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Te Toroa: The Wandering Albatross

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Te Toroa: The Wandering Albatross

Category Archives: West Coast

Nelda Goes to Hokitika

12 Monday Feb 2007

Posted by smkesler in West Coast

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

hokitika, hokitika gorge, lake kaniere, west coast

Gaby and I wanted to take Nelda to the West Coast before she left for home at the end of January, so, on the third weekend of January we packed our bags and traveled west over Arthur’s Pass to Hokitika. Of course the weather forecast was for rain – lots of rain, but we didn’t let the weather dampen our spirits!

As we headed west on State Highway 73 out of Christchurch, we stopped before heading into the mountains to enjoy the scenery.

I gained an audience gathered from a nearby paddock. Cows always seem to be quite curious. I have to admit, it’s sometimes a bit nerve wracking to have all these critters just looking at you, as though they can read your mind… Or, they may just think that you might feed them.

From Hokitika we took a drive around nearby Lake Kaniere and stopped to see the picturesque Dorothy Falls, just off the road. The waters which drain off the valleys acquire a reddish tint from the plant material.

Just opposite the road from the short walking track to Dorothy Falls is a track which leads to the shore of Lake Kaniere. We decided to take Nelda to the lakeshore for a look. The bush was thick and shady along the track.

Large tree ferns made me think of remnant forest of a distant past. I half expected to see therapods wandering through the bush.

After about half a kilometer of easy walking track we reached the scenic shore of Lake Kaniere.

Nelda took her colorful purse with her wherever we went. She was seldom seen without it. She made up for the dull and dreary West Coast weather.

One last destination on our wee driving tour was to see the Hokitika Gorge and Swingbridge. The waters which course through the gorge have a wonderful greenish blue cast.

We enjoyed the swingbridge for a while, then continued on down to the river to take a look.

The scenery is great. We would have spent more time there except the biting flies found us.

We had to do a bit of scrambling to reach the scenic spots.

We stayed overnight in Hokitika and the next day drove north along the West Coast to Charleston and back over Arthur’s Pass. It rained just about the entire time, but we had heaps of fun.

The constant rain made it a bit difficult to get out and walk, but we did manage a cook’s driving tour along a fair bit of the West Coast. We enjoy visiting the West Coast and look forward to our next trip there.

Playing in Punakaiki

28 Monday Aug 2006

Posted by smkesler in West Coast

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

caving, punakaiki, west coast

Over the weekend of the 28-30 July Gaby and I decided to get out of town once again. We again traveled along State Highway 73 west from Christchurch, over Arthur’s Pass, to Greymouth. We then turned onto State Highway 6 and headed north out of Greymouth for our weekend destination – Punakaiki. The West Coast of the South Island is chock full of interesting and beautiful places, and Punakaiki pulls its weight in both departments.

A few months ago a group of friendly folks gathered together to explore a few of the caves and other sites along the West Coast. That trip was such a success that another trip to the nearby area of Punakaiki was organized. We were informed there were several backpackers available for us to use as our home base, and several people mentioned they had stayed at the Punakaiki Beach Hostel. What sold us on this particular backpackers was the fairly accurate description that it was “only a stone’s throw” from the Punakaiki Tavern, one of the better restaurants in town 🙂

The Punakaiki Beach Hostel is also only a “stone’s throw” from the beach, especially after a particularly harsh set of storms battered the area last year and promptly removed 30 meters of beach!

Punakaiki Beach Hostel

Gaby and I left Christchurch early on Friday so we could see Arthur’s Pass during the day and arrive in Punakaiki in time for dinner. As it turns out, the Punakaiki Tavern offers some great food. When I traveled through this area last month I stopped here for a healthy dinner of fish & chips. Let me tell you, this place really knows how to cook fish & chips! The lusciously battered fish was delicately fried to a mouthwatering crispness and the chips (that’s Kiwi for French fries) were perfect: crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. After a long hard day of bushwhacking I was definitely up to the task of cleaning my plate.

