We were up & out of the door by 20 to 5. Of course it was still dark when we picked up Marjo & Valentin.
It was about a kilometre from the farm to the coast road, & then another 20 to the end of it. We kept disturbing birds who'd been sleeping in the road, & once there was something with 4 legs in the headlights, but it was off before any of us figured out what it was. Cat probably?There was a camper-van already in the car park, & there was bit of light in the sky, so Graham's torch wasn't necessary up the track & steps to the lighthouse.
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| It was marginally warmer behind the little entrance hut, so I lurked there while I awaited the sunrise. |
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| The beginning of the sunrise |
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| View south along the east side of the Cape |
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| Some of the steps down to the farm & car park |
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| More steps |
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| The way up to the lighthouse |
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| A tree with antlers?? |
So as not to miss anything we had rushed up the path, so, consequently, I hadn't counted the steps.
Too bloody puffed!?!?! ;-)
I did count them on the way down, but, for some reason, the number never made my notes.
If I do it again in March '16, I'll have to remember to put it on paper.
That said, from out of my memory popped 728, so I googled it, & found references to >700, so maybe it was 728?
It was a great track, though, through lovely bush, & I can heartily recommend a leisurely stroll up & down. Unless you want to burn lots of calories, that is? :-)
I'd left the others at the top (along with camper-van peeps & baby), but with a chemi-loo at the car park, I headed there.
Just back long the road from the car I found this tree, & 'saw' several antlered-deer there. I'd never seen deer in a tree before, so I took a pic.
By the time the others got back (minus camper-van peeps), a horse had come for a look.
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| The dapple grey traffic cop! |
Somewhere on someone's camera is a picture of me leading her out of the way ;-p
The road back along the coast was much clearer, & it was actually a very scenic drive along the long Horoera Bay.
It was just after 7 when I dropped the others off at the farm, so I headed back to the hostel to get a bit more kip.
Waking at 0830, I packed my ruckie into the boot & took a few pics. There is a good photo lifted from google on the last blog, but my amateur one is OK.
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| My room opened into the garden via the big French window in the middle of the house. |
But before breakfast I visited Joan's loo ;-)
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| The loo at the farm! |
There was a bucket of grass clippings which Joan said I had to put down the hole (no plumbing here!)
Apparently it helps the decomposition process happen a lot quicker. Well I never! ! ;-0
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| Graham, Joan, Marjo & Valentin at the breakfast table |
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| Lake Ratahi at Te Puia |
Stopping at the gas station, I put a bit in, got a takeaway coffee & ice cream, & went to the Ladies.
I didn't know what the lake was called until today (Feb 1st 2016), but I asked Bill Hughes, the helpful guy who owns Te Poutapeta - The Post Office B&B in Tokomaru Bay, & he told me. Thanks Bill.
At some point in the future I shall be blogging about my stay there as well :-)
Meanwhile, refreshed, off I set again, & hit the coast at Tokomaru Bay
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| Tokomaru Bay looking SE |
Detouring slightly, I went left down Beach Rd, & stopped by a slipway across from the Te Puka Tavern to take this pic.
Back in the car, the SH35 left the coast immediately & went through the hinterland for 35k when it hit the coast again at Tolaga Bay.
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| The lovely estuary of the Uawa River |
Unfortunately, I get so interested in having a vicarious look round, it invariably takes me ages to get back to Blogger. Oops!
That's one reason why it takes me so long to post anything!
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| From the same bridge, but looking east |
Here the road turned south & ran along the coast, & on reaching the headland just north of Okitu, it was time for another scenic photo.
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| My notes tell me this is Tatapouti Beach, but Gmaps was unhelpful this time, & said it's Makorori Beach ~ despite the same headland. Uh? |
Parking the car at about 1230, I found a Pharmacy for more anti-itch pills, & Gisborne Deli was across the road.
It had started to rain just after 1/2 eleven, & it was quite heavy while I was in Gisborne. Because of that, I didn't explore much. Maybe next time?
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| Gisborne lunch: Butty, 2 cakes, & a brew |
Lunch was good & tasty, though :-q
After lunch, I nipped into the I-site to ask about getting some food for tea at Morere Springs. They said there was a chip shop at Nuhaka, not far off.
