Moteuka, Chevoit, Christchurch, and Akoroa

After Picton I headed west toward Moteuka and Able Tasman National Park - described as “…inviting sandy beaches fill the spaces between trees and tide line. Crystal clear streams tumble down mossy valleys to join the ocean. Granite and marble formations fringe the headlands, which are cloaked in regenerating native forest”.  I found a nice Airbnb; this one was a tiny studio apartment in back of a residential house.  When I choose an Airbnb, the one requirement is that I have my own private space.  You have the option of basically renting a room in someone’s house and sharing with them, but that’s just not for me, even if it is cheaper.  This one was just as advertised; nice place, nice location, nice host etc.  As I was settling in the room I noticed a plain, large mirror.  It was bolted to the wall so that you couldn’t move it or see behind it.  For some reason, to me it screamed the potential to be a two-way mirror.  Mind you, I didn’t really think it was, but I just couldn’t get over the fact that that’s what it looked like.  I ended up moving the clothes rack in front of it, to block it off.  Had I really thought it was a two-way mirror, make no mistake, I would have left and reported it, but in this case I did let my imagination get the best of me. 

Having regretted passing up on the Queen Charlotte track, I decided not the make the same mistake here.  The best way to see the park was from the water, and as luck would have it, there is another popular track through the park.  The entire Able Tasman Coastal track takes between 3 to 5 days to hike, but you can take a boat to one point and be picked up at another.  Originally I opted to take a boat ride out to the farthest point and be dropped off on the way back. I figured this allowed me to hike part of the trail but see the entire coastline.  The boat started in Kaiteriteri and Totaranui is the last drop off point, about a 2-hour boat ride.  About 30 minutes into the ride, I realized the coastline all looked pretty much the same.  I talked to the crew about dropping me off further up the trail than originally planned, using the extra 1.5 hrs to hike instead of ride in the boat.  He advised against it; the part of the trail I was asking about was pretty steep and rugged and would take longer than I had.  I took his advice, thinking OK I’ll get off at my original destination as planned, but use the extra time to go up the trail, until it got too steep. 

It was a good plan; I turned back in plenty of time and hiked the original route.  But, as I got closer to my destination, I still had over 1.5 hours to my pickup.  I had two options from this point.  There is a low tide trail and a high tide trail.  Since the tide was out, I could take the shorter route straight across a small bay, like everyone else. This would put me on the beach for the pickup in 30 min, meaning I would be sitting there for an hour.   The other option was the high tide trail, for when the tide was in and the bay under water.  I opted for the high tide trail, listed as 1 hour.  That should give me at least 30 minutes to spare.   Well, I didn’t take into account how steep the trail was and how slow I was climbing up and down.  And just how long it was, it seemed to go on forever!  I figured it was just a short trek around the bay, but the bay was deceivingly deep into the park.  After what seemed an eternity, during which time I contemplated what I would do when I missed the last boat back to civilization, I finally made it to the pickup point, with under 10 minutes to spare.  I would have had a nice rest on the beach if I weren’t attacked by a horde of sand flies.  The tiny biting insects seemed to be feasting on me, but I was too tired to get up and walk around.  I will say, it was a beautiful hike and I’m really glad I did it.  And to be honest, since I didn’t miss the boat, I was glad I took the longer route. 

My last day in the area, I drove to the most northwest tip of South Island, or at least a far as I could drive.  Highway 60 is the only road up there, and somewhere around Collingwood it turns to a dirt road.  I drove a bit further on, but the road got worse and the scenery wasn’t all that different.  It was fun checking out all the overlooks and bays in the area.  At one point I saw a bunch of black swans out in a harbor.  It was low tide and I figured I could walk out there and get pretty close to take pictures.  Well, it was a lot farther out than it looked from shore.  I probably walked for about 30 minutes through mud and pools of very warm water, all the while trying to step around the thousands of assorted mollusks.  Just when I got close enough to snap some pictures, they all took off.  Figures!     

I found another housesitting position with Helpx, this time just north of Christchurch in Chevoit.  The day before I was to arrive, I noticed some bug bites on my legs.  They itched like mad and looked sickening familiar.  When I was in Cambodia last year I had my first case of bed bug bites.  The bite marks are pretty distinctive and the unrelenting itch was hard to forget.  I knew high heat was the best way to kill them, so like Cambodia, I found a clothes dryer and put all my clothes through a long cycle.  I called the host and told her there was a strong possibility I had been in contact with bed bugs, but she didn’t seem concerned.  She assured me there were no bed bugs in New Zealand.  Uh, there can be bed bugs anywhere there are travelers.  When I arrived, I showed her the bites and she said they were definitely not bed bugs.  No, she had never seen bed bug bites, but she again assured me there were none in NZ.  Well, were they or weren’t they, I had no idea.  I remembered being eaten alive by the sand flies, so maybe that’s what it was.  At least this time I was able to find some cream to stop the itching, so it was at least bearable.

The house sit was super easy and fun. They had the friendliest farm animals I’ve ever seen.  2 horses, 2 donkeys, 2 pigs, 3 large dogs and 2 cats.  Every morning the dogs and I would walk around the farm checking on everyone.  By the end, all 11 animals would be trailing behind.  Maybe they were along for the walk or maybe for the apples, who knows.  While I’m pretty familiar with horses and by extension donkeys, I had never been around pigs.  These two had so much fat around their face that their eyes were pushed shut and were nearly blind.  When you gave them an apple, you basically just dropped it in their mouth, being very careful to keep your fingers clear.  They didn’t bite so much as they couldn’t tell where the apple ended and your fingers began.  They also really liked belly rubs.  My first day there, they took me to a sheep shearing demonstration.  It was pretty interesting to see how fast they were.  It was a restful 2 weeks; other than a few trips to town I stayed home, did farm chores, caught up on my blog, and updated my web site with current photos.   https://throughlisaslens.zenfolio.com/ . 

When I was done house sitting, I stopped in Christchurch and picked up another rental car, this time heading south.  I used the Lucky car rental agency because they were cheap, but had good reviews.  My first car, well, you got what you paid for.  It was $15 a day and while the car ran fine, the heater didn’t work and the windshield wiper scratched in one place.  The 2^nd car was a newer and overall nicer car, it was some kind of automatic/manual hybrid. I came to loathe this car!   Basically, you could choose whether you wanted to manually shift gears or use the automatic feature.  You stepped on the brake to start it, then  shift gears to reverse and drive.  But the damn car beeped ALL THE TIME because it didn’t like how I shifted from reverse to 1^st/drive.  It would give me an error message saying to hit the brake, go back to neutral then 1^st.  Even when I did those steps, anytime I shifted from reverse I had to try 3 or 4 times to get it moving again.  There was also an eco-feature that shut off the engine when you stop for more than a few seconds.  So, you stop at a light and the engine shuts off automatically.  But only for a few seconds, then starts again on its own.  Not sure what that was supposed to be saving. 

About half way through my trip, as I was driving in a very underpopulated area on the west coast, the check engine light came on, along with a few other warning lights.  Oh great!  I was about 10 miles down a dirt road and no one around in case the car died.  I called the company, told them about all the lights and they said it was the hand break light.  Uh no, no it isn’t!  I had previously shut off the engine and turned it back on a few times to see if the lights cleared, but they didn’t.  By the time I called the company, the car had been off for about 10 minutes.  When I started it again, all the lights were cleared.  I told them I would keep going, because in reality, I was a day away from Christchurch, so I had little choice.  Over the next few days, the same thing happened again, but eventually I figured out how to turn off the eco-feature and poof, no more problems.     

I was in Christchurch just a few days after the mosque shootings and was very impressed at how the New Zealanders rallied around, not only Muslims, but all nationalities of immigrants and visitors.  There were signs everywhere, not only in Christchurch, saying ‘You are welcome here’ ‘We are one’ ‘You are one of us’.  At the makeshift memorial there were messages of inclusion, love, and hope; I’ve seen the same messages all over New Zealand, more than a month after the shooting.  At one of the places I stayed, there were a group of tourists from all over the world and we got into a conversation about it. Two of the girls were from Asia and said they had moved to New Zealand because it was the only place they had visited where they truly felt welcome.  

