Got to have another look at the beach here

As does Rachel

Once every 10 minutes or so the waves really smashes on to the rocks with such force that the water splashes up 5 times higher than in the photo, I tried to get that high splash on photo but the wait was just to long, this photo is the best I could do

Still misty here

After leaving Kōhaihai and driving through Little Wanganui I noticed a turnoff that looked like it would take us to the beach and indeed it did. It turned out we could even get the car on the beach so of course we took it for a spin!

At the Little Wanganui River

Lake Hanlon

Nice little walk

On the northern shore of the Mōkihinui River, looking to the southern shore

Looking inland

Another lovely beach here

On the northern shore you have the Gentle Annie campsite

We decided to do the Chasm Creek Walkway

Just great. Everything in NZ is getting closed because of ‘safety’. Such a nanny state. We ignored the warning and felt very safe walking across this bridge

A little side-track leads us to the river

An unusual looking spider web

This reminded me of the Bridge to Nowhere near Whanganui (on the North Island)

Some nice views along the hike

And a tunnel

The river again

On the southern shore of the Kōhaihai River there is also a campsite, and it’s cheaper than Gentle Annie so we stay here

The southern shore, I was on the other side in that photo before

The remains of some wreck

Happy Rachel

Campsite just off to the right

Map of today’s trip, from Kōhaihai  in the north to Mōkihinui in the south

When I hiked to Big River Hut a while ago I noticed there was a 4WD track leading there as well. I really wanted to drive this track but at some point it just got too muddy and I didn’t want to get stuck again

So this is as far as I dared to go, maybe in a convoy it would have been different, then you can help each other

Just south of Mawheraiti

Us on the dry riverbed

We continued towards Reefton where we walk the Alborns Coal Mine Walk

An easy walk

Ideal for trail runners I’d think

And of course in this nanny state a lot of the area is closed because of ‘safety’

An old 1916 Leyland truck

They used to transport coal in these

Danger lurks everywhere

A cute little Robin kept us company for a while

I don’t know much about mushrooms, could this be an oyster mushroom?

We saw this cute goat and felt sorry for it, being tied up and all, the water tank has a hole cut in it and is its home

It was happy to be petted

Reefton

West Coast, along the Nikau Road

At the Karamea Bluff Lookout Point

The Radiant Range

Idem

At Kōhaihai Campsite

This too

Map of today, from Waiuta, via Reefton, Westport and Karamea to Kōhaihai

Lake Middleton, there used to be a nice forest here but they’ve cut it down to build batches for rich folk

Ben Ohau Range

Rachel overlooking Lake Ohau

The road going up to the Ohau skifield

Me

Lake Ruataniwha

This too

Lots of activity here

Pipes filled with water going to

the Ohau A Power Station

All this water flows into (becomes) Lake Ruataniwha which in turn flows into Lake Benmore and beyond

I wish I could have a look inside one of these power stations

Another nice day for gliding too

Bird

The mighty Jimny

Lake Cameron

Lake Poaka, it’s warm and we feel like a swim

So we have one

This very cute bird kept following us, is it a Starling?

The lavender farm, I was here before with Jasper, back then it was free but now of course you have to pay to watch the lavender from up close

Rachel enjoying a lavender honey ice cream, I have to admit they are good

Today’s camping spot at Lake Pukaki, me cooking dinner

Rachel enjoying that dinner

What a view, and it’s free!

We drive around Lake Aviemore and stop at the Aviemore Substation to have a look

They have these water stairs here so the fish (trout?) can swim upstream

What an awful lot of power, I’m talking about the Jimny of course

On the southern shore of Lake Aviemore we find this fantastic little bay, unfortunately the sun has pretty much disappeared by now

But that doesn’t stop us from having a swim

Our plan for today was to end up at Monument Hut, which requires some 4WD’ing, unfortunately because of the recent rain and especially the rain falling down at the time the track had become rather muddy and the poor Jimny got stuck in the mud, luckily a car coming in the opposite direction was able to pull the Jimny out of the mud, I was very glad I always bring the recovery gear, this was the second time ever I needed someone to help with a stuck Jimny

We decide not to take the risk of continuing the track to the hut and instead turned around, so that if we would get stuck again we’d still have the help of the white car available but it turned out not to be necessary

It was really just the very part that we couldn’t get through, too slippery. I need other tyres, once the current ones are worn down enough I’ll get some proper 4WD tyres with more grip

It’s not that we didn’t try!

We ended up at the Round Bush Campsite, another place we’d been before

What miserable weather ;-(

We’re doing the West Manuherikia Track today, we’ve done this one before but in the opposite direction

It rained quite a bit yesterday so we hope the river isn’t too high, so far it’s looking ok

The first hut on the track: Boundary Creek Hut, where I lost my Ray-Ben (yes, Ray-Ben, not Ray-Ban, they were cheap fakes from AliExpress)

The Omarama Saddle right ahead of us (the low point)

The second hut: Top Hut

Looking back at the hut

We have made it to the top of the saddle, here’s looking back at the track

And the valley with Top Hut

It looks like another great day for gliding as well

The decision is made to drive up to the St Bathans Range (just like the previous time we were here)

Getting to the St Bathans Range is a lot of sloooow driving, sooo many rocks

This is how far I’m willing to drive, from here on it’s a little walk we’re doing, over that top in the previous photo

At the that top, looking back

View of the Mackenzie basin where I was gliding only recently

It’s also rather cold here (at about 2 km altitude), glad I brought a beanie and gloves

Going back to the car again, quite steep here

Rachel ahead of me

Looking back at what Omarama glider pilots know as Hugo’s Elevator

Our car is still there, it’s a happy car, it’s had a 50 mm raise since we were last here and the extra ground clearance really helps, no damage this time

Looking towards Lake Dunstan

Hawkdun Range in the distance

Last part of the track, back down to Omarama

After buying some groceries at Omarama we visit Sailor’s Cutting

Just for a little walk

We end the day at our favourite freedom camping spot at Lake Aviemore

Enjoying a lovely meal

It looks like it’s going to be a nice day, no more rain

But first: breakfast!

