Oamaru isn’t much to look at when you first step off the bus, it looks like another basic NZ town until you reach the other side with its amazing Victorian-esque buildings, the cool and exciting steampunk artwork, the beautiful bay and the most adorable and smallest penguins in the world.
I arrived and walked to the I-site to see if they could hold my bag until it was time to check in at the hostel, unfortunately they were closed but luckily I was able to leave my bag at the hostel until I checked in. I grabbed what I needed and headed back out to explore the little town.
I headed first towards Steampunk HQ, which is a little museum with various steampunk creations: including cool space and sci-fi installments, several steampunk statues/animals, plenty of interactive parts to which you are encouraged to play with and enjoy, a dress up are to take your photo in Victorian/steampunk outfits and 2 cool trains that look like there straight out of ‘Mad Max’. For only $10 it is definitely worth the money.
Steampunk Steam Engine
I didn’t spend so long here before setting off to look around the Victorian edge of town, very different and unique Victorian buildings to the average New Zealand town. It includes some bars, cafes and there are also a few shops that sell various steampunk/Victorian items. I also saw a man riding a penny-farthing down the street, which was pretty cool.
Victorian Oamaru
I went back to the hostel, checked in and got settled before heading out again to catch the sunset. I walked along the bay towards the Penguin sanctuary.
Sunset on the Wharf
The Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony is mainly for tourism but also used for research and conservation. There’s two viewing periods, one during the day that costs $25 and another in the evening that costs $40. I was there in the evening but from what it sounds like its definitely the better option. The option in the day is just to view penguins in their habitat whilst the evening option lets you view the penguins coming in from their day out fishing, the penguins are ever so small and come in together in groups called rafts. Unfortunately cameras and video cameras are not allowed in the viewing area due to disturbing the penguins.
When I was wandering back around the bay in the dark there was a few people huddled in a certain area, I went to see what the fuss was all about and there were more penguins whom obviously don’t appear to head back to the centre. I watched from a distance as these cool little birds made their way up the rocky bank and into the bushes, when I reached town there were more that headed across the street and into the back of some of the Victorian buildings.
After I finished my travelling the West Coast I headed inland to Wanaka where I spent a few days before heading through to Queenstown. Both places are in the mountains and I will update you on my adventures in both these places as soon as I find the energy to write about them.
I pretty much came to the end of my savings whilst exploring Queenstown so I called up my previous boss from the Pack House and went back to Palmy to rebuild my savings. I was lucky in the fact that I made it back to Palmy and had started working when the dreaded Covid-19 struck the country and we proceeded straight away into lockdown. I was one of those essential workers, which was great because I wasn’t sat in the hostel bored for the 7 weeks we were sat in lockdown and I was working 6 days a week so there was little time to procrastinate.
The New Zealand government have reacted amazingly to the threats of the virus, locking down the country after 205 confirmed cases. On the 19th March they closed the borders to all non-New Zealand citizens and residents before setting in the level 4 lockdown on the 25th March. I think its not only thanks to the New Zealand government but as well to everybody who’s living here, pretty much everyone stuck to the level 4 restrictions which I think helped a great deal after looking at news articles from other countries not taking it as seriously as they should be, especially in the UK.
I am so thankful that I am in a country that has passed hits lockdown state and has only 1 active case of Covid-19 left, this however could change with the restrictions lifted or mutation within the virus. but I am now at the point where I have begun to travel again, which leaves me practically speechless as this country is amazing and I’m dreading that final day i will leave.
Ive sort of come up trumps with this virus as I was able to work during a time when a lot of people couldn’t even leave there homes. Pretty early into the lockdown the NZ government announced that anyone currently still in the country and with their visa ending between the 2nd of April and the 9th July would automatically receive an extension to there visa until the 25th September. I fell straight into this category with my visa ending on the 11th June. Lucky me!
I began my journey with a shuttle bus from Takaka to the first hut at the beginning of the track, the Brown Hut. The bus arrived at 12pm and I got off the bus, grabbed my bag and headed off straight away.
Looking back at the shuttle after heading off
The first part of the track is a winding route that is on a gradual slope climbing up 915m, the track is mainly through the bush and is a pretty cool walk with great views of the valleys and hills in the distance.
Valleys in the distance
I walked around 3.5 hours up and then stopped at the Aorere Shelter, which is the first campsite you could stop at, however I had booked into the Perry Saddle, I chilled out and ate my lunch before heading off to my final destination for the day. On the way I stopped of at Flanagan’s Corner viewpoint to take in the views, supposedly you can see Mt Taranaki on clear days but unfortunately it was pretty overcast. I arrived at Perry Saddle Hut and set up my tent before taking a walk around.