Back in the car, slightly damp, I found a petrol station, topped up, & (just because it was there!) went along the length of Centennial Marine Drive to where the Waipaoa estuary was.
Then I turned round & drove all the way back again. There was an old railway bridge across the river, but I had come to the end of the road.
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| I think the wind from Poverty Bay made this Norfolk pine grow cock-eyed?? |
There were quite a few Norfolk Pines along there, so I took a pic of one that was leaning a bit.
Back on the main road, the SH2 took over from the SH35 after about 5k, & I turned south onto it: the road still keeping the old rail line in view.
It was about 1/2 two, so I'd spent nearly an hour messing around in Gisborne after lunch!
After about an hours drive I came to Morere Springs.
The Springs themselves were just past my digs on the left, so after checking out opening time & prices for a hot-spring bathe, I did a uey & went back about 100m to the Morere Springs Motor Lodge & Cafe.
Wendy wasn't about, but her hubby showed me were I was to stay ~ an awesomely cute little standalone cabin.
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| My cute little cabin at Morere Springs |
Parking the car right next to it, I unpacked a bit, shoved some stuff in the washer in the communal area, & walked to the Hot Springs.
I had a bikini & a towel, & it was next to nothing to get warm & wet, so off I set through the Scenic Reserve to the bath house.
It was a great little walk, with various notices along the way about the flora & fauna, & after about 20min I got to the bath house.
The bath house was a teeny bit decrepit, & there were loads of things floating in the water, but they were all dead, so that was OK ;-p
I spent about half an hour in the 3 different, variously heated pools, & also sat in the little stream for a couple of min. Then I had a cold shower to wash the bits off. It was also a teeny bit nerve-wracking getting dressed, as there was no door to the showers! ! !
There was an option of a different, longer, walk back, so I crossed the little bridge close to the bath house & set off into the bush.
I walked for over 3/4 of an hour, but didn't see or hear a soul - other than tuis & bell birds etc. Thanks to my previous excursions & rides through bush, I can recognise their calls :-)
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| Interesting tree trunks |
Back at the Lodge, it was time to think of tea, so after a quick brew, I hopped in the car & drove about 8k to Nuhaka where the SH2 takes a right turn onto Hawke's Bay. The left turn would take you onto the Mahia Peninsula, & I may go for a shufti at that on my way north in March '16?
At the corner there was a store & a chippy. The store was an old fashioned kind of place, a bit like you'd expect to see the Waltons or the Cunninghams shopping in, if you get my drift?, & after getting a bit more coffee, snacks for tomorrow's journey, & milk for muesli, I went to the chippy.
I opted for tarahiki & chips, as I'd not heard of some of the species on offer. Plus, it was the cheapest, & I was hungry.
There were also small tubs labelled Kina, so I asked what it was, & the Maori lady behind the counter said "sea urchin". Never one to miss a new eating experience (& I figured it couldn't possibly be as bad as Natto (YukYukYuk) ), I bought a tub.
I should've asked how to cook it. Oops!
Back at the Lodge, I shoved the main course into a frying pan to warm up the chips & brown them a bit more, & while I waited tried a bit of raw kina.
NOT a cunning plan, Baldrick!
There was only 1 frying pan, & I was already using that, so I boiled the kettle, put the kina into a bowl & poured boiling water over it ~ well, it works for most shellfish!
Still not a cunning plan, but better than raw, & I ate about half the tub before deciding it needed something extra ;-p.
A bit more boiling water & some vinegar later (that defo works for whelks, winkles, cockles & mussels), I tried again.
Again, not great, but I finished it off after my tarahiki & chips, & got rid of the taste by having muesli & milk for pudding.
Ah well, you live & learn!
And it still wasn't as horrendous as natto.
This is what Google says about natto:
Nattō (なっとう or 納豆 ?) is a traditional Japanese food made from soybeans fermented with Bacillus subtilis var. natto. Some eat it as a breakfast food. It is served with soy sauce, karashi mustard and welsh onion. Nattō may be an acquired taste because of its powerful smell, strong flavor, and slimy texture.