It was with thoughts of wonderful food that we arrived at the backpacker early enough to register for our room and unload our gear – I was hungry! For dinner I convinced Gaby that we should eat at the Tavern (she agreed: she was hungry too). We both decided to order the big, juicy stake with extra savory rosemary & garlic butter – outstanding!

With a full stomach I was able to clear my thoughts and concentrate on the task at hand – visiting with friends we haven’t seen for a while and determining what we were going to do this weekend. I had to put Gaby on the disabled list as she had injured her shoulder on a previous trip (as it turns out, she injured her shoulder on our previous trip to this area.). One of my goals for this weekend was to follow up on a lead for a cave in the area we explored on a previous trip. Unfortunately, with Gaby’s shoulder hurting she didn’t feel up to whacking through the bush for hours on end looking for new caves, so she decided she would go for a great day hike on one of the many tracks around Punakaiki while I went exploring with a determined group of cavers.

Pick a Pack Track

I gave the camera to Gaby to take with her on her hike while I bashed through the bush. She was driven to the carpark (that’s Kiwi for trailhead) at the end of Bullock Creek Road where she decided to hike a loop trail back to Punakaiki. She hiked east along Bullock Creek until she met up with the Inland Pack Track, then turned south and hiked to the Pororari River, crossed it, and back out to the coast and Punakaiki.

The Path of Least Resistance

This area of the West Coast has a few karst areas, and while the tracks (that’s Kiwi for a hiking trail) are maintained, the bush is dense. Trampers (that’s Kiwi for hikers) who wander off trail without paying attention run the risk of falling into one of the many grikes (solution cracks) in the limestone – ouch!

Sage Advice

The trail was fairly straightforward, and Gaby was easily able to hike the entire route. And while the Pororari can be a challenge to cross when the water is high, she found the river to be low and was able to ford it without incident.

The Ford

note: if you don’t see a car in this image, that’s because there isn’t one: a ford is a river crossing 🙂

Crystal Clarity, a Rarity

Pretty Pororari Gorge

Lower Pororari Gorge

When Gaby finished her hike she walked along the beach near our backpackers.

Punakaiki Coastline

The coastline is scenic all around Punakaiki, even near our backpackers.

The Beach, Punakaiki

While Gaby enjoyed the loop track around to the Inland Pack Track and back, I headed off to finish exploring an area I visited on a past trip. This time we even managed to collect a few more accomplices. We geared up early and made a mad dash for our goal because we wanted to get there early enough to explore it. Forty five minutes later we arrived and began rigging the entrance drop into the cave.

Unfortunately, this cave did not go. While there are many holes and fissures in the rocks, few go anywhere. So, after satifsfying ourselves that this cave probably didn’t go, we ventured through the bush again, looking in any potential dark holes. After a few hours of fruitless bushwhacking we gave up the hunt to head back to the car before nightfall. Such is the life of a ridgewalker: hours and hours of bushwhacking in the hope that one day something interesting will be found. Oh well. There will be other days.

I worked up an appetite bushwhacking all day and after I returned to the backpackers and cleaned up, I eagerly awaited Gaby’s return so we could go eat dinner. We decided to head back to the Punakaiki Tavern to eat more of their great food. This time I ordered three fish sticks and a bowl of chips – that was a lot of food. It was heavenly. The fish was hot and delicate and the crisp chips really hit the spot. I had to work to eat it all, but it was such great food!

On Sunday we slept in 🙂

Te Miko

When it was finally time to pack up and check out, Gaby suggested we hike down the Truman Track, as I had not seen it the day before. A forecasted storm hit that morning, but the wind and driving rain only added to the scenery of Te Miko. The tide was rising but still low enough to allow us to hike along the beach for a bit and see what this part of the coast looked like.

Just a short distance north along State Highway 6 is the Truman Track. This easy and beautiful fifteen minute walk takes you from the carpark along State Highway 6 through native bush with several nikkau palms and cabbage trees to a picturesque beach called Te Miko.

