Whanganui Bay And Beyond

After Whaririki Beach we were in need of a place to camp and so decided to try the 44km gravel road that heads south and over to the west coast, via Whanganui Bay, a swamp or two, some cliffs of interest, and finally the wild Tasman coast. Except for a ranch or two, this is completely undeveloped territory, not as wild as it gets, but wild enough. It was a bit of an explore, although we were guided, as in various other adventures, by Scott Cook's indispensable NZ Frenzy.

A bit of the enormous Whanganui Bay, at low tide mostly, and
mostly mud flats

Interesting cliffs and karst formations along the drive, a great
gravel road

After the Bay and the swamp, finally a view of the coast and
the sea

The mist from the crashing surf making visibility pretty limited

The road does not go ever on from its junction with the Anatori
River; there is a ford, of sorts, but not for us or for ordinary
vehicles; we stopped just short of the beach and camped there

In the company of two partying Kiwi families

The surf was perhaps a quarter mile away but audible through
the night

Next morning we drove up and around to the beach; a primitive
DOC campground was there

Bush; note the interesting palms

Wild Tasman Sea

More cliffs

A big cave in the limestone

Not exploring this one, however

Big dune hill...but those black things cascading down...are tires!

Another cave

10-11 km from the Anatori is another huge, accessible beach

Driftwood everywhere

We pondered waiting a few hours for the low tide to begin
registering and going for a walk south along the cliffs...but
decided we'd had enough adventure

Plus the visibility remained poor

And so we moved on, back to civilization

And enjoyed seeing Whanganui Bay with water in it

Even a maelstrom with the tidal change

Definitely a do-again kind of place

Whaririki Beach, 2018

With some time on our hands before the ferry to Wellington and the North Island, we decided to return to the Cape Farewell area, on the far north side of the South Island, to the beach at Whaririki, redo a few short hikes we had enjoyed in 2014, maybe a bit of the far Abel Tasman, and perhaps even undertake a serious explore back down the west coast.

To get to Cape Farewell from Motueka you have to cross the
nearly 3000 ft of Takaka Hill, known as one of NZ's top ten scenic
roads, also listed on the "dangerous roads" website; 3000 feet is not
very high, unless you're driving from sea level; it's a very demanding
30 or so km of high angle and hair pin turns; two lanes with the
occasional passing bay; anyhow, at the top are these interesting
karst limestone formations, which fairly cover the broad summit
(also some large sinkholes); and the Hawke summit lookout and
track, a bit of which we walked

From the lookout

Looking toward Motueka and Nelson, across the bay

Pano

At the Whaririki beach car park, one of the hungrier peacocks
I've encountered

Environs heading toward the beach; mostly dunes beneath, I think

Vicki in a sort of dune-ish holloway

On the beach, high tide beginning to roll in, so we didn't have
quite the walk we did in 2014

Only one tired seal pup on view

Tidal pool

Conglomerate rock; you'd think it would all have washed away
by now

Tide coming in, fast and furious

War lodge; or so we'd call it in Montana

Sea caves

Walking back to the camper

Hop Federation Brewery

I first visited the Hop Federation Brewery in 2014, outside of Motueka in the little town of Riwaka. Even downed a few cold ones in addition to the tastings. Since then, and thanks to daughter Rachel, I have tasted quite a few more IPAs. I can't say I'm a connoisseur, but I think this place does some marvelous and innovative brews.  Sorry, Rachel, I drank the excellent Rakau and the Double IPA, so there's nothing left to bring home.

Hops on the barrel head

Hops outside the door and in the fields nearby

Unpleasant Interlude

We spent the next few days at the BeachCamp in Marahau, visiting the pharmacist and Mitre 10 in Motueka, dealing with the bed bug situation, doing everything possible to ensure they are not traveling with us, dealing with the scores of bites, watching to make sure no new ones appear... washing, drying, sealing, spraying, exposing to high heat, inspecting, hoping, even praying, etc. This is our 3rd bout, the previous ones in New Zealand in 2014 and in Argentina in 2017 (chinchas de cama). Ironically, much of the reason we rented a camper for this trip was to avoid any possibility of bed bug infestation. Yet, one night in one hut...it never occurred to us that a place so sparse as a DOC hut could harbor such an infestation...a vinyl covered mattress on a plywood platform. Nonetheless.... We reported the matter to a DOC agent when we got back to Motueka. Neither he nor the pharmacist nor others seemed particularly surprised. I surmise it's rather old news ...a dark side of a place that is wonderful to visit, especially for the young, budget traveler, and especially from so many different nations and regions. Wherever you travel or stay, it is well to learn about bed bugs, how to recognize their signs and hopefully avoid them, and what actions to take should you become a victim. There is a wealth of information on the internet, and Vicki will have some further observations in her "Practical New Zealand 2018" entry on our website.

Abel Tasman, 2018, 2

We spent the 2nd night of the trek at the Bark Bay Hut, then walked on to Awaroa Lodge and our water taxi pick-up there that afternoon. We had already ascertained that the tides were such that we could not go beyond the Awaroa Hut, cross Awaroa Bay, and catch the taxi the next day at Totaranui. Thus, in view of the bed bug issues, it was a (mercifully) short tramp on the Abel Tasman this year.

The bed bug outbreak was so distracting that I couldn't sleep at
Bark Bayand spent most of the night reading; at least I was able
to see and record the sunrise from the hut

 

Departing Bark Bay Hut

More typical Abel Tasman scenes

We arrived at Awaroa Lodge considerably earlier than we
expected, so early that we dropped our packs and had a leisurely
lunch with Kiwi acquaintances from the trail

Best pizza we've had outside of Italy; or so it seemed, after two
nights of backapacka slop and other miseries; no one told us the
Awaroa wharf had been washed away and it would take another
half hour to reach the beach for the last boat of the day...

But we made it...just...and were happy to end this little trek

On the water taxi en route to Marahau...the dark spots in the
water are sting rays

Golden beaches; wish we could have enjoyed them more

At Marahau, they use tractors and boat trailers to launch and
recover the taxis; watching the tides very carefully, of course

A fairly big business