Ngakuta Bay to Hanmer Springs

---

---

“May I join you?  I saw your bike outside and want to know where are you are heading and have a chat,” said Steve.

I was enjoying an early morning coffee at Volare’s (before I cycled to the Hamilton train station) when Steve approached me.  We had a delightful two-way conversation for about 20 minutes sharing cycling adventures and stories.  Steve left to go to work and I continued my journey to the train station.

Now Sari and I are enjoying a well-deserved ‘rest day’ here in Hanmer Springs.  The sun is shining, our washing is done and hanging on the line, and I’m set to spend a few hours recalling our past four days of adventures and sharing some of our experiences with you.  Life is never dull when having adventures!!

Ngakuta Bay – Wairau (80 kms)

Isn’t it wonderful when one is in retirement and still experiencing ‘first-time’ experiences?  At the end of our first day, Ngakuta Bay to Wairau (via Havelock and Renwick) was one of those ‘first-time’ experiences.  When I saw the sign “Wairau Valley Tavern 2 kms” I knew that was our next stop and hopefully a camping spot somewhere close by.  The large shandy and bag of chips did the trick for me mentally and physically, Sari preferring an ice cream.  The tavern was full of memorabilia and in a ‘tired’ state.  The publican did say he was wanting out and he did look rather ‘over it’.  When asked about possible camping sites he suggested the ‘nature park’ next door.

Not totally familiar with ‘nature parks’ we cycled off enthusiastically realising we’d done our dash for the day.  What a surprise we got when firstly the reception area wasn’t manned (thinking they may be busy in the garden, because it was a beautiful setting) and then when we walked around the side of the house to see a naked couple lounging on sun deck chairs, a naked woman having a shower next to the pool and a couple of people lazily swimming in the large pool!! The owners were in the pool and he casually called out “If you are after a site, go and find a place and we’ll check you in later.”

So that is what we did.  We both realised this was the only place we were going to get and had seen a lovely tent site under the trees away from everyone else.  We had a little chuckle to ourselves and decided we were OK with staying here and make the most of the situation – a first for both of us.  I kept chuckling to myself ‘wondering what my kids and friends would say about staying in the nudist camp!!”

Once the pool was vacated we did enjoy a relaxing skinny dip, and a pleasant evening.  The people were very friendly and chatty and didn’t mind us being fully clothed!  One older single woman offered me a wine and spent some time chatting to us and she was very very tanned all over. 🙂

Wairau – Saint Arnaud (65 kms)

From Wairau through to Saint Arnaud is new countryside for me.  The DOC camping ground on the edge of Lake Rotoiti was our destination for the day.  What a wonderful spot for families and campers, plenty to do for everyone.

It was interesting to see vineyards bordering the long straight road. It’s pretty hard to keep the mind on ‘other things’ when the roads are so straight and so long and the temperature rising all the time.  We did manage to find a nice sheltered spot for lunch near a little stream amongst beech forest.

With our tents erected, Sari had had a lake swim, I’d had a good shower and hair wash we were feeling pretty normal again.   Then we up meet Ben from Auckland.  Ben had just cycled through the Rainbow Valley the way we were going to ride so he proved very useful with the information he gave us.  Interestingly Ben is now a 3rd-year primary school teacher after spending 32 yrs in the police force.  A very pleasant evening was spent sharing stories and life experiences.

Saint Arnaud – Rainbow Valley Road, Sedgemere Sleepout (52 kms)

At 5.30 pm we cycled into Sedgemere Sleepout – it felt such a relief to be finally there.  We’d left Saint Arnaud at 7.15 am that morning.  It had been a hard, long, hot day!  We could see black clouds surrounding the hilltops and moving very rapidly towards us. But what a day scenery wise – it’s spectacular cycling up the valley surrounded by mountainous ranges on either side of you and the Wairau River beside the road.  Plus two sets of pylons accompanied us, we did wonder when they erected.   They do spoil the landscape but guess that is the price you pay for modern civilization!

In many places, the unpaved road was rough, big rocks, hard to get a consistent peddling rhythm going BUT we were thankful for the tailwind and having easy access to freshwater to help keep us cool and hydrated.  I found a wet dry-towel soaked in cold water and wrapped around my neck seem to keep the body at a reasonable temperature. Sari preferred to soak her cycling top in water and then put it back on.

Today highlighted for me once again my mountain biking skills need improving but by the end of the day, I was becoming much more confident navigating my way over rough surfaces.

No sooner had we arrived at Sedgemere sleepout and the rain bucketed down, flashes of lightning and then the thunderstruck.   Sari commented, “This hut is a welcome port in a storm.” And how true it was.  By 9.30 pm the rain had passed.

