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Monthly Archives: March 2009
Australia day 6 – Shearwater
Andy rustles up a full English and we have breakfast on the balcony taking in the panoramic views of the estuary, the long sandy beaches on both shores, the bush and mountains beyond. We drive to Latrobe with Helen and Adrian, stopping in Davenport along the way to inspect the statue of Neptune which has been the subject of an on-going controversy for the last four years as the local community have debated its artistic merit, cultural significance and position. In fact it turns out to be particularly unimpressive on all counts..
We take a walk through the small village of Latrobe with its historic streetscape dating back to the 1800s. It could be a Sunday – most of the shops close in the afternoon and there is a rather deserted feel to the main street. There are some attractive older-style houses and shops many with verandahs over the pavement, others with elaborate façades. We spend some time browsing Helen’s favourite shop, Reliquaire. It’s small frontage hides a maze of rooms crammed with a cornucopia of the weird and wonderful as well as the more mundane and ordinary. From puppets, painted dolls, teddies, gollies and whole room devoted to Betty Boop to toys, dressing up clothes, animatronics, ‘the tardis’. electronic games, jewellery, clothes, architectural salvage and English garden furniture and much more besides. It’s a browser’s paradise but we manage to tear ourselves away to meander on to an interesting shop-cum-cafe for scones and cream and another cholesterol-laden iced chocolate or, in Andy’s case, coffee. We decide to give the Australian Axeman’s Hall of Fame, which is not some gruesome memorial to an axe murderer but a museum celebrating famous lumberjacks, a miss.
Jenny and Kevin, long-standing friends of Helen and Adrian, come over for dinner and we have a delicious meal, lots of wine and entertaining conversation. Kevin is a pharmacist and he advises taking vitamin B1 for the prevention of mosquito and other insects bites. Apparently it comes out through the pores and acts as a repellent. We’ll give it a go and see how effective it is when we get to Darwin.
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Australia day 5 – Shearwater
Helen is visiting her mother in Ulverstone and Adrian is supervising the hanging of new blinds in the house. It’s a gloriously sunny day without a cloud in the sky; perfect for a walk on the beach and to explore the neighbourhood. Shearwater on the tidal Rubicon River estuary. It is a popular holiday village which is seeing a considerable amount of new development and there are plenty of plots for sale. Colloquially known as ‘shacks’ the properties here are anything but, sitting on their private plots many either on the shoreline or with views of it, there is plenty of money invested in week-enders and holiday properties here. This morning is low tide leaving a huge expanse of beach and on closer inspection there are thousands of small red crabs which curl up into small balls as we walk amongst them.
After lunch we take a walk along the estuary foreshore to the sea. The shoreline is lined with one and two storey houses built to capture the views and there are some lovely sandy beaches and secluded coves along this rocky stretch. We walk on through the nature reserve as far as Carbuncle Island, which can be reached across the sands at low tide, but not this afternoon. This is a great place for wild life probably because there is no road beyond this point; we spot two wallabies, several rabbits, and a snake slithering across the path into the undergrowth.
New Zealand North Island day 38 – Taumuranui to Auckland
Had a leisurely start; we have a four-hour drive to Auckland to drop the car at the airport and check-in to our overnight accommodation at the Comfort Inn. The weather is sunny and warm and the scenery is rugged steep folds of hills with angular contours, narrow deep gullies and sheep. Further north this wild landscape gives way to gentle rolling hills. We get a transfer from the car rental office to the airport a few minutes away and save about $60 by getting a courtesy coach to the Comfort Inn – a rather unprepossessing motel complex which surprisingly has rather well equipped rooms with cooking facilities. We have meal at Greek/Indian restaurant nearby and prepare for an early night – our flight to Hobart is at 6.50am tomorrow morning. Continue reading
Posted in New Zealand, North Island
Tagged Auckland, New Zealand, North Island, Taumauranui
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New Zealand North Island day 37 – Taumauganui
Our second day on river and it is a glorious day, sunny and warm – just perfect for canoeing. And the scenery is just as stunning, if not more so, than yesterday as we paddle through deep gorges. We had an early night last night – once it got dark at around 9pm that was little else to do but snuggle down in our sleeping bags! Nonetheless we still don’t get up until about 8.30. Breakfast overlooking river – great. We pack up and away by 10.45 leaving us just enough time to cover the four-hour paddle to our pick up point at Whakaroro. Occasionally we pass and are passed in return by our fellow river companions – the Americans and the father and son. It’s still proving very difficult to tell where we are on river despite the descriptions on the map and we have no idea whether we will make our destination on time. Fortunately and to our surprise we arrive to meet our pick up dead on 3pm having failed to recognise one of the most challenging rapids on today’s stretch of river as described in our notes – it can’t have been that challenging!
