river – Joe Bloggs

The West Coast is the Best Coast

January 28, 2020January 28, 2020Tagged beach, bike, coves, cycling, franzjosef, franzjosefglacier, greymouth, Haast, harbour, hokitika, hokitikagorge, kayak, kayaking, newzealand, ocean, pancake rocks, punakaiki, reflectionphotography, river, selfie, solotravel, sunset, travel, traveller, travelling, travelnz, waterfall, westcoast, westportLeave a comment

After my long trek and first tramping experience on the Heaphy Track I booked a room in a hostel in Westport, had a look around and then lay down and relaxed and did some research as to what would be my first stop along the West Coast. I decided that I would first go to Punakaiki for 2 nights and then decide where to go from there.

I got the bus to Punakaiki the next day. It’s a small town with only a tavern, a café and an information centre. I checked into the hostel and then headed out to explore with an American guy I had met on the bus. My first stop was the very popular tourist spot, Pancake Rocks and it was pretty busy when We arrived.

Snuck over the barrier for that perfect shot

Pancake rocks Is a heavily eroded limestone area where the sea bursts through blowholes during high tides.

Unfortunately We went at low tide and missed the blowholes.

We wandered back towards the hostel stopping at some caves to look around before walking along the coast to the hostel. We relaxed for a little and then walked North out of town to a small walking track that lead to a beach with a huge cove and some more caves.

The next day I ventured to the river and hired a kayak, I kayaked up the river having to get out at certain points to walk it as there were rough rapids and a low water level.

I got about an hour away before I turned back and cruised back down the river, the rapids weren’t too big but I almost crashed a few times into large rocks. I relaxed on the beach until I managed to cut open my toe and then headed back. The sunset on the beach that evening was pretty nice to watch.

The next day I walked to the end of town to start hitchhiking, my aim of the day was to get to Greymouth, which was only 40 minutes away, but there were some sights I wanted to stop at along the way. I was only waiting around 15 minutes before I first got picked up by a local who told me there was some cool beaches to look for greenstone on, having nothing planned for the day I was dropped off and spent some time looking for greenstone, I found very little but it was a cool experience. I then hitchhiked to Runanga that is home to the Coal Creek Falls, I was dropped off not far from the entrance and then I headed down the track for 30 minutes before arriving at the falls and stopping to take in the views and to rest.

I returned to the roadside and got picked up pretty quickly by a couple heading in my direction, they dropped me off just outside my hostel in Greymouth.

I checked in before heading into town to explore. It’s a pretty small town local shops and businesses. I looked around and then headed back to the hostel to chill out. The hostel provides free bikes and kayaks so the next morning at high tide I took a kayak onto the river, through a lake and then down to the harbour side.

It was peaceful and pretty and a good view of the surrounding hills. I returned hoping to grab a bike and head out for the day but unfortunately there wasn’t one available that was working, I attempted to fix one but didn’t have any luck. I then decided I would just take a walk to the beach.

I walked around 2km out of town before hitchhiking to Hokitika, I got picked up after about 20 minutes of waiting. I arrived in Hokitika and went to the I-site to see what I could do. I had planned that morning to meet my friend Jessie who I had met back in Palmerston North as I was heading South and he was heading North we thought it would be a cool spot to meet up. He picked me up and we headed 25km out of town to visit Hokitika Gorge, the walk was extremely short once we had arrived and lead over a swing bridge to the beautiful views of the gorge and the amazing milky blue color of the water, we spent some time here before returning to town and checking in at the hostel.

When we arrived at the hostel we were shown to our room. I then bumped into my friend Janna whom I had met when I was working in Tauranga. I knew she was on the south island but wasn’t exactly sure where about’s she was, so that was pretty cool.

I headed out with Jessie and we went for a swim in the sea and a walk along the beach. We then retuned to the hostel to chill out. Later that evening Jessie, Janna, 2 others and me headed out to watch the sunset at Sunset Point and see the Glow Worm Dell once it had got dark.