Tent all set up
There was a small mountain spa further down the hill, which turned out to be just a small stream at the bottom of the hill but worth the 10-minute walk to get to it.
Walkway to mountain spaMountain Spa
I chilled out and relaxed that evening before cooking my tea of which I failed pretty badly at as I boiled way to much water for my sachet of soup that it was pretty much still water after it was added, but if anything it is a lesson learned. I then went back to my tent and went to sleep, getting ready for the biggest and longest day of the trek.
DAY TWO
Day two arrived, I awoke around 3am freezing cold so I chilled out and I had my breakfast and then a small nap after I had warmed up. I packed up my tent and set off at around 10am to get to the James Mackay hut later that day.
Valley stretches out
I walked for about 1.5 hours through fields of golden grass and marshland, the valley here begins to widen around the Gouland Downs and you can see for miles. After 1.5 hours I arrived at the first hut, took a short break and then headed back off down the track before coming to some caves to which I explored a little before continuing on my journey.
Start of the caves
I got to Saxon Hut an hour later and ate lunch, whilst I ate I watched a Takahe (endangered bird) search for his dinner.
Takahe
I finished up and continued on my way. There’s an old pole with old and new boots tied on or nailed to it along the way, which looked pretty awesome.
Boot pole corner
Todays hike was 24.2km and you could see pretty far across the hills in the distance and I crossed plenty of streams and brooks.
I arrived at today’s destination at about 4pm, set up my tent on the decking provided which took longer than I expected, as I had to use rocks instead of pegs.
The area was pretty misty so there wasn’t much of a view. I cooked up my evening meal of mashed potato, peas and chicken with 3 Germans I had met on the track. We ate and then headed of to bed for the evening.
DAY THREE
In the morning I awoke, it was still pretty misty but you could see the mouth of the river, which is where I was heading for the day, I ate and then packed up my tent once again and headed off around 08:45. This was my most favorite day, not because it was practically all downhill but that it was through what looked like an enchanted forest and where I first met the famous West Coast sandflies.
Drooping treesMagnificent Trunks
There were some swing bridges to cross, one of which was 148.8m long and the largest suspended deck bridge built by the Department of Conservation.
One of many swing bridges
There are sections on this part of the track that after heavy rain can be pretty flooded especially at high tide but luckily the day turned out to be pretty clear and sunny.
At this point you’re walking along the edge of the river and occasionally there would be a large clearing or small path down to a beach.
I was amazed at some of the trees in this forest as they are extremely large and magnificent. Further along I found a small cave which I went in as far as I could, unfortunately for me I later found out that the 3 Germans I met managed to get in further which just meant wading through a little water, but managed to see glowworms further into the cave.
Sitting in the cave entrance
Anyhow I arrived at the final hut, the Heaphy Hut at around 13:30 and set up my tent to dry it, as it was pretty wet from the previous night. I saw a helicopter land at the hut and then take of which was cool to see and according to some people it’s not something you see everyday whilst hiking a great walk. I then ventured onto the beach and had a quick wash in the river, as it had been 2.5 days since I had last had a shower. I chilled out on the beach and attempted to create a large driftwood house, unfortunately when I added the roof it was two top heavy and collapsed, I had spent around 3 hours on this already and decided to pack it in as I was pretty exhausted and had been attacked my hundreds of sandflies.
The only photo I got before it collapsed
The 3 German guys arrived and they showed me a video of them swimming in the river and footage of one of the guys being bitten by an eel, which was pretty funny for me but the guy then couldn’t walk and carry his pack so his mate had to carry both of them.
I cooked up my dinner and then went to watch the sunset at the far end of the beach, down the far end you could pick up the first signal I had seen the past 3 days so that was good.
Sunset on Heaphy Beach
DAY FOUR – FINAL PUSH
The next morning I woke up early and dismantled my tent before heading off at 7am, as I wasn’t sure how long it would take me to arrive at the end of the track and I had a shuttle bus booked at 12:50pm. I headed off through bush and along the rugged coastline of the West Coast, there are so many lovely and deserted beaches along this 16.2km walk to the finish.
Walking next to Palm treesLittle misty in the morning
I sat and ate an early lunch whilst looking out over the ocean. I then continued to the end of the track, checking out some viewpoints and lookouts along the way. I finished with around 1 hour to spare before my shuttle arrived to take me to Westport and to where I would sleep in a bed for the first time in what seemed like a pretty long time.
The past 4 days have been so amazing that I am definitely persuaded and pushing myself to do more multi-day hikes whilst I finish my last few months here in New Zealand. The views and scenery I have seen on this trek are unimaginable and so, so beautiful. I’ve definitely enjoyed every minute even though I’ve come out with a few blisters and hundreds of sand-fly bites.
Now I continue my travels by making my way down the West Coast…
“Don’t be scared to walk alone. Don’t be scared to like it.”
I left the orchard in Motueka to go to Takaka about 45 minutes drive towards the Golden Bay area. I got a lift with one of the sellers who has been working on the orchard and selling the produce in Takaka. When we arrived I said goodbye and walked around 35-40 minutes to arrive at the free camp spot at Waitapu Bridge, a beautiful spot next to a river. I set up my tent and relaxed for a while before heading back to town to explore and buy some groceries.
Waitapu Bridge Free Camp
Later when I was in the free camp I heard my name shouted, I looked around to see someone else I had been working with at the orchard who had left 2 days prior to me. I sat down with her and her friends and played a few games of cards.
Later that evening I relaxed and watched the sun set.
Sunset at the free camp
I woke at around 3am freezing cold, now when I bought my sleeping bag I opted for the lightest one, as I would be carrying it around a lot with me. Big mistake but oh well, I’ll just have to wear more clothes at night.
I woke up and cooked some noodles for my breakfast before another mistake arose. So the free camp has just toilet facilities with no access to running water, not that I’m complaining mind as I had 2 nights free camping there, but as I cooked my noodles and drank some water I realized I was pretty much empty on the waterfront, I had a small amount left for my morning walk to the springs.
Camp Kitchen
It was only around 1 hours walk each way, and then some more time to walk around the springs, the springs are so beautiful, the water is so clear and mesmerizing. Unfortunately it is prohibited to swim or to even touch the water as it is New Zealand’s largest spring and obviously they don’t want the water tainted with the human touch.
Springs
After I returned from the springs, dehydrated with the lack of water, I rested a little before walking into town, at this point I bought another 1L water bottle as I did not want to be in that situation again, I then filled them both before going to the library to book my campsites and shuttles for the Heaphy track.
I returned to the free camp and made sure I was reasonably packed so I could leave the next day.
I was pretty cold again during the night, and I will have to figure something out before I leave for my great walk. Anyhow I awoke, got changed and packed up my tent, I left the free camp around 10:00 and walked over the bridge to the road that heads towards my destination, Wharariki Beach. I’d booked into a campsite for 2 nights at $20 per night. I then started to Hitchhike hoping to get as far as I could. I was only waiting for around 15-20 minutes before a couple from the Netherlands picked me up and took me all the way there, which was amazing. Once I arrived I waited until check in at 12pm and then once again pitched my tent, ate some lunch and then went to explore.
From the campsite the beach is around 20 minutes walk, it’s a pleasant walk with good views the whole way. When you reach the beach it looks amazing, silver sand dunes all over the beach, huge rocks with archways that just look great.
Wharariki Beach
I spent around 2 hours here, the wind was pretty violent and sprayed sand almost constantly in my direction. I wandered around and even found a place where there was some 3G but then the wind picked up more than it was before and I got a whole face full of sand, which blinded me temporarily. I then began to walk back to the campsite and rested there. I showered, recharged my electrical appliances and began writing this blog. There is little Internet here; there is Wi-Fi available but at what seems like a huge cost, 100mb for $10.00. So I will just learn to live without for the next 2 days.
The next day I took a walk to farewell spit, it was a pleasant walk and only 7km to the spit and around 10km to walk around the track. You can’t go on some of the spit as it is protected and you can only access these areas on the guided tours. It was a lovely walk, again the sand dunes looked so beautiful and stretched really far across the beach. I intended to walk back across the hills and past a lighthouse but after walking around 17km already I was pretty tired and hitchhiked back to the campsite.
Farewell Spit
The next morning I left at around 08:45 and started walking towards the main road, the first car I saw, I held up my thumb and fortunately I got a ride about a third of the way, after I was dropped off I waited around 30 minutes and was picked up and taken another third of the way, and then eventually got back to Takaka on my 3rd and final pick-up. When I arrived, I went to a campsite and saw they had cabins available, to which I jumped at the chance as the weather forecast looked rainy for the next 2 days and I didn’t want to get my tent wet before I start New Zealand’s longest Great Walk.
Morepork cabin
My final day before leaving Takaka, I visited a local tourist attraction called Labyrinth Rocks and spent some time finding my way through the maze of rocks before heading back into town to buy the last bits I needed for my trip. I also bought some long underwear to hopefully solve my problem with waking up cold in my tent every morning.
Joe Bloggs 