Sea Cave, Te Miko

The dark clouds and isolated blocks of rock along the beach made for some dramatic scenery. The beach at Te Miko is dramatic. At low tide you can walk along the sandy beach amongst big blocks of sandstone that have been broken off and scattered around by the waves. You need to keep an eye on the tides though. At high tide you get stuck, which is alright if you planned it that way.

Serpentine Swash Marks

By this time the storm was raging, and we stopped at Pancake Rocks to see if the ocean swells were big enough to make the blowhole spout. Through a driving rain and blasting wind we worked our way along the trail to the beach. Unfortunately, the situation was not quite rite for the blowhole. The tide has to be near high tide and the swells need to come out of the west or west south west for it to blow. Next time.

Playing on the West Coast

14 Friday Jul 2006

Posted by smkesler in West Coast

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

cave rescue, caving, west coast

I managed to get away last weekend for a couple of days of fun on the West Coast of the South Island. I joined a group of friends to look for caves in an area between Greymouth and Westport, along the West Coast. I have not had the chance for much cross country travel (called bushwhacking in New Zealand) and was excited about the trip. We left Christchurch around 6:00 A.M. Friday and drove west over Arthur’s Pass. The weather has been cold lately and we were all a bit surprised to see how much snow has fallen in Arthur’s Pass. Our clear weather window held however, and we made it over the pass with no trouble. We made a quick stop at a cafe and I purchased a couple of savory meat pies to hold me over until dinner. Once our appetites were satiated we were eager to get into the bush. After a short time we parked the truck and geared up for our day of bushwhacking.

We ascended a ridge, fighting our way through the sometimes dense bush. I had the chance to get acquainted with a wonderful plant called supplejack. I don’t think this vine has leaves because I never did see where the vines led to. The vines are generally about as thick as your index finger and have the annoying habit of growing in lazy loops and arches and occur in sufficient numbers as to catch on everything – arms, legs, boots, packs, etc. All of us experienced a bit of “bushrage” at one point or another 🙂

Lunch stop at the top of the ridge

The flora and fauna was amazing! Aside from the supplejack, we encountered cabbage trees, lancewood, tree ferns, kauri, and many other beautifully green and luscious plants. Curious robins would flitter about, land on a rock or branch within a meter or two and watch what you were doing. No doubt they were thankful for the insects we disturbed.

Most of the ridge is covered in thick bush

Our goal was to look for cave entrances. However, the bush was so thick in places you could be standing within 5 meters of an entrance and not see it. I could not help but think about search principles like “Probability of Detection.” Sufficient coverage of this area would be difficult. I am sure we unknowingly walked by as many entrances as we found.

Cave entrances are sometimes hidden by the bush

We found many entrances, but most were either blocked with silt or constrictions which were two small to negotiate. However, it only takes one small passage to connect to a larger system within the ridge, and chance to find virgin (unexplored) cave drove us onward.

This cave descended into a tight and incredibly unstable crack.

At the very end of the day – as is usually the case – we found an interesting feature: A tomo (vertical entrance) with what looks to be a 20 meter drop. We had to leave this cave to explore at a later date as it was getting late and we wanted to get back to the main trail by nightfall. What a wonderful experience! We may not have covered much ground, but there are enough interesting features in this area to make us all want to return. Now we have another goal: to find out where this cave goes.

We got back to our car around 6:00 P.M. and headed back into town to grab a bite to eat. After a relaxing dinner of fish and chips we drove back to Greymouth and stayed with a West Coast caver for the night.

I began the weekend with a bit of play on Friday. We then went to work on Saturday (well, ok, this is really playing also :-). On Saturday our group joined up with a few folks from the West Coast who are all involved in cave rescue. Our goal for the day was to rig a mineshaft to lower an attendant to the bottom (if possible) and back up. Some folks told a story about a person who disappeared many years ago in the area (the body was never found), and it might be possible that this mineshaft could have been the final resting place. Who knows? However, the area is riddled with mineshafts from a previous era of gold mining. The story did, however, add some interest to the operation.