The next morning before we all headed off in our different directions we went for an early morning swim in the sea at 7am.

I checked out of the hostel and walked over the bridge out f town and started hitchhiking to a small town called Heri Heri, practically in the middle of nowhere. The guy who picked me up offered to drop me on the roadside or in this little town, I opted for the town as it was a lot further down the road but first we had to drive to a farm as he was working as a farming consultant. Once he had finished he dropped me off. I waited maybe 40 minutes before getting picked up again by a farmer who was heading home, he took me all the way to Franz Josef which was my destination for the next 2 nights.

I dropped of my gear at the hostel and then headed out to treat myself for my tea. I had a large burger and chips and then took a walk around the small town before heading back.

The next morning I headed off to the Glacier, the start of the track is about 45 minutes walk from town, I could have booked a shuttle but chose to walk. I arrived at the head of the track and headed down towards the glacier. It only took about 30-40 minutes to get there, I then sat down and took in the views for around 30 minutes before following the track back, I then took another track down to Peter’s Pool where you can see a cool reflection of the mountains. Unfortunately you can no longer see the glacier from the pool as it has receded back to far up the valley. I then walked back to Franz Josef to which I relaxed in the sun for a while.

Unsure of where I was heading next I did some research and decided to head to the remote town of Haast next, I chose to get the bus to Haast, as the weather didn’t look too promising for the next day.

I took my bus the next morning, the driver was pretty cool and it felt more like a guided tour as he explained the local area and we stopped off at some awesome lookouts and beaches. When we arrived in Haast it was raining pretty bad so I headed straight to the hostel. It carried on raining most of the afternoon so I decided to stay indoors. The next morning I had 2 hours before my bus arrived and the owner of the hostel offered me a bike so I could head out and see the beach, the only reason I planned to stop here. I took the bike out but it was still pretty overcast but had a good ride to the beach and back.

When the bus arrived I jumped on, left the West Coast behind and headed for Wanaka.

“West side is da best”
Ali G

An Unforgettable Journey

January 27, 2020January 27, 2020Tagged beach, bridge, bridges, brooks, bush, camping, cave, creeks, driftwood, flyingsolo, greatwalknz, greatwalks, heaphy, heaphybeach, heaphytrack, hills, lonetraveller, mountains, newzealand, nz, ocean, palms, river, rivers, solotravel, sunset, takahe, tracks, tramping, travel, travelling, valleys, walkingLeave a comment

DAY ONE

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I got to Saxon Hut an hour later and ate lunch, whilst I ate I watched a Takahe (endangered bird) search for his dinner.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”
John Mayer

Farming and Fishing

September 17, 2019September 22, 2019Tagged adventure, bluecod, cycling, dagging, drenching, drinks, explore, farm, farmwork, fishing, food, hostel, lambs, manawatu, manawatugorge, newzealand, PalmerstonNorth, palmy, river, shark, snapper, travel, whanganui, workLeave a comment

Where to begin…

I’ve been in Palmy for around 8 weeks now, unfortunately due to my schedule at work, I tend to not have many days off which is a huge difference from when I was kiwi fruit pruning as I couldn’t get enough days of work. Anyhow, I’ve just completed my 28^th day in a row, around 2 days a week I only do around 4 hours work and don’t start till 11:30am so have started counting those as days off, but for but the rest of them I’m working full days. Anyway, the whole time (8 weeks) I’ve worked here at the pack house I’ve only had 5 days off.

However, I’ve handed my notice in and will move on with my adventure on the 6^th October. Moving on always seems so difficult but its always exciting. Although I am struggling on where to explore next.

I’m staying at Pepper Tree Hostel, its only around 2 minutes walk from the square (town centre), it’s a sort of quaint little hostel set in a 100 year old villa, one floor, several rooms and pretty cheap considering some of the other places I’ve stayed in at New Zealand. Unfortunately there’s not many people staying here, perhaps because its winter or because there’s nothing much to do here, although I wouldn’t know as I spend all my time working.

