On a Windswept Peninsula

I wonder if it's wise for me to publicly confess that, along with my passion for hedges, I'm rather fond of an unusual tree or three? My 'Tree File' in fact (doesn't everyone have a tree file?) is bulging with photographs of trees that I've taken a shine to over the last few years. These three were all taken on the remote tops of Banks Peninsula three or four years ago, when I joined Tuatara Tours for their Akaroa Walk - a rather energetic stretch from Christchurch to Akaroa, striding along the windswept hilltops that characterise the landscape between the city and Akaroa Harbour. The two above - windswept totara were photographed on the Waipuna Saddle.

And this stark beauty - a stripped-naked, dead totara, one of a whole dead forest still standing in Watarangi Totara Reserve, which is a good walk into the hills near The Hilltop, just before you descend into Akaroa Harbour itself. The complete walk? Stunning - perfect photographic territory but make sure you're fit for hill climbing before you take it on. It's seriously up and down all the way. www.tuataratours.co.nz You'll find many more pictures of this and other Tuatara Walks by clicking on Tuatara Tours or Akaroa Walk in the label line below.

Wild West

It was all mood and mist the day we walked along Bullock Creek Road in Paparoa National Park, just north of Punakaiki on the West Coast late last year. It was an eerie sort of landscape that spoke of dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures that might leap out from behind the foliage. Towering limestone bluffs rose out of the mist on either side of the road and river and creatures – probably just a weka or two – rustled about in the dense bush. It was wet, silent and beautiful – a Lost World almost, filled with damp moss, earthy aromas and lanky tree ferns. It was a place of caves and deep, hidden potholes and we were walking to the pretty track that led to the deeply incised gorge where the headwaters of Cave Creek emerge from an underground cave system.There were five of us – an Aucklander, an Australian, two from Christchurch and our guide – and we were midway through the West Coast Trail.

Devised by Christchurch’s Tuatara Tours, this four-day walking adventure had taken us through some of the most beautiful, the most dramatic and the most popular walking trails from Castle Hill to Punakaiki and despite never having been a dedicated tramper – hardly a tramper at all in fact - it was hard not to be won over by the rugged, diverse landscapes we picked our way through. But give me lush ferns, flourishing coastal broadleaf plants, towering nikau palms and flat tracks over tiny tight little flowers, slippery rocks and ridiculously high places any day. And it’s here that the West Coast Trail truly delivers. From the Punakaiki Pancake Rocks Loop Track at Dolomite Point with its mist-enshrouded flax ‘forests,’ its gushing blowholes and wild, breathtaking coastline to the moodiness of Bullock and Cave Creeks, the remarkable variety and lushness of the Truman Track and, my favourite, the quiet unspoiled beauty of the Pororari River Track, it’s green in as many shades as you could ever wish to see. It’s the wild West Coast at its best. www.tuataratours.co.nz

Urban Sanctuary

Wellington. April 2009. Ajr

I don't mean to boast but I've seen plenty of tuatara. But there is still something quite special about seeing one in the wild - well....almost the wild! I photographed this one at Wellington's Zealandia Sanctuary at Karori and no, it wasn't in a cage. They have many tuatara living 'wild' within this unique, fenced urban sanctuary - the first urban sanctuary in the world. The little coloured beads on the back on its neck are the tags that identify each lizard according to age, gender etc. The little green lizards 'laced together' enjoying the sun were in a cage - a glass house actually. They're the rare Wellington gecko, unique to the capital city. You can read much more about both at www.sanctuary.org.nz

Hidden Gully

Goldsborough, West Coast. Dec. 2008. Ajr

This tunnel was one of two that led us into a completely hidden gully once frequented by early goldminers on the West Coast. A two minute walk through either tunnel brings you out into a ferny gully now silent but for the native birds. It was part of the West Coast Trail that I did in December 2008 with Tuatara Tours. www.tuataratours.co.nz

Pancakes and Blowholes

Punakaiki. Dec. 2008. Ajr

There are many parts of New Zealand that I prefer over the South Island’s West Coast but one stretch of coastline – between Greymouth and Westport – is definitely worth seeing. The bush is beautiful, the seas wild and the river gorges have that ‘forgotten’ quality that makes you think of lost worlds. One of the biggest attractions of course, is the Punakaiki Pancake Rocks and Blowholes – a freakish collection of pancake-like limestone formations that were pushed out of the ocean by seismic action over 30 million years ago. If you want to see huge spouts of water gushing out of the caverns below, make sure you get there at high tide. There’s been a lot of work done on the track and it’s now sealed for most of the way, with plenty of rock-walled lookouts that make for great photo-taking….if you can push your way through the crowds of tourists that is.

On The Trail

The Bealey Track, Arthur's Pass.

It rained the day we tackled the Bealey River Valley (part of Tuatara Tour's West Coast Trail) but that didn't seem to matter. It wasn't cold and the misty, inclement conditions added a certain moodiness to the hike that only enhanced the rugged beauty of this potentially wild place. The first part of the hike, through beautiful tussock and alpine beech forest, is blessed with terrific wooden boardwalks, which made the going very easy. Clambering over the huge river boulders in the second stage of the walk (to the foot of Mt Rolleston), wasn't quite so easy. www.tuataratours.co.nz

Into The Green

Everything was Green

Multiple Shades of Green

Except for One Red Jacket

As we hiked into the Pororari River Valley

North of Punakaiki

On the West Coast Trail this time last week.

www.tuataratours.co.nz

Rockclimbing Heaven

Castle Hill, Arthur's Pass. Dec. 2008. Ajr

Castle Hill is one of my favourite South Island landscapes - grassy hills covered in weird limestone rock formations - clusters of almost-animate-looking forms that rockclimbers and boulderers delight in. The area also has special meaning to the Ngai Tahu tribe and there are ancient rock drawings that attest to early Maori frequenting the rocks. This is where we started our 4-day Tuatara Tours West Coast Trail - not that this particular bit could have been considered 'a real walk;' rather, it was our lunch spot. From there we went further down the road and climbed up through beech forest to the Lyndon Saddle. www.tuataratours.co.nz.

