The Otago Central Rail Trail 2

Day Two - Oturehua to Daisybank

I reached the summit of the trail at 11am on day two. 618 metres above sea level and at 45 degrees South, this position commanded excellent views of the valleys either side. I was really pleased to be travelling down hill, for the rest of the day! I saw Australasian Harrier Hawks circling for prey over the Maniototo valley and attempted to capture them on film, but lamented not having a more powerful lens. The morning ride also took me through Wedderburn where the rail shed painted by Graham Sydney has been restored, something of a New Zealand icon.

It was cooler today I think and a slight breeze made the ride more pleasant. I stopped in Ranfurly for lunch and looked at the art deco buildings there. It is a quiet town but very interesting, and the train station in particular, I liked. Mid afternoon I paused in Waipiata for some food and a beer, and was surprised to find three local bowls teams enjoying the local bitter inside. Bowls is a popular sport here especially amongst the retired, and the teams looked great in their official uniforms.

At 9pm I camped on the Taieri river about 12km north of Hyde. The site was lovely, about 15 feet from the water's edge. It was another hard cycle towards the end of the day but quite worth it. The Taieri gorge is incredible to look at ans is easily my favourite part of the route so far. I came within thirty metres of a hawk grounding to catch a hare and it was quite magical. I completed about 50km today, so the pace was slower, and I was looking forward to completing the journey.

"The land is hilly, with many outcrops of rock. The scenery between Omakau and Ranfurly will be familiar to anyone who has seen Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy as the location for many of the scenes set in Rohan." - Wikipedia


Day Three - Daisybank to Middlemarch, and beyond

The last day took me 36km into Middlemarch and I had to start early, my train left at 1pm from there. With plenty of time to spare I arrived and handed my bike to the agent there before changing and boarding my train. The last section of the ride felt good as I came down from the high country and felt like I was nearing the sea, and greater development in terms of farmland and towns. In fact I had a two hour train journey still to go before reaching the ocean, and Dunedin. The train is recreational and passes down the Taieri gorge through spectacular cliffs, tunnels, and over bridges. It was an amazing ride and I was gobsmacked by the scenery. Arriving finally in Dunedin I found my accommodation and had dinner before getting an early night.

The Otago Central Rail Trail 1

I heard about the Trail from a TV programme called Off the Rails which charted the journey of a New Zealand broadcaster around the many miles of used and disused NZ railway. The track looked so good I made my way down here to try it! The journey started in fruity Cromwell where I booked my hire bike and sundry transport. I stayed two nights and hit lucky when a Kiwi holidaymaker gave me a ride around lake Dunstan on his motor boat. The lake is beautiful. For those interested it is a man-made lake, caused by the building of the Clyde Dam. Historic Cromwell is now submerged beneath the lake (including the road bridge which originally towered many metres above the river here).

Day One - Clyde to Oturehua

Nine hours riding and 70km complete! It was at least 37 degrees in the shade today and I really suffered in the afternoon. The scenery is breathtaking, with high dry mountainous landscape with snowy peaks in the background. Gorges through the limestone country are crossed on wooden and iron bridges, some dating back to the turn of the last century. Two long tunnels made by blasting and brick work look fantastic and create an amazing atmosphere on the trail. Isolated farmsteads make the only human entrance on the rail trail, else it is desolate and solitary. I saw only three other riders all day.
I had to grit my teeth a few times as the legs burned and the brow sweated but I felt a great achievement in arriving at Oturehua, I had done the majority of the uphill section in just one day. The wonderful people at Chatto Creek and Oturehua who looked after me are to be congratulated on their excellent hospitality, and cooking! Also the ladies at Cromwell Information Centre who helped organise this trip are real angels. Thanks!

Punakaiki: The Inland Pack Track 2

Day two down Dilemna Creek was spectacular. Again I had to navigate a path in and out of the water, as the river meandered through a precipitous limestone gorge. I was wearing boots now and not sandles (as i had the day before for crossing Fossil Creek), far better for walking in the water and not caring if they got wet.
Dilemna Creek passes through mountainous limestone bluffs, lined with palms and is a real beauty. I sang and ate dried apricots - my spirits were very high! At the foot of the creek it meets the Fox River and there is a cavern upstream called the Ballroom where many hikers camp out of the rain. I dropped my pack and swam across the Fox to investigate. It was close by but not as good as my camping spot so I was glad, the Ballroom was a little too dank and creepy. I returned to my pack and set off down the Fox. This part felt like the home stretch as it sidled the gorge on the left hand side. Waterfalls spattered and gurgled away and the forest was alive with cicadas and birds.
The track finished at State Highway 6 and i hitched a ride with no problems. I went directly to the Beach Hostel in Punakaiki where I had been staying; showered, ate and got into the hot spa pool to watch the sunset. Just the thing after such a long walk!

Punakaiki: The Inland Pack Track 1

Excited and relieved to be

leaving the city of Nelson

A calm sunny morning

and the bells chime

Now where are you going

Punakaiki? asks the driver

car on car unloads

and shoppers wake the streets

Outward bound my destiny

with rucksack on my back

Goodbye you starlings

and you trout

and wading pied shag

I left the Punakaiki beach hostel at 10am, all packed and ready to go. Carrying tent , roll mat, sleeping bag and pillow, water, tins of food, knife, matches, sun lotion, insect repellant, spare clothes. A good two-hour walk through subtropical jungle on a well-beaten path. Then into beech forest after fording the Poriraro river, and here I had my first encounter with a Robin who emerged from the forest as I dried my feet. I hear da flutter of wings and there it was, right up close to me, and hopping over my belongings and trying to eat my pack. Well it had a good look at everything I own before I saddled up and left for the next section of the walk.