Whilst I’ve been in Palmy I haven’t really done much, I’ve been for a few bike rides whilst I’ve been here, if your in need of a bike in Palmy you can rent one pretty cheap from Green Bikes, I planned to be here for 3 months and it only cost me $75 for the whole 3 months.

I cycled along a new cycle way, which is along the Manawatu river and through some woods and to Linton army base, it was a pleasant ride and only around 5km each way, unfortunately when I was returning the chain on the bike I rented snapped and I had to walk back, luckily I had enough time to take it to the shop and get it fixed, I then cycled up to an observatory and sat down to take in the views of the river meandering around the corner. I then crossed the river and cycled the opposite way where I found a bike park in the woods.

I cycled to Manawatu Gorge which is just next to a small village called Ashhurst, it took around 50 minutes to get there by bike and then I did a short 3km walk around the woodland and gorge, there’s a larger trail you can do but it was 20km round trip and I arrived there just after lunch so I didn’t fancy walking in the dark. There were some beautiful views from the lookout points and a large Maori statue on the trail. The walk wasn’t very strenuous, some steep bits but altogether it was a lovely walk and something nice to do on my day off.

I have had some really cool experiences. Jill and Tony the owners of the company I work for are extremely lovely and friendly people. They have been supportive with my issues with my teeth and the problems I’ve had with the manager.

Anyway, I’ve visited their lovely farm and home three times now and had some rather unique and enjoyable experiences with them, they call themselves hobby farmers as they downsized their farm around 3 ½ years ago. They must have 200 or more lambs though. When I first visited I was going mainly to cycle around as the roads are peaceful and the fields go on for miles. Unfortunately by the time I arrived after work that evening, it was dark. Tony cooked me an amazing meal and we had some beers and chatted. The next morning when I’d had a lie in I awake to the most amazing view, hardly anything around apart from fields and lambs. I helped Tony feed the sheep and then picked up around 50-60 fence posts and loaded them into the trailer as Tony drove slowly along the edge of the field.

My second experience felt more unique, I was invited along side another backpacker to stay at their farm and help with some sheep work. When we arrived we went out onto the fields and helped round up the sheep, we then led them to the pens ready for weighing, some of the lambs went straight into the pen whilst some of the others made their way across the cattle grid and towards the house, we just waved our arms and shouted to move them to where we needed them to be. After this we sent them down the race to get weighed one by one, then, we checked to see which lambs were clean and which ones were dirty, we gathered a few in a separate pen and then sent two down the race together so they wouldn’t be able to move, we then used a set of shears and sheared the shit of there bottoms to prevent them from attracting maggots and to make them more presentable for selling at market. This action is called “dagging”. It was incredibly fun to do and the experience was just amazing. After we finished we showered and relaxed and then were cooked an amazing steak for dinner and I had a few gin and tonics because, why not?

Recently had another amazing experience, so I was invited to stay again, I went on the Friday night after work and helped with drenching (giving medicine) the lambs on the Saturday. The view from the farm was even better this morning as the sky was clear and I could see both Mt Taranaki and Mt Ruapehu in the distance. Tony got his boat ready and then we then headed to Palmerston for a short 4 hours work making noodles and then at 14:30 we left and made our way to Whanganui where we launched the boat and drove about an hour up the coast before stopping for an hour to fish. Ive never fished before so this was an incredible experience for me. Beer in hand and relaxing with the amazing views and sunset. I managed to catch 2 Snappers and 4 Blue Cod, I also caught two small sharks. From the area we were in you could see amazing views of both Mt Taranaki and Mt Ruapehu.

Unfortunately when we were just bobbing around on the boat and fishing, I got a little sea sick which is just a curse that seems to run through my family. We then returned to the Wharf and then back to Tony’s. Tony showed me how to fillet the fish and then he fried it in breadcrumbs. It was really nice and tasted perfect.

“Nothing ever becomes real till it is experienced”
John Keats