For other hiking images click on West Coast Trail or The West Coast below this post.

Coastal Forest

The Truman Track

Punakaiki, West Coast

Dec. 2008 Ajr

On Day Three of Tuatara Tours' West Coast Trail

We walked the twenty short minutes from the highway to the coast.

It's one of the loveliest short walks I've done - lush, green, varied and ending with a spectacular view over wild west coast seas and a quiet, unpopulated sandy cove. It's particularly notable for it's beautiful stands of nikau palms - supposedly the southern most palm in the world.

http://www.tuataratours.co.nz/

To see other images from the hike click on The West Coast or West Coast Trail in the label line below

Fern Forest

A FOREST

Of Miniature Ferns

Punakaiki

West Coast

Dec.2008. Ajr

Dinosaur Country

Bullock Creek Track, Paparoa National Park, West Coast, South Island. Dec. 2008. Ajr

It was all mood and mist the day we tackled the Bullock Creek and Cave Stream Walk.

The drizzling rain descended (non-stop), the clouds enshrouded the huge limestone escarpments and all we needed after that was a dinosaur to emerge from the mists. It seemed likely - or maybe I was just a little dazed after climbing dozens of steps.

All this was part of the Tuatara Tours West Coast Trail - a terrific four-day excursion that takes in some of the West Coast's best walks. www.tuataratours.co.nz

If you click on The West Coast or West Coast Trail below this post, you'll see other images I took during the four days of hiking.

Fern Frenzy

Native ferns

South Island Bush

The West Coast

www.tuataratours.co.nz

Going Bush

Top: Truman Track; Centre: Bealey Track; Bottom: Cave Creek Track. Dec. 2008. Ajr

For the last four days I have been immersed in the lush greenery of the West Coast. I’m not a big hiker of note but, having invested heavily in a pair of expensive tramping boots, I decided to test them – just three days after pulling them from their tissue-lined box. Everyone had wise words to say about that foolish move but I’m pleased to announce that my boots and I bonded instantly and there wasn’t a blister in sight. I took on the West Coast Trail, a fantastic combination of walks over six or seven well known West Coast walks, organised by Tuatara Tours of Christchurch. Starting at Castle Hill in Arthur’s Pass and working our way steadily through limestone escarpments, beech forests, tussock lands, alpine bush, native rainforest and sub-tropical nikau forests, we ended up in the Porarari River Valley, north of Punakaiki – wet but otherwise no worse for the wear. The best bit for me, was the chance to exercise my camera finger. I came home with over 700 photographs and am now steadily culling them. There will be more! www.tuataratours.co.nz

Perfect Blue

Fancy cycling through some of the South Island’s most spectacular scenery? Then join the Tuatara Tours team for this brand new adventure, cycling along the flat, peaceful Tekapo canal roads. It’s a leisurely four-day outing (with support vehicle) that includes fabulous views of five impossibly turquoise glacial lakes – Tekapo, Pukaki, Benmore, Ruataniwha and Ohau; a visit to New Zealand’s highest mountain, Aoraki/Mt Cook; amazing panoramic views from the top of Mt John Observatory; a visit to the famous Church of the Good Shepherd on the edge of Lake Tekapo; a stay in Mt Cook National Park; and a visit to….wait for it….New Zealand’s largest letter box! You can watch the Tekapo Canal Trail Video by clicking on www.tuataratours.co.nz

Wild Weather

Waipuna Saddle, Banks Peninsular, 2007. Ajr
How’s this for environmental adjustment – two trees high up in the Waipuna Saddle on Banks Peninsular growing in the direction of the prevailing winds. It wasn’t a windy day when I took this photo last December; this is the way the trees are permanently. They’re growing on the exposed Waipuna Saddle, which is part of the Akaroa Walk that I did last year – a 42-kilometre guided walk that takes you through remarkable scenery from the top of Christchurch’s Port Hills to Wainui, across the water from Akaroa. www.tuataratours.co.nz

A Walk to Remember

Monument Rock above Purau Bay, Banks Peninsular, 2007. Ajr

Just a few days before Christmas last year, I was lucky enough to go on Tuatara Tour’s Akaroa Walk, a 3-day, 42-kilometre jaunt from Christchurch to Akaroa. I use the word ‘jaunt’ loosely; it was actually a very testing exercise – especially the 22-kilometre day two walk that started at Monument Rock above Purau Bay and stretched us all the way to the Hilltop, above Akaroa Harbour. By the time that day was over I was more than ready to sink in to the hot spa pool that came with our accommodation. Sore muscles aside, it’s hard to complain when you’re exploring some of the most dramatic scenery that Banks Peninsular has to offer – although I seem to recall complaining quite a lot at the time. In hindsight though, it was one of the best things I’ve ever done. www.tuataratours.co.nz