My first stop was only 1.5 hours away, in Akaroa, on the Banks Peninsula.  I found a great deal on an Airbnb, about 25% off the regular price, plus a discount for staying more than a few days.  https://abnb.me/N93zXDxYFV What an interesting place!  While not really my taste, the entire place could be described at quirky.  Lots of gold paint on bathroom fixtures and very dark walls.  What I loved was that it was just off the road, but the huts as she called them, were back in dense vegetation, making you feel you were out in the jungle somewhere.  She generously moved me from my original bedroom to an amazing space with a kitchen; it was basically all outdoors.  The bedroom, complete with a fireplace, had glass windows all along the front and side, looking out to a virtual jungle of vegetation.  The first afternoon, I was laying on my bed and a small bird flew in, had a look around and flew out the side window.  The toilet and shower were outdoors and basically enclosed in vine covered trellises.  There was a second bathtub in a small clearing, complete with a table full of candles, making for a romantic outdoor encounter.  There was an outdoor kitchen and seating along a deck.  The entire space was very private and totally in the middle of nature.  One of the huts was a tree house and another was hidden in a clearing across a stream.  I had chickens and the cat as regular visitors, as well as several friendly fantails. These tiny birds put on quite a show, fanning their tails open and closed and flitting all around.  On the hiking trails and in my hut, they come right up to you, inches from your face, just checking you out. 

Akaroa is a small town on the Banks Peninsula.  Boat excursions to see the marine life, including dolphins, seals, and sea birds leave from the small wharf several times a day.  There are several nature preserves and plenty of great hiking trails, as well as other bays to explore in the area.  The scenery wasn’t nearly as green as the north part of South Island, but still pretty scenic.  I took a small boat tour but was a bit disappointed.  I think because the boat was so small, it only had room for 5 passengers, the waves felt much bigger.  We bounced around so much I couldn’t get a clear picture of anything.  Not that there was much to see.  It wasn’t the owner’s fault, he really did try to find wild life, but it was the day after a storm and all the dolphins and seals were out to sea.  We did see a few albatrosses, but like I said, we were bouncing around so much there was no chance of photos.  Toward the end of the trip we were lucky enough to see a pair of hectors dolphins, but they didn’t hang around our boat like they did in Picton.  He told us just a few month ago there was a stingray making its home around the wharf.  It had been there for most of the summer and several more had been spotted in the harbor.  One day a pod of about 6 orcas came in, ate the sting rays and left.  He said about twice a year, probably the same pod, makes the round of all the small harbors on the peninsula and eat all the stingrays. 

Akaroa is a very small town but walking around the waterfront was a nice way to pass an afternoon.  I had a great seafood lunch at a place called Murphy’s.  There are two of them within a block of each other and supposedly the best seafood in town. I had salmon and it was excellent.  I walked out to the lighthouse and hiked a trail that went up in the hills above the city for some great views of the town and harbor. 

One day it rained all day and I must say, I really enjoyed sitting on my deck outside; working on my computer, watching a movie, listening to the rain, and the birds chirping when the rain let up.

On my last day I went for a hike in Hinewai Reserve, a private nature park.  It was a beautiful day and the hike was wonderful!  I started on a high bluff overlooking the sea and within in 10 minutes I was in a dense forest.  There were plenty of birds chirping and the path was mostly level; what more could I ask for!

 
  
Link to Moteuka photos - https://photos.app.goo.gl/S8GrwMiGDCdDDBsf8

Link to Chevoit photos - https://photos.app.goo.gl/EQwCoEeBQdrdfsk49

Link to Christchurch photos - https://photos.app.goo.gl/Mm4g5U6s4bocpk46A

Link to Akoroa Photos - https://photos.app.goo.gl/LbtpnB3PdT14jPUVA

Link to my photography web site - https://throughlisaslens.zenfolio.com