Doesn't that sound great or what?
What ! ;-p
Someone else gave another description of it:
Natto happens when perfectly good soybeans are deliberately turned rotten by introducing a bacteria, Bacillus natto, to the batch. These soybeans then mutate into some kind of monster soybeans and are covered in slime as if they're melting and decomposing right before your eyes. Supposedly natto tastes and smells like death itself, however, these are all gross exaggerations (emphasis on the gross). Natto, in fact, does not taste like death. Exactly the opposite, it tastes like life. Only it's life that just happens to taste and smell like moldy sweat socks, reminiscent of an old roommate.
This is truly living food. There are between one million and one billion active bacteria per gram of natto. Bacillus natto contains vitamin K which produces menaquinone 7 that helps prevent osteoporosis. Natto also helps to prevent senile dementia, breast cancer, blood clots and aids in digestion. As a tradeoff you'll need to hand over your olfactory sense and remaining taste buds — a small price to pay for immortality.
Natto won't win any best tasting food contests anytime soon, but its benefits definitely make the momentary unpleasantness of ingesting it worthwhile. My experience with natto led me to place it in the category of food that grows on you (and possibly grows inside you too). I found the complex flavors both appealing and appalling. Stinky tofu was a similar experience and that's also a fermented food.
Although I don't feel natto's flavor is like making out with a hobo's ass, I can appreciate why someone wouldn't want to put it in his mouth. Plus, it's more like a hillbilly's ass—you know, earthier.
And this is what it looks like:
Rhymes with snot-oh.
You have been warned!
Anyway, experiment over, I cleaned my teeth (who wouldn't after that?), & did some sudoku in bed in my awesomely cute little cabin :-D
So endeth December the 2nd.
Day 14 ~ Dec 3rd: Morere Springs to Stuart's Sheep Farm
I had a great night's sleep, though I was up twice to wander across the car park to the loo. My awesomely cute little cabin was loo-less.
Muesli again for brekkers, & then a bit of a wander around the grounds where I found a lovely pohutukawa.
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| Pohutukawa blossom looking a bit like red bottle washers ;-p |
There had been a school on the site, so I took a photo of that, as well as one of the little stream running behind.
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| My awesomely cute little cabin was just to the R of shot |
I arrived at Wairoa at 5 past 10, & discovered a cute little town beside a river. There were loads of Norfolk Pines along Marine Parade, & I kept going until I reached the river mouth.
Back in town, I had a brew at the Library, & found out about the lighthouse by the bridge.
It came from Portland Island, which lies SE of Wairoa off the tip of the Mahia peninsula.
It's very cute & still works, apparently.
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| Wairoa light |
The bumf on the board in front of it spoke of it being moved to Wairoa to save it from demolition.
Here's some stuff from the Wairoa Museum website:
Portland Island Lighthouse.
The old Portland Island Lighthouse is the town’s best known landmark. The lighthouse was saved from demolition and moved from Portland Island to the present location on Marine Parade. The ‘new’ lighthouse was opened on 10 June 1961. Alongside the lighthouse is a commemorative plaque remembering those who served in the war, a whaling tri pot and an historic red letter box.
The Wairoa Bridge
The first bridge was from the Ferry Hotel on Carroll Street over to Lockwood Point. It was built in 1888 and destroyed in the 1932 earthquake. The second bridge was opened in 1933 and was destroyed by Cyclone Bola in 1988. The present bridge was opened by the Queen
in February 1990.
Back on the road at 1035, I moseyed along the SH2, which took a big loop inland, went back Hawke's Bay-wards, went inland again to cross the Mohaka River at Raupunga, & then hit the coast again just south of the Tongoio estuary.
It was at this point I realised just how vast Hawke's Bay was!
I was pushing to reach Stuart's, so I cheated a bit, &
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| Hawke's Bay is BIG |
took a photo through the windscreen.
I did stop briefly a bit further on, though, to take one of the promontory bit at the bottom where Napier sits.