Sorting gear

We measured the pitch with a rope tied to a rock and measured it at about 20 meters, although we were not sure if the shaft continued at an angle or not. This mineshaft was dug into alluvium. Large cobbles lined the walls of the shaft, and we watched as some of the cobbles spontaneously dislodged from the wall to crashed to the bottom. Because of the dangerous objective rockfall hazard, we decided to rig the shaft with a deflection so we could lower an attendant into the shaft without disturbing the walls.

I wonder what’s down there?

As this was a rescue practice, we all got the chance to hone our rigging skills by setting up the rope systems. Part of our training included a short presentation about the dangers of bad air present in many mines, and we were encouraged to observe proper safety procedures by utilizing an oxygen monitor. We were also reminded of proper belay technique. After these presentations we set out to rig two tripods, one on either side of the shaft, rig the haul system for the deflection, and the haul system and belay for the attendant.

Proper belay technique

After a quick lunch we commenced the operation, and a brave soul was lowered down the shaft. Actually, due to the instability of the shaft, the attendant was only lowered about 2 meters before being hauled back to surface.

Two tripods, one deflection

Well, we did not solve the mystery of the missing person, but we all had a great day of training! I still wonder what’s down there, but I will let someone else find out.

We wrapped up the operation as rain started to fall. We left shortly after packing the truck because we had to drive over Arthur’s Pass back to Christchurch. Luckily, only rain fell in the pass and we soon made it back home.

Caving in Charleston

07 Wednesday Jun 2006

Posted by smkesler in West Coast

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

caving, charleston, punakaiki, west coast

The first weekend of June is a three day weekend, a celebration in honor of the Queen ‘s birthday (no, New Zealand is not a monarchy, this is a celebration in honor of the Queen of England). Every year for many years now the Canterbury Caving Group has been the driving force behind a weekend of caving on the West Coast of the South Island around Charleston. This would be our first opportunity to go caving with our own gear!

We had hoped to have our new car by the time we left, but that was not the case, so we rented a car for the drive over Arthur’s Pass to the wet – I mean West – Coast. This would be a rather posh weekend, our accommodations being a Motor Park on the edge of town, with a pub just around the corner. We had our own room with a shared kitchen and bathroom.

We left early Saturday morning to give us a chance to make some stops along the way. I have not been through Arthur’s Pass so we wanted to see it during daylight, rather than leaving late Friday evening. In the pass we stopped at a coffee shop for some well deserved hot chocolate, hoping to catch a glimpse of a kea or two. Unfortunately, the keas decided not to show, probably due to the approaching fowl – I mean foul – weather. Just after leaving the visitor center in Arthur’s Pass the sky became grey and ominous. The weather had decided not to follow the weather forecast. It then rained almost non-stop until the next morning.

Out of Arthur’s Pass we hit the West Coast at the town of Greymouth, stopped for lunch, and continued north along the coast to Punakaiki and the nearby Pancake Rocks, a picturesque eroded limestone formation along the coast and part of Paparoa National Park. We braved the approaching storm for a chance to see the awesome blowhole there. Unfortunately we missed high tide by about an hour and the prevailing weather conditions were not conducive to big blowhole action, so we contented ourselves with hiking around the very cool track which winds along the seacliffs and over arches and seastacks in the making.

Just a wee bit north of Punakaiki is the small town of Charleston, a relic of a once large gold mining town which boomed in the 1860s when placer gold was found in the area. After unloading our baggage into our cottage, Gaby and I hiked the short distance to Constant Bay, an extremely small, hazardous bay which was once used by ships for an anchorage, although now much of the bay has been silted in from the mining activities.

When we walked back to the house we were met by Alice Shanks who pressed us into making a quick trip into Metro, a cave located not far from our motor lodge. Gaby and I kitted up and practically ran to the entrance, ran around the cave for about half an hour, took a few pictures and ran back out to the motor lodge just in time for a dinner celebration at the pub. A local West Coast caver was being honored with an honorary life membership to the New Zealand Speleological Society. It sounded like a good enough reason to end the day at a pub.

