Karamea - Glenorchy
Denniston and Coastie Pastry
Still in a post Heaphy Track buzz I awoke and got underway not long after dawn the next day. Even though the locals must get a fair amount of tourist traffic (a lot less in winter), I was pleasantly bemused to find that the drivers in the few cars I passed waved, local to local - rural style. Not too many places left where that happens spontaneously, but then Karamea is at the dead end of a road 90 k's from out of the way Westport. It was a sea misty fine winter's morning and my first destination was Denniston. Not far north of Westport, Denniston was a pioneer coal town and setting for a recent book that I'd heard the author talk about on the radio. Hearing that this once thriving town was perched above the thin coastal strip at 600 metres (2000ft) altitude I was intrigued, it appealed to my geographic sense of adventure. The half dozen scattered remaining buildings didn't quite fulfill my image of a pioneer town, but there is the preserved remains of the coal gondola that would ferry the coal and presumably supplies 'tween coast and township. The altitude and lack of trees commanded an uninterrupted view of the coast and ocean below.
Having satisfied my curiosity I continued down the coastal road between Wesport and Greymouth which has to be one of the finest in the NZone. The combination of the coast, limestone rock bluffs and bush combine along the winding road to create many choice vistas. I could have spent a week driving back and forth along that coast seeking optimum light conditions and staying in prime coastal view accommodation. The sweet spot of the drive centres around the tourist magnet Pancake Rocks (Punakaiki) and Perpendicular Point. This morning it was already a little late to capture the best of the light so after a quick stroll round the Pancake Rocks (tide was wrong for the blowholes) I headed on to Greymouth. I had lunch in Greymouth at a specially sought out bakery that simply isn't found in 21st century cafe latte eNZed anymore. This gourmet anachronism had a selection of pastries of yore and a never seen before savoury combination - pies and hot dogs with a dollop of spuds, peas, and beetroot slices delicately placed on top. Now I may be a sniggering city type but it will be a sad day when that bakery stops serving it's slice of kiwiana cuisine history, long live the Coasties.
Over the Alps
My next driving experience was going from West to East over Arthur's Pass. The three principal passes of the South Island - Haast, Arthur's, and Lewis - are all to be anticipated, enjoyed and then reminisced about. I had not been over the Arthur's for nearly twenty years. I'd twice previously been across it in my youth though not in the best of weather I recall. The road cleaves through the alps rising steeply from the coast up to Arthur's Pass at just under a thousand metres (3300ft) . Then it wanders through the alps interior for a while before gently depositing you on the Canterbury Plains.The sky was a bit drab on the western incline but I was breaking out into fine weather once past Arthur's Pass village. It is a great drive and the weather was good, but the whole point of going in winter really is the snow and in truth there was simply bugger all of it, the result of a mild un-snowy winter thus far. I was tempted to camp in the middle of it all to capture some light at dusk and dawn, but it being only mid afternoon and hearing the call of the Deep South and being assualted by a posse of Kea I carried on. It's always cool to do a pass, but I'd love to do the Arthur's again in good weather with a bundle of snow about.
MacKenzie Country - Paritea (Clay Cliffs)
I spent the night at Raikaia Gorge near Mt Hutt, and set off on a brightish morning with the vague intent of ending up somewhere on the way to, or possibly at, Glenorchy. It was a pleasant drive skirting the edge of the plains and I was pondering what state I would find the Mackenzie country in. For the uninitiated the Mackenzie comprises of a highland plateau between the passes of Burkes in the north and Lindis in the south. The Mackenzie is the gateway to Mt Cook, home to the glacial blue lakes Pukaki, Ohau and Tekapo, and setting for the villages of Tekapo, Twizel and Omarama. I use to think of the Mackenzie as a largely vegetation-less and lifeless wasteland hemmed by monolithic and impassive mountains, a rather sterile and slightly spooky plateau. However of late I have noticed the homesteads of the sheep farmers set amongst small tracts of bush and this has set me thinking of it in more humane and animated terms. I think less of chilled emptiness and more of a home on the range. No matter what emotional state this landscapes sends you to if you have any affinity for great landscapes then you're always hoping that the weather gods are smiling upon you when you enter the Mackenzie. Bad weather is anything that obscures the landscape to dull grey, good weather is that which lets you see at least some of the wonder of this place. Today I would not gawp down Lake Pukaki to Aorangi (Mt Cook) under blue skies weather but I had groovy clouds and filtered sunlight which perhaps even offered more for my lens. It was one of those times when the light compelled me to stop, particularly round Lake Pukaki, and capture some of the enfolding landscape drama. The clouds were doing their thing and there was enough sun breaking through to light up the lake of un-earthly blue and luminous foaming mini breakers hitting the rocky shore.
My main photographic mission for the day was a local feature that I'd only noticed on my last time through the Mackenzie due to it soaking up the late afternoon rays. The Clay Cliffs (Paritea) are an outcrop of striped clay cliffs roughly 50 metres (160ft) high and a couple of hundred metres in length accessed via a private farm road. What makes them cool is the combination of the striped colouring with the fluted vertical shaping and ragged tops that makes one think of the buttes and mesas of classic Westerns (Hollywood style). The Westerns theme continues with the surrounding vegetation of dry tundra grass, stubby hardy shrubs, red berry bejeweled rosehip and thorny bushes. The freaky outcrop is perfectly set on a wide plain with a river running nearby and mountains in the near distance, well worth the small detour from the main highway (sign posted just north of Omarama). I was blessed with some photogenic cloud and sun conditions and got some images that did Paritea some representative justice. (You'll find all the images for the Mackenzie in the Central South Island gallery) - CENTS.
Leaving Paritea behind I climbed out of the Mackenzie via the Lindis Pass and onwards to Queenstown into darker clouds and eventual rain. The rain was pretty heavy by the time I reached Queenstown near dark and I made a supermarket stop amongst the apres ski rush hour before setting off for a dark wet drive to the end of Lake Wakatipu and the hamlet of Glenorchy. It was still pissing down by the time I reached Glenorchy but this time I wasn't pitching tent, I headed for the local backpackers. Turns out I had the place to myself so was able to spread out and sort and pack all my gear ready for a 4-5 day hike up the Rees/Dart valleys.
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