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| Napier is on the promontory-cum-isthmus in the distance |
There is a big waterway which hits the coast just north of Napier, but I'm buggered if I can find out if it has any name other than Main Outfall Channel. Given the marvelous Maori names I'd come across before, this seems very prosaic :-(
Turning off the SH2, I drove through the city & parked up at the north end of Marine Parade (yes, another Marine Parade ;-p ). I had a bit of a wander in the sun, but it was pretty windy too, so I got back in the car & drove south a couple of miles.
I came upon the SH2 again, so I did a uey & went back to find a parking spot near some cute shops & cafes I'd seen.
After a kip in the sun on a bench in a sea-front garden, I found a cafe on Marine Parade for a loo & brew stop.
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| A line of Art Deco Napier shops |
The buildings in Napier really are like looking at another time: a 1930s, Poirot-esque, time-warp.
There's a colourful conglomeration of wooden Art Deco in Napier. It was lovely, & all thanks to an earthquake which more or less flattened the city in the early '30s.
The hot chocolate I had in the cafe was lovely, too ;-q
Restart south & west was at 1345, having done nearly 170k up to this point.
Next stop, Dannevirke! What a great name :-) Very Saga ;-p
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| Dannevirke I-site |
As my Gmap wasn't very clear, & as Stuart's farm was a long way from anywhere, I checked the directions at the Dannevirke I-site which has a great statue over the door.
There is another Dannewerk, but that's in Germany & spelt differently!
While in town I got a coffee from a kiosk & went to the loo. As in Picton in Dec 2009, I was serenaded whilst I sat there. Bacharach, this time! ;-)
Stuart had E'd directions from Dannevirke: I was to go to the BP garage, take a left, & head down Weber Rd.
That part was 15k, & at Waitahora Rd I went right ~ even more into the hinterland.
The pic shows views right to the sea south of Hawke's Bay.
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| There's sheep in them thar 'ills! Somewhere? |
Once on Waitohora Rd., I was reliant on Stuart's instructions, which said "come 25km to end of road [you will be on metal road for the last 6km] then turn left onto Coonoor Road. Come 1km to my place" There's another Coonoor, too, but that's in India.
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| I think this bit is on Waitahora Rd., ~ before I got to the metalled bit |
I drove past rolling green hills, through some wooded valleys with cute little streams running through, & past some interesting rock formations. However, the overall impression was isolation.
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| Not far from Stuart's Like I said, remote, & on the metalled road here |
Going back to the car I squeezed into the side of the road as much as I could, & he drove by. He also confirmed I was nearly there.
Phew!
Spending the night out here would be very lonely.
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| Stuart's farmhouse |
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| The view from the bottom of the farmhouse drive |
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| Ditto ~ looking 90 degrees right |
You have to wonder where numbers 1 to 1583 are ;-p
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| Stuart's farmhouse from Coonoor Rd |
Coonoor, New Zealand
Coonoor
Named after Coonoor, the famous hill station in India, Coonoor is a small sheep-farming district in the Northern Wairarapa, approximately 38 km south-east of Dannevirke, and 48 km north-east of Pahiatua. The name Coonoor was first used for one of the early sheep runs in the district, and later became the name of the district and small school. Coonoor is situated at the double junction of four roads. One goes straight to Dannevirke, crossing the boundary between Wellington and Hawkes Bay provinces. The second main route leads to Pahiatua via Makuri, which has always been a larger centre of population than Coonoor, and the locale of several social and sports clubs. The third road crosses the Puketoi Range to Horoeka, Waione, Pongaroa and the East Coast, while the fourth, known as the Makairo Track, is no longer open to vehicular traffic, and heads toward Woodville, between Dannevirke and Pahiatua. This narrow winding road is now a favourite route for mountain bikers.
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| Looking towards the central plateau from the top of Stuart's farm |
We were to travel by quad, so I got out of the shorts, & covered my legs. I didn't want any more bites!
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| Stuart looking out towards the sea from high on the farm |
During the course of our ride, he told me he had two & a half thousand sheep, plus cattle. I didn't write down how many cattle he had, but I did meet some of them.
Anyway, back to the ride ! ! !
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| The view towards the central highlands where Ruapehu etc are snow covered |
I'm no weakling, but I was hanging on for grim death as he followed the barely discernible tracks up to the top of his farm.
It was awesome fun :-D
One edge of the farm is at the top of an escarpment, & I took a pic looking south-ish along it, & then one looking north.
There was bush down the steep slope, & you'd have to hope no sheep got down there or you'd never find them.
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| The bush is blown nearly horizontal by the wind, & you can see the escarpment edge |
Oh,
My,
God.
Shearing close on 2 1/2 thousand sheep on his own ! ! ! What a bloke. Respect, Stuart.
Leaving the top to our left, Stuart took me down & across to show me some fossilised shells in rocks jutting up out of the hillside, & a rock formation with a heart-shaped hole.
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| The fossilised shells were on the sea-bed before NZ rose from the waves |
New Zealand fossils from the Pleistocene Epoch: Throughout the Pleistocene there were about twenty cycles of cold glacial (Ice Age) and warm interglacial periods at intervals of about 100,000 years. During the Ice Ages glaciers dominated the landscape, snow and ice extended into the lowlands, transporting huge quantities of rock with them. During these periods the South Island was extensively glaciated, and there were small glaciers on the Tararua Ranges and Central Plateau. Because a lot of water was locked up in ice, the sea levels dropped during the glacials (up to 135m lower than at present). Extensive land bridges joined the main and many offshore islands, allowing the migration of plants and animals. During the warmer periods large areas became submerged again under water. These repeated episodes of environmental fragmentation drove rapid adaptive radiation in many NZ species, especially (but not exclusively) the alpine plants.
Coastal areas such as Hawke's Bay, Bay of Plenty, Wairarapa, Wanganui, Marlborough and North Canterbury have only been pushed up to become land in the last 50,000 years. Rich deposits of beautifully preserved Pleistocene sea shell fossils can be found from Te Piki (East Cape), Te Mata Peak, Cape Kidnappers and Castlecliff (Hawke's Bay), Castlepoint (Wairarapa Coast), Hawera and Wanganui, Motunau Beach (Marlborough) and at Titarangi, (Chatham Islands). They are evidence for shallow, sandy bottom seas. The cliffs of the Rangitikei River represent layers of Plio- and Pleistocene rocks, uplifted sea floors that have been eroded by the river exposing many shell and mollusc fossils.  |
| A close-up of the fossilised shells |
NZ was mostly under water in the Triassic, 2/3 under in the Oligocene, & the volcanic activity after that epoch created the land of the Kiwi.
I wonder if the geology peeps in universities around the world have ever seen Stuart's fossils, & decided which epoch they came from?
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| Stuart & a heart-shaped hole |
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| The view through the hole |
He was very cute, & Stuart said he'sprobably keep him. That is, kept for the delight of cows in a few years time, rather than the delight of folk who enjoy veal.
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| The farm buildings are just left of centre. It shows how far up we still were |
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| Stuart's new-born Hereford X calf (& Mum) |
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| Stuart's lounge/dining room |
Pete was the friendly cat, & (like my Ptep) loved a tummy tickle & did tricks :-)
The other one mainly kept out of the way.
My notes from the 4th show his name was Rusty
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| Pete likes his tummy tickling :-) |
After the spag bol, coffee & some licorice for pudding, Stuart started talking about other visitors & helpers he'd had over the years. He brought some photo albums out, & showed me pics of a 1988 trip to South Island with a Danish girl. The trip obviously meant a great deal to him as he remembered a lot of detail after more than 25 years. He hadn't changed much - hard work & healthy living'd do that I guess. A bit like me,really ;-)
After a long time talking at the table, bedtime was at 2115.
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| My room for the night |
Not that I stayed awake long. 10 min of Sudoku, & my eyes were shutting.
Hardly surprising after driving over 300k & getting an exciting quad bike ride up & down steep slopes.
Stuart had said rain & wind were forecast, & my Kapiti Island trip may not go, but I had to be there by 1300 (165k & 2 hrs 20 away, according to Gmaps), so I set my alarm for 0700 to allow for stops en route for photos etc..
I was 1/2 way through NZ14
OAO