The Garston Ski Hut, we’ve stayed here a few years ago, today we are just passing by

But we do have a quick look inside and admire the many drawings and wisdoms on the walls

The view from the ski hut to where we came from

Mountains on the other side of the valley

The main event of the day: the Nevis Road!

We have travelled this road before but in the opposite direction

Hmmm, we need to get to the other side, I walk through the water first to see if it’s not too deep or slippery, and it is, both

I need to cross a little back and drive through a muddy bit to get there, but everything went fine

Lovely views

Rachel did I think 80% of the driving today, she’s really getting the hang of it

The Nevis Road is always special

And here’s a group of batches, I wonder how often the owners come to live there, and what they do there?

And when were these batches built?

I think these have eroded away a bit more compared to last time we were here

This time I climbed on top

See? That’s me up there

The mighty Jimny enjoying its break and the view

More batches

Once upon a time they must have had electricity here

We continue!

Stunning, what a day!

Clyne’s Cottage

Pareidolia much?

Nevis Crossing, from here on it’s dead easy

Interesting landscape

A look back at the Nevis Valley

Rocky bits everywhere

More faces, in the rocks this time

And another one

Cromwell and Lake Dunstan

Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

Gone tent

The forecast for the south for the next couple of days is bad weather, so we decide to move north where it is supposed to be better. We ended up at the Eyre Mountains where we’ve been before and opt to go to the Mt Bee hut again, which is up in these very mountains

It looks like we’re going to get rain here too

We made it to Mt Bee hut, a proper 4WD track to get there and nobody else is there today

We even get some shunshine up here

This is such an amazing place for a hut

Me, thoroughly enjoying my first ever puffer jacket, it really keeps me warm, love it!

Inside the hut we keep warm by having the fire going, we can even cook on the stove though it’s not very fast

We spend hours trying to play a Trivial Pursuit version from like 40 years ago with heaps of totally outdated questions, tough!

After a little drive we come across a sign saying ‘Matai Falls‘, so we stop and decide to visit said falls

The falls from another angle

The trail to the falls

I think a farmer left a gate open which I immediately used to drive up as high as I could to be greeted with this awesome view at the top

In Papatowai we see this, what could it be?

Well, it’s the Lost Gypsy Gallery bus

Ths bus has “Free entry for Earthlings”, it’s my lucky day!

An incredibible amount of stuff in the bus

To see everything in the bus you’d need a few hours

We paid the $10 entry fee to the actual gallery and had a look at all the stuff there, it was interesting and entertaining

Rachel is ordering a coffee

So many things to see here

After the gypsy we go for a walk on Papatowai Beach

Rachel contemplating a swim?

Tautuku Bay

We would like to visit the Cathedral Caves and hope to be able to get there via this beach (otherwise you have to pay the maori a stupid amount to be allowed to cross their precious land to access the beach which itself is on public land)

Unfortunately the caves turn out to be on the next beach and you can’t drive there. On the other end of Tautuku Bay we find the Tautuku Peninsula and it turns out only maori are allowed to go on the peninsula, how racist! These privileged maori drive there when the tide is low, about an hour after the photo was taken the water would be low enough for them to drive their 4WD on to the peninsula

What a beauty!

We end the day with a visit to the Niagara Falls!

I’ve been her before so I knew what to expect (nothing)

I wonder how many tourists would actually expect something similar to the real Niagara Falls

Someone’s garden fence in Owaka, looks like Foghorn Leghorn in the back

Now we’re in New Haven, and decide to go for a walk, it seems like there is a wreck, choice!

The Catlins River

Once of the coolest toilets I’ve seen!

It’s high tide so we hope we’re not getting our feet wet

Nice clouds

What a lovely beach this is

My inner Sherlock Holmes tells me someone else was here before us, possibly barefoot

JAWS!

Getting close to the far end of the beach

A sea lion

Colorful pictures to be taken here

This is as far as we can go

So it’s time to turn around

And say hi to the sea lion

No sign of the wreck anywhere, only these whale bones, oh no, it’s a tree

Yours truly

And again

I love the sky today, so much more interesting than a clear blue sky

Along Duttons Road

Cannibal Bay, it’s cool that the Jimny can get on the beach here

And then… a puncture, some &*^#&*$# left a big nail on the road that found its way into my tyre

So I need to use the spare wheel

We end the day at the Purakaunui Bay Campsite

Our spot

The view!

We drive past paddocks with cows

Like this one, licking a block of salt

In case you missed it, we’re on the Random Spur Road, lots of fences, which makes it very handy to have a passenger

Lovely landscape

Low cloudbase, cute sheep

Farmer on the other side herding his cows I assume

I think that is the Seaward Kaikoura Range in the distance

Nice colours

Pretty sure that is the Hawkswood Range

On our way out we come past Cheviot, known for its decent toilet facilities

And maybe this museum

But not much else

From there it’s on to Gore Bay, see what the beach is like here

And it’s ok, but a bit nippy today

Rachel

Yours truly

There’s also a Jed Vale Cemetery Walk here, this is on that walk

One of the graves, there aren’t that many left standing

Back on the beach, a sudden stench, and yes, a dead seal rotting away a few meters away

The Cathedrals Cliffs, on our way back to Christchurch from Gore Bay

They do look majestic in a way

Mist rolling in

I find this sign and especially the drawing funny, the people living here must have had enough of people using their land as a toilet (being right next to the Cathedral Cliffs parking)