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Easter Trip Story (from Horse - better late than never!)

Eight of the fourteen vehicles booked on trip met at the BP in Papakura at 8.00am on Wednesday 31st March in preparation for the drive to wellington. The rest were going to meet us on the way at various points.

It was an uneventful drive to the capital stopping in Waiouru for lunch.

Much fun was had trying to get to our overnight accommodation in Wellington due to the one way road system which had us going around the block a number of times before we realised that we were one block out and needed to be further south.
An early start was needed to get us to the ferry in time to check in for the Cook Strait crossing. Thankfully it was a calm sailing. I still love the trip up the sounds to Picton. Once at Picton we met up with some of the other vehicles and set off up Queen Charlotte Sound. A short detour was made over a track that offered fantastic views of Mahau Sound and Havelock. The next stop was Pelorus Bridge where some more intrepid of the group took a swim in the river. The plan was to then travel the Maungatapu track to Nelson but alas the track was still closed, and I believe is still closed due to arguments over maintenance. An alternate trip was made to Hori bay at Whangamoa Head.

Fantastic views towards Able Tasman Park across Tasman Bay.

(photos 1 & 2).

After a night in Nelson, part of which was spent trying to find somewhere decent to eat, we all regrouped early on Good Friday, at Wakefield, south of Nelson. Fortunately for us, but unfortunate for the locals, the bakery had just opened and the smell of hot cross buns fresh out of the oven wafted across the road. We managed to clean out their entire stock, apart from the locally pre ordered ones. Sorry Wakefield. From there it was south to the Porika track via Tophouse and St Arnaud

. (photo 3 “Howards Rd on to Porika”) The Porika track is one of my favourites, especially the views down to Lake Rotoroa from the top. (Insert photo if you have one)
From Rotoroa we headed off for Murchison via the Braeburn track which is an easy drive through a scenic valley punctuated by some fords. A stop for lunch was had in a very busy Murchison necessitating us, much to the amusement of the locals, to set up our picnic on the footpath. Then on to Springs Junction via the Maruia Saddle track.

(photo 4 & 5)

After a wee play in the Inangahua River we arrived at Reefton. Some of the more precious of the group had sought out upmarket digs in Reefton leaving the rest of us hardy bunch to head to the Old Nurses Home to settle in to our accommodation.

(photo 6). We got our keys and were told that we had the run of the place, more bedrooms than we needed, three lounges, three bathrooms and three kitchens. When we opened up we all thought “what the hell have we let ourselves into”. The place was soon named “The Asylum” because of its long corridors and eerie feeling. But once we had settled in, got the heaters going and had a beer and wine all was fine. In fact I think we would go back there if we had a large group despite Veronika swearing that she was visited by a ghost in wee small hours....

The next day we headed, under the guidance of Bob and his wife and their dog Ted, up to Iron Bridge to start the track over to Denniston on the West coast.

(photo 7)

The track follows the high tension power lines

(photo 8)

over the ridge and on to the plateau at Denniston. The track was in good condition according to Bob. There were a couple of river crossings

(photos 9 & 10)

on the way. When we got to Denniston we had a good look around at the old workings and the coal scuttles that formed the famous “Denniston Incline”.

photos 11 & 12)

It was then back to Reefton stopping for lunch in Westport. Near Reefton we tried another track that we thought might get us through to Reefton another way but as it was getting late and we didn’t like the look of the river crossing we called it quits. The only obstacle on the way was a tree that had come down across the track. But we had “Tim The Tool Man” with us and he made short work of the tree with his “Tool”.

(Photo 13)
The next day we did Napoleons Hill driving through the tunnels that had been dug by hand in an effort to extract the alluvial gold that has settled in the bends of the river. The afternoon was spent driving up to Big River mine. It must have been a huge undertaking cutting the track out of the rock through the hills and a massive task using bullock teams to get the amount of heavy machinery up there.

(photos 14 &15)

The last couple of days were spent getting back to Auckland, overnighting at Blenheim, taking in the aviation museum. Then back to Wellington and on up to National Park staying at The Park. The last day was spent doing the 42nd Traverse and then homeward bound.