Richmond Nelson

With rain in the forecast we spent the weekend at Richmond relaxing and catching up with the laundry.

Richmond Sundial in the square in Richmond.  Very accurate according to the shadow showing on the dial.

The locals call it Mot!

But we call it Motueka.  We had been told about a wonderful place to freedom camp close to the Motueka Estuary.  So we set out to find it, wow what a view.  Honey was lucky enough to have fresh fish for dinner as well, unfortunately there was not enough for us.  Good excuse to go back next week weather permitting.

Great little 8 wheeler amphibian craft.

In and out of the water.

Low tide at Motueka Estuary.

This is a really nifty trailer/amphibian. Tow it with a quad bike on land and then load the quad on deck, start the outboard and away you go across the inlet.

Have wheels will travel.

Heading to Richmond to catch up with family.

On the road to Kaiteriteri!

We headed back over the Takaka Hill towards Motueka.  We decided to find a nice spot on the coast for lunch.

Great view from the front window.

The plaque reads “ In grateful memory of Captain Arthur Wakefield, the founder of Nelson who landed here in October 1841”. The two circles are milling stones made around circa 1845.

Tides out and it’s a long way off.

The high water mark is close to the log in the foreground. It’s got a long way to go.

Te Waikoropupu Springs!

Some of the clearest water in the world.  These beautiful Springs are only about 6 km’s out of Takaka and Tapu to the Maori, well worth a visit.

The entrance to the springs walkway.

You need this walkway to reach the springs without getting wet feet.

Not able to speak Maori I assume this means welcome.

Dancing sands spring where you can watch the white sand bubbling up without being washed away by the water flow.

There are not many places where water is this clear.

The water not only comes from the mountains but from sea water being filtered through the earth’s crust.

Beaches for miles.

Leaving Pohara our plan was to head north towards Farewell Spit where the whales beached recently.  Stopping off at a lovely little place that was once a country school.  The grounds are open to our members for a donation.  Beautifully maintained but unfortunately we were not to meet the owners.  We were recommended this spot by some other campers we met at Pohara who we will catch up again next week at a Nelson NZMCA rally in Wakefield.

Golden Bay. We could see where the name came from.

Golden sand’s for miles and miles.

Shell hunting in Golden Bay.

Dine in “Class”  (classroom) at the Schoolhouse Cafe.

Schoolhouse Cafe and camp ground, Pakawau. Lovely little camp site.

Port Puponga at the start of Farewell Spit.

Across the harbour.

Dusk at Port Taratoke not quite the southern lights.

Golden Bay

This is our view out the front window! Hard to beat?

NZMCA Port Tarakohe Park at Pohara

I never thought I would find another hill that I disliked more than the Rimutaka Hill in the north island.  But boy I have now, my friend had made a comment about Takaka Hill as she knew I was prone to travel sickness and was surprised we had made the trip. Never again! and we need to return again (only one road access in and out) or perhaps we’ll stay here forever.

We left Motueka in brilliant sunshine yesterday after the boss had inspected the local Menzshed first. Not like home, all in a container. An hour and a half later we pulled into Takaka.

I hope that rock is stable. Who would build in such a cramped space?

Cormorant’s drying off after a morning’s fishing.

Post’s like this are placed all along the harbour break water and they mark Penguin nesting boxes placed by DOC. The highest number we found was 53.

Say cheese. An uncanny face washed away by the weather.

This schooner has been purchased by a group of guys to do up and sail to Samoa. It’s port of registration is Port Vila.

Yer right, if the hat is missing he’s gone fishing.

Rocky terrain around here with secret hidey holes everywhere.

The rock formations around here must be volcanic from centuries ago.

A natural formation made bigger by man for vehicles to pass through.

Rocky moon scape perhaps?

Westport to Motueka via Murchison.

Leaving Westport on Tuesday morning we headed for Murchison where we planned to stay for a night after catching up on the laundry.

The Buller River from the Buller Gorge.

Hawk’s Bluff in the Buller Gorge.

Just about a single lane under the bluff. Looks like we need to duck.

Another of those South Island single lane bridges.

Plenty of headroom on this one.

Kiwi station where once the railway ran. Five women had a sit in on the track protesting  over the lines closure and were finally arrested back in the 1950’s.

Tapawera Station on the same closed line.

Autumn colours starting to show in the South Island.

Menzshed Motueka in the A&P show grounds.

That’s a high flagpole. Need a new one Robin?

On to Westport!

This type of road rail bridge are gradually becoming a thing of the past as new road bridge’s are being built.

Single lane road bridge’s like this one north of Punakaikai are still quite common throughout the South Island. This one has been replaced and led to the cave in the following photo.

This cave alongside the Fox River is part of a DOC walk way which unfortunately had suffered flood damage.

The other end of the tunnel where flooding had washed away part of the track.

The bridge in the background is the original road bridge which had a very sharp “S” bend on and off the bridge approach. Thank goodness it has been replaced.

Moving on to Westport  we opted to stay over the Easter break and sit out the holiday traffic on the roads and spend some quality time relaxing.  Firstly taking a trip out to the lighthouse for a little bit of sea fishing. Needless to say we didn't have fish for tea. Easter Monday we wandered into town, a round trip of nearly 6km’s to checkout the shops and have lunch at Subway.

Westport NZMCA camp site is undergoing expansion with the sole tree bearing assorted footwear and the sign “Tree of lost soles” and that is not a mis-spelling.

Plenty of firewood all along Westport’s beach.

Yours truly trying my luck in the Buller River. No such luck.

Westport graffiti.

Part of the walkway from the camp site to the centre of town.