We are picked up one of the family’s sons and his friend. The son is 16 and rattles along the unsurfaced Whanganui River road covering in one hour a journey that should have taken an hour an half. When we arrive back at the hire place, there is no sign of any adults and we unpack our gear and leave – noone bothering to check that everything is in order and we have returned all the kit we have hired. A bizarre way to run a company!
New Zealand North Island day 36 – Taumauranui
It’s and early start ; we need to finish packing the car, purchase a foot pump for the airbeds and get to Taumaranui Canoe Hire all by 8.30am. We stop off at Mitre 10 a large chain store along the lines of B&Q to get airbed pump, but they have sold the last one and in desperation we take a standard tyre pump more suited to blowing up cycle tyres. When we arrive at Taumaranui Canoe Hire things are a little chaotic, kids running around getting ready for school, mum having breakfast We needn’t really have worried about getting here for 8.30am as we don’t get our river briefing until after 9am. The briefing of the river conditions is probably the most thorough we have ever received, plus we get a river map, written description of the key points along the way and paddle times. The weather not great, but at least not raining.
The Whanganui River winds its way from the mountains to Whanganui City on the Tasman Sea. It flows through hills, valleys and lowland forest forming the heart of the Whanganui National Park. The surrounding land is formed of soft sandstone layered with mudstone which has been eroded by the river to form sharp ridges, deep gorges, waterfalls and sheer mudstone cliffs. Over this dramatic landscape has grown a broadleafed forest of native trees, ferns and plants. Birds are in abundance as their song testifies and the hum of bees can be heard as we paddle down river. This is a beautiful and untouched wilderness …almost – there is a road that runs along side some stretches of the river which is only evident from the noise of the occasional car.
The meandering river is just right balance of flat slow water and rapids to add interest. We meet two other canoes along the way – a couple of young Americans from Colorado and Connecticut and a man and his young son. We make a couple of stops along the way for a ‘brew’ and to visit a lavender farm. The latter a short climb up the bank and nestled under the folds of the hills. We stop to have our picnic lunch before enjoying a drink on the verandah of the cafe soaking up the sun as the scent of lavender wafts through the air and the butterflies flit among the flowers. An idyllic spot.
We arrive at the small riverside campsite around 5.15pm having begun to wonder whether we had missed it somewhere along the way. The map of the river isn’t proving very useful as there are few distinguishing landmarks for orientation. The man and his son have arrived just ahead of us so there will be four of us camping here tonight . The site is basic; there is running water (which you can drink at your own risk according to the sign), a thunderbox which is littered with dead flies (not very pleasant) and a covered shelter for preparing food. We set up tent overlooking river and cook one pot curry on a small gas burner. It’s a glorious sunny evening, and the birdsong and gurgling of the rapids are interrupted only by the very occasional car as it makes its way along the unsurfaced road that traces the river high up on the opposite bank.
New Zealand North Island day 35 – Wellington to Taumaurunui
Another driving day as we make our way from Wellington to Taumaranui where we are planning to do a couple of days’ canoeing down the Whanganui River. The drive between Wellington and Whangarui city on the west coast is not particularly interesting scenery in the NZ scheme of things, but the landscape becomes much more dramatic as we make our way from Whangarui to Taumaranui. Steep-sided folds of hills with deep narrow valleys provide rough pasture for sheep and a few cows – apparently there are some 40 million sheep in New Zealand mainly clinging to the rugged high ground. The weather is but pretty miserable; windy and chilly. As we continue to climb higher pasture turns to heath land.
Taumaranui is a focal point for the area situated on the banks of the Whanganui River at the start of the romantically and enigmatically named Forgotten World Highway it is an access point to the Wanganui River National Park as well as being reasonably close to Lake Taupo to the east. People come here for the walks, canoeing and kayaking as well as the jet boat rides along the river. We don’t arrive until 4.30pm and have still to book our canoe trip for tomorrow. After driving round trying to find The canoe hire company is somewhere on the outskirts of Taumaranui but after driving around for about half-an-hour we are no nearer finding it (New Zealand isn’t great for signing small out-of-the-way places or their streets in some cases), and decide to go straight to the holiday park – which we have already booked – to.get directions.
Taumaranui Canoe Hire turns out to be a family run business in the literal sense – the kids seem to be involved too – operating out of the family home (the office is in the lounge Set in a stunning location, the back of the house is wall to ceiling glass which opens up over incredible views of the surrounding countryside and the Whanganui below. Despite a rather homespun feel, the husband and wife team seem to be reasonably on the ball and we book our trip for two days with the hire of some warm sleeping bags, dry suits and five barrels for our stuff.
Back at the holiday park there is lively conversation in the kitchen with a New Zealand couple – the husband turns out to be an Englishman who has been living in New Zealand for the past 30-odd years – and a single English woman travelling alone, all of whom are on the river tomorrow. Eventually we have to drag ourselves away to pack our barrels for tomorrow’s early start.
Posted in New Zealand, North Island
Tagged New Zealand, North Island, Taumaurunui, Wellington
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