On Sunday, after sleeping in for as long as possible (lately, until about 6:00 am for me), Gaby and I took a hike back out to Constant Bay so I could take some photos of the area before the rain came again. We cruised around the cliffs and then headed back to the motor lodge to sign up for a cave trip.

We joined up with Lindsay Main who expressed an interest in finishing a survey in a little visited cave called Kohatu. This would be a fun cave, as it included just a tad of vertical – a sloping entrance of 20m followed by a 10 m pitch into a rift – cool! We kitted up and off we went. This part of the West Coast has great masses of thick bush; but, as luck would have it, the trail to this cave was fairly easy going, following a small streambed for most of the time, giving us somewhat of a track to follow. At the entrance we waited as Lindsay rigged the pitch, and were promptly dumped on by a short but intense downpour. This gave us incentive to be inside the cave. Unfortunately, the rain did make for a bit of a wet pitch. Once down the pitch we entered a chamber with a small river running along the bottom, but we crossed the room on a sporting rock bridge over the chasm 10m below and followed a rift. The rift closed down to a crawl, forcing us to slither through the layer of mud and muck which conveniently lined the bottom of the passage. I will take mud anyday over hard, pointy rocks bashing against my knees and shins! This passage continued for some 200m or so before entering another chamber which meets the river once again. A quick climb down a slope put us into the stream which we followed for another 30 meters until it sumped out. Unfortunately, we were unable to figure out where the last survey stopped, or where the other passage we were to survey began, so after exploring the stream passage for a while we headed back out of the cave. What a fun cave: a little vertical work, some mud crawling, a good size cave stream and big rooms.

On Monday we decided to take it easy and join a group of folks tramping around some of the old goldfields just outside of town. When placer gold was discovered in the area, miners utilized the local streams for large monitors and sluices. The trail we followed ran along an old water race which was often dug through the low ridges for greater access. The neatest part of this trail was finding some old tunnels which had been eroded over time by the streams, some in excess of 5 meters! They looked like canyons one might see in the mud caves of Anza Borrego in Southern California; but, if you looked at the ceiling you could see the pick marks from the original hand dug tunnel – very cool!

After our hike we returned to pack up and head back over Arthur’s Pass to Christchurch. I wanted to get a pretty early start over the pass because I did not have chains and the weather was turning cold, with icy roads a real threat. However, we made it home without a glitch!

Charleston is between Greymouth and Westport on the West Coast of the South Island.

Detail of the West Coast of the South Island between Greymouth and Westport.

Looking North along the West Coast, somewhere north of Greymouth. This is the Tasman Sea.

Yes, that bad weather is heading this way.

Gaby and Nikau Palm.

There are faces in the cliffs.

Gaby and flax.

A large surge pool.

Looking south from Pancake Rocks.

Pancake Rocks detail

Rugged coastline

The trail cuts through the thick bush.


I just had to take a picture of this sign. Yes, that is a penguin.

The entrance to Metro.

Cave pretties

Big passage

There were sections of passage with a white mineral coating on the walls.

Group shot.

Much of the floor of the cave was simply packed mud.

Great formation out of a fracture in the ceiling.

All in a row.

Attempting an artistic shot.

Constant Bay in foul weather.

Two masted schooners used to pass through to anchor in the bay!


Constant Bay and flax.

Steven and Gaby self portrait.

The bush extends right to the sea.


Charleston

Constant Bay, now silted in a bit. I have seen pictures of two-masted schooners anchored here.

Entrance pitch of Kohatu Cave.

View from bottom of 10m pitch.

Gaby overtaken by a cave nebula. Look what it did to her cave suit!

Exploring the trail along the water race through the goldfields.

The trail passed through several hand dug tunnels.

Believe it or not, there is a trail here.

This started out as a hand dug tunnel for the water race, and the water has eroded the bottom to create tantalizing stream passage through the ridge.

A quarter moon illuminates the snow capped peaks in Arthur’s Pass.

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