luckily we hadn't taken the bus even though we originally thought we might have stayed the night.

As it was blowing quite strong, we didn't think we'd bother moving and they were charging $15 a night! Can't keep this life style up at that price, so we decided to stay another night back at Lake Ellesmere. On our return the wind came up on the side of the camp we had parked on so we moved to the other side. Amazing how different and sheltered this side was. Well! Until 1.00am that was! When the wind had changed direction and was blowing side on to us. Bill kindly (either this or kill me!!) moved the Bus to a different angle so we could no longer feel the winds impact. Ahhh..... then we were able to return to sleep. We really thought there would be big pine trees or at least big branches down through the nights gale force winds, but we were surprised the following morning on our walk around camp not to see any damage thankfully.

Hardy Fishermen - didn't see any fish though.

These beaches go on forever!
 Didn't appeal for a swim though.

As we headed out from the lake we called into Hantz Honey Ltd- Lakeside Apiaries where we had a very informative woman tell us all about their business and what they produce and the different varieties of honey they sell - Kamahi / Blackcurrent / Blue Borage. Should a hive become diseased they have to burn them - a $600 loss.  We were very impressed with the information and the pricing of their honey, so stocked up once again. (Last time was when we passed through Geraldine before Christmas. She also informed us that Canterbury was the country's biggest seed producer - we had noticed a lot of paddocks with plants that had gone to seed covered in netting to protect them from the birds. We had wondered what they were growing in the different fields.

We continued our trip southward staying off the main road, visiting the Fishing Huts (Holiday Huts) at the river mouths along this eastern coast line. Rakaia Huts on the southern side of the Rakaia River, Hakatere (Ashburton) River, and Rangitata River. These huts have been in some families for a long time, but speaking to a local at the Rangitata Huts we were told how times are changing. The Timaru Council administer the leases on these properties for DOC. The leases have dropped from 25 years to 5 years plus an inspection.

Nicely tucked in below the wind

The "Huts"

I guess at Rangitata Huts

This is where they are checking you comply with waste water etc. A few properties still had long drops even though these huts are all in close proximity to each other. Main water supplies are in place.  And at this particular location they would only allow 15 permanent residents - I am assuming this is all they think the public systems can handle.

After driving down a terrible single lane, full of pot holes, road to Orari River mouth where there were half a dozen hardy fisherman trying to catch anything in the rough seas, we had some lunch. Checked out Milford Lagoons where we had stayed about 6 years ago and were then impressed with the little settlement and had paddled the lake. But this time round after heavy rains earlier in the week and an over caste day - it wasn't as appealing. So it was off to Winchester to sleep by the bridge along with another lot of campers.

Timaru was our next destination for two reasons:

l          *It's a nice town to visit
       *It has a Book Exchange where I was hoping to get the 5th book in the Clifton Chronicals that Marg has got me addicted to. Sadly the shop didn't have the next instalment! 
      When trying to find the area for Camper's to park, where we knew there was plenty of room for our towing rig, we got a bit lost in the City's Gardens. We ended up going through the City Gardens on a road that we think was only meant for maintenance vehicles. The maintenance guys having smoko did look a bit surprised! We must have gone through where a bollard was down that would normally have prevented this. Thankfully we managed to squeeze out at the far end! Ticket is probably in the post!!

Having the time, we visited the I Site and did the Rock Art Exhibition. This was very informative of the Maori rock art that exists around NZ and it's meaning to the different Maori Tribes - particularly the South Island's 5 Tribes. We didn't realise there was so much art history discovered around the country - mostly on private lands.

Tight turn

A couple of hours later and then lunch, we did the  Loop Walk along the coast line and up an estuary. Rowing practice was in full flow for teams of Girls from singles, doubles, quads and coxed eight boats that barely had room to turn in the width of the river.

We headed off to Waimate for the night - staying in another NZMCA camp. This camp has doubled in size since we were here about 8 years ago. The local volunteers that look after this site have done a lovely job.

Steam Punk HQ Oamaru

The next day was supposedly the first day of Autumn (Noooooooooo not yet!) - we had a lovely day travelling through to Dunedin via Oamaru. Oamaru has a beautiful historic centre they have preserved. It was good to see it reasonably busy with tourists even though NZ is now past peak visitor season. Steam Punk is an Oamaru trade mark, exhibits are placed around the area creating interesting conglomerates.

 Old Oamaru.

Oamaru is known for it's history with Penny Farthing Cycles

Dunedin was dull and cloudy on arrival. We took  the Suzuki out to the Otago Peninsular to the Albatross Centre that was still fairly busy with tourists even though it was after 6pm. The visitor centre was still running tours at that time which shows there must be demand .We didn’t take the tour but the Centre was packed full of interesting information. When we left, there were several of the huge birds winging around. Very neat!

Dunedin we emptied/refilled our tanks and cupboards before heading out to the Catlins for the weekend where the annual Cavalcade event was riding into Owaka the next day.

Having stayed at Pounawea back in 2002, it was nice to return and stay at the same Crib (Batch) once again. Fran's sister Annette and hubby Poss have owned this little bit of paradise since 2001 - great to catch up with them, and friend Marilyn,

Even time for a cuppa while mowing lawns

who also arrived for the weekend to watch the Cavalcade arrive. But before we parked up with our bus on their back lawn, the lawns needed mowing. And as this is a chore I do miss - I am happy to do it. Always very satisfying.

The hardy Riders

The hardy Cyclists

And the Drivers arriving in style

The Cavalcade was a huge event for this little settlement. 400 odd riders and horses covering 9 trails this year, departing from various places throughout the Otago Gold Fields. The original Cobb & Co Coach left Dunedin in November 1862 for the Dunstan Goldfields - 129 yrs later in 1991 retracing the historic journey, the Annual Cavalcades began arriving in different Host towns around the area so each town got a chance to show off its own history and involvement from the Gold Rush days of Otago.  

Relaxing back at the Crib

Walkers were added in 1994 and this year cyclists. All arriving into the town at the end of 4 or 5 days riding through the Goldfields.   A first for Bill & I to watch as they paraded into town and then onto the Market for some food and a little local wine or two. Great atmosphere bringing a lot of locals back for the weekend, so there was a lot of catching up for our Hosts.

Early morning from Pounawea

We returned to their Crib back in Pounawea and continued enjoying the sunny warm afternoon. Finishing off with some whitebait fritters was a great way to end the day. Probably one or two wines less, or that Bailies Marilyn, might have been a better way for the day to have ended! But that wisdom did not occur till the next morning, of course.

Sunday, it was time for us to leave this peaceful little community and head off to Roxborough to pick up our new kayak that Bill bought 6 weeks ago on Trademe.