It has been two years since we have been back to New Zealand- two years too long we think . The plan this trip is to explore the bits of Te Waipounamu ( the South Island) that we are less familiar with. No multi-day tramps planned this time as work over the last few months has precluded any decent preparation walks. Our aim is to travel down the West Coast, then loop cut back in through an old friend (Central Otago) to Christchurch. Mark briefly transited the West Coast 17 years ago, the area is new to Nessie, so we are looking forward to some new sights and experiences.
We left Canberra midday on Christmas Day, enroute to Christchurch via Sydney. A lengthy layover in Sydney , extended by a Qantas delay for some reason or another, meant Christmas Day 🎄 spent in the QF lounge at Sydney. A less than ideal way to spend the day. We landed in Christchurch at 0100 local time and didn’t clear quarantine and customs until 0200.🥱. Thankfully it was only a short 200m walk to our Airport Hotel and we were in bed by 0300ish.
Thursday 26th December ( Boxing Day ) . We were up at 0500 for a quick WOD and 5 km run … not true! We struggled awake around 9 and managed to get out and pick up our hire car by Elevenish … not the most productive morning on holidays ever after the late finish to Christmas Day travel.
The day picked up though as we headed North out of Christchurch then West towards Lewis Pass as the portal to the West Coast. The day was overcast and wet , but it cleared markedly once through the Pass and its stunning scenery ( sorry, forgot to take photos 🤦♂️). We also passed through some lovely Beech Forests and a lot of Manuka growing along the river ways and lower foot hills.
We arrived in Reefton around 1630 and to a nice AirBnB called the Vicarage for our overnight stay. By now the weather was dry and a cracking 25 degrees C.
Reefton is a neat town in the hills that owes its start to the discovery of gold in the near region in the mid-nineteenth Century. It sits astride the Inangahua River, a pleasant , wide and shallow stream at this point.
Like many such towns it had suffered a bit of ‘boom and bust’. 19th Century gold mining was replaced by 20th Century coal mining. Today the town presents as a neat little rural centre with a nice green hilly backdrop.
We went for a walk around town, downed a pint of Speights without fighting anyone, and had dinner at a really good wood fired pizza place . Evening entertainment consisted of sitting on the porch listening to the river babble over the rocks. And swatting sandflies. Definitely back in NZ!
Ness’ and Mark’s Wandering 