The path was muddier and wound through the forest and into the hills. I came out in a clearing at 1pm where there was a crossroads and here I met a Swiss lady also doing the same walk and we ate lunch. Again came a robin and this time ate scraps from my lap. Walking together for a while we passed out of the forest and into farm land around Bullock Creek. There were fields and a 4WD track with great views of the Paparoa mountains. After fording the creek the path went into bush again and passed some immense patches of flax to the left and right, before rising slowly into podocarp forest. This section of the walk was the hardest going, so muddy and up-and-down and through thick jungle. Here and there the water courses cut sink holes and waterfalls in the limestones, sometimes quite precipitously and suitably signed with hazard warnings by the Dept. of Conservation. After a further two hours or so I emerged at Fossil Creek. Here the path ends and you must push through ten feet or so of bush to meet the water, and follow it down stream. The forest here is beautiful, overhanging the creek and the banks of rounded stones left behind by higher waters. Many trees beset the way, which took me across the creek several times, and I had to duck and climb to get through.

I knew I wanted to camp at the the confluence of Fossil and Dilemna Creeks. It was tiring for the last few kilometres and I was glad to see the Dilemna gushing down the hill to my right. I went upstream and made camp on a sandbank in the creek perhaps 80 metres by 10 metres in size. After lying down i nmy tent and then making dinner in the fire I explored a little, but was in bed asleep by 8pm.


The night passed well. I awoke just before sunset and then again just after. The sky was a light blue with stars; not black or even dark blue, but light blue, I was amazed. Later the moon came up and cast great shadows across the sand bank. I awoke at about 5am to the sound of birds (maybe Kiwis! I'm not sure . . ) on the bank, and a great mist had rolled down th ecreek, making everything quite wet. I secured my tent flat and dozed to the sound of the birds until falling asleep again and waking at 9am. I tried to bathe but was put off by how cold the creek water was, so I just plastered on the insect repellant because the sand flies were everywhere and made another fire to warm myself and my baked beans. I got going again at 10am and started my way down the dilemna.

The wide blue yonder

I have just arrived in Nelson from our week at the riverside community near Motueka. We have had a lovely time staying with Rachel's relatives and enjoying the countryside. We all caught our first fish together, and ate them, so passing an important rite of NZ passage. I took this photo of Tasman Bay on our ride home from Little Kaiteriteri.

Tomorrow my bus leaves for Punakaiki on the west coast. I intend to tramp inland for a day and back before moving on down the coast. I want to cycle the rail trail from central Otago to Dunedin but dont know how I will return my bike to the hire shop if I do!

I am now on my own for the first time during my adventure and it feels a little disorienting. There appears to be no-one to turn to except for myself!

New Zealand Wildlife

A very brief photography of some of the animals I have seen here so far. I am yet to capture one of the common hawks here on film, but I hope to do so in the near future - they are amazing!

Stick insect of unkown genus, native to New Zealand and photographed here on John Andersen's roses!

ANOTHER stick insect, this time quite a bit harder to see. Let me know if you spot it! I took this photo in the garden at Hatepe.

Aha! A trout. Non-native to New Zealand, but abundant in rivers all over the country - and very popular with local fishermen!

Yes, you got it! Young bulls! Ellen's brother Paul lives next to Lake Wairerapa, and this is a picture of the field next door to his house. I know it's not technically wildlife but it's a good photo. Non-native breed I might add.

Again, not really wildlife but what a beautiful horse! This photo was taken north of Auckland whilst I was exploring. Horses are non-native to New Zealand.

This species of heron is native to Australia, but I spotted it fishing in the river at Hatepe. I think it is particularly striking because of the white feathers around its head.

A common duck, I don't know whether it is a native or introduced species, which I spotted feeding in the lake Rotopounamu. Don't you just love his blue feathers darling?

Lake Taupo

The ancient remains of a huge crater, now filled with water! Lake Taupo and the surrounding area remains volcanically active to this day, a fact which the locals have exploited with more or less success. It is vaguely ironic that a booming economy such as this should lie atop explosive geological features. Further North in Rotorua a thriving tourist scene surrounds the hot geysers and mud pools which form the fundamental novelty attraction of the area. The city of Rotorua itself reeks of sulphur, but you get used to it after a while. Here in Taupo, a more domestic tourist centre, New Zealanders flock to enjoy watersports in the summer and skiing in the winter. The fact that the local swimming pools remain at bath-water temperature all year round (via a heat exchange with hot springs) is a major bonus to the already beautiful surroundings. South of the lake at Tokaanu a private spa and public bath exploit the thermal vents and prehistoric-looking mud pools which bubble and plop in the bush. It is all quite dramatic and invigorating.

Our tramp in the bush took place at the foothills of Tongariro National Park, a world heritage site that was gifted to the New Zealand authorities by wise Maori Tribal leaders who have prevented the land becoming sheep farm. Rotopounamu means Lake Greenstone; although there is no actual greenstone present, when calm the water reflects the colour of the surrounding bush. The walk was easy and the scenery beautiful, the area lent itself perfectly to a rudimentary botany lesson from Ellen's father. I can now identify several species of fern and native trees.