But the night was not over yet!  At around 1.30 am we were suddenly woken to vehicles arriving quickly and skidding to a stop with bright spotlights flashing everywhere and young men yelling and carrying on (under the influence of alcohol we assumed).  It was quite frightening thankfully I wasn’t alone.  One drunken young man came into our hut and started carrying on, another opened up a side window (with his headlight focused on my face) and started going-on stupidly with his mate (who had just opened the hut door).  We quickly told them to “…. off”.  The two guys eventually returned to their mates outside.  It was then I got up to check out what was happening.  There were five 4-WD vehicles, all with spotlights mounted on the front of their vehicles.  Eventually, they drove off up to Rainbow Valley (where we’d had come from that day).

We chatted about all the reasons why they’d be up here at that time of the night, who they might be because the nearest settlement was at least 60 kms away that being Hanmer Springs.  It was sometime before we were able to settle down and sleep again.

Sedgemere Sleepout – Hanmer Springs (60 kms)

Today was going to be tough – we had Island Saddle (highest point) to cross.  Island Saddle is claimed to be the highest publicly accessible road in New Zealand.  Therefore much pushbike pushing and pulling – thankfully we summitted before the heat.  As we were slowly making our way up the saddle four young fit, fresh-looking mountain bikers stopped for a quick chat before they continued their climb.  They informed us there were quite a few slips on the road (the boys and their vehicles were stuck in a slip and seemed to be suffering hang-overs and were not communicative).  We loved that bit of gossip and so pleased that we had pushed on the previous day. (When we arrived at Hanmer yesterday we were told the Rainbow Valley Road was closed until further notice – we were lucky.)

The descent was steep with plenty of loose gravel. We stopped off at Lake Tennyson for early lunch.  This lake is the boundary between Molesworth Station and St James Conversation Area.  Quite a beautiful location, and you can camp here.

Lake Tennyson Information Panel

There was plenty of interesting historical information and photographs about rabbits and their management on Molesworth Station.  I found the following items very interesting:

Rabbit Fencing Requirements

Standards 5 ft long, 8ft 3in apart driven 18in into the ground; T iron strainers at distances of about 6 to 8 chains, T iron intermediates 5 ft and 6ft 5in long, at distances of about 1 chain apart, or more frequently if required; surface plates or high and bottom plates in hollow ground to keep fence either sinking or rising when wires strained; a two strand galvanised barb wire with barbs 4in apart on top of fence; 6in below barb is a plain No.6 wire, 16 in lower is another, and 14in lower or 6in above the ground surface is the third wire. On to this skeleton as it is called, No.16 wire netting, 1 5/8in mesh 3ft 6in wide, and put in into the ground, tightly strained and laced in three places to the standards. The trench filled up and the fence is complete.
The Press 17 June 1889
URUNU

We continued cycling down-hill for the rest of the day through St James Conservation Area and into Molesworth Station.  It’s a big open valley with the Clarence River flowing through it.

Shelly from Dargaville

Unbeknown to me Sari had been scheming.  Earlier in the day we’d meet a lone female cyclist (Shelley from Dargaville training for Coast-2-Coast in Febuary) on the road riding a beautiful cerise coloured trail bike.  She was supporting her husband who was running a 50 km race through St James along with many other runners and mountain bikers.  When we arrived at the event end there was Shelley.  Sari asked her if she would mind taking our panniers to Hanmer Springs as we had one last climb before the long down-hill into Hanmer.  Shelley was very happy to help us out.  That last climb was enjoyable and the long steep downhill much easier without the weight of the panniers pushing me down faster than I’d like.

Hanmer Springs

It was good to arrive safely here.  We managed to get a room at The BackPackers which is very comfortable and full of interesting people.  So far we have chatted with a Scottish lass Erica who has been out tramping and off to a teaching job in Queenstown.  Having interesting conversations with Emily (from Auckland) she is tramping the Southland section of TA walk.  She is having two rests days here and planning for the next two months. Yoko (Japanese) is one of the hosts and is very helpful and accommodating.

Tomorrow to head off up through the Molesworth Station towards Blenheim. This trip has been on my bucket list for a long time, so here’s hoping it is kind to us wind wise!!   A tailwind is what we are asking.

Additional information and scenes

Rainbow Valley Road from Saint Arnaud to Hanmer Springs is open from 26 December to 5pm Easter Monday each year.  There is a toll per 4WD vehicle ($40), motorcyclist ($20), and cyclist ($5) which is collected at the Old Rainbow Homestead

Looking back down Rainbow Valley

That is it until we have cycled Molesworth Station – no doubt more adventures and experiences to share.

Take care Goldcard Gal 🙂