Farewell Spit

I caught the ferry on Saturday morning - wet and windy with the promise of 2 metre swells.  In the back of my mind was the thought that southerlies usually mean a reasonably good trip across the Strait and so with this optimistic thought I wandered onto the  Kaitaki - my first ferry ride in NZ in a number of years. It's a relatively new boat, not crowded (just like coming back) and so plenty of room to put up my feet, snooze and drink cups of tea - they even offered ice to help ease the queasy tums and sick bags (which I didn't need to consider).  Then it was a couple of bus trips with lots of stops to Marahau.  I learnt lots from the drivers who enjoyed chatting about this part of the country ...

• Kiwifruit is now grown on high rise wires rather than horizontal - I guess that utilises space better and also it is easier to pick as the fruit hangs down.
• There is a local controversy over the colour of the bird protection nets as some rather large gardens are covered in red and white which some consider conflicts with the green landscape - I must admit having seen them from the lookout I would tend to agree -  green is more in keeping as long as they don't choose flourescent.
• Blenheim has some burgeoning wetlands - after being taken over by willow many decades ago - it is now a place for indigeneous trees, plants and creepy crawlies to live.  It will take a while but will look great after a few more years.

I met everyone at Marahau after numerous attempts to send them a text to say that I would arrive on time or I could go on to Collingwood.  No cell phone reception anywhere they were.  We travelled windy roads over the Takaka Hill, negotiated slips on the road to Collingwood and Pakawai, had a yummy dinner at the cafe before pitching the tent for the night (in the rain).  Early to bed (and it was New Years Eve). Fireworks a bit too close to the tent, some not very melodious singing, a very thin mattress that slipped on the tent floor - but we slept o.k.  Six o'clock get up call!!

Farewell Spit is on the 'Original 101 Must Dos' for a Kiwi http://www.aatravel.co.nz/101/original-101-must-do-list/page/10/.  I have a feeling I might try and talk Harry into doing more on the top 101 list.  The spit's  original name was Onetahua (meaning 'heaped up sand') which seems a really apt name to describe this 35 kilometres of pure golden sand - it is afterall the longest natural sand bar in the world. Its an important place for seals (lots sitting and flopping across the sand), birds (albatross, godwits, gannets, canadian goose, oyster catcher, seagull) and is now a protected Wetland of International Importance.  And it wasn't just wildlife that have hung out here in the past - once upon a time 3 lighthouse families lived in a dip in the dunes - possibly less exposed than some of the houses on the UK coastline but not much.  Boats bought the food so when the weather wasn't good I guess they pretty much lived on fish and birdlife.

The next photo,  is of the godwit - prouncing around with its royal stance.  These birds are amazing - according to scientists monitoring their migration  habits over the last few years.  There has been some research carried out by some New Zealanders about the flight patterns of these birds.  They fly around the pacific rim virtually non-stop.  Well a couple of stop overs for food and rest.  They've discovered this by attaching satellite-tracking transmitters to some of them.  They travel from Farewell Spit or the Firth of Thames to Alaska via eastern China or Russia, have a few eggs, rear their young and then fly all the way back to NZ.  Little E7 (I think she should have had a bit more of an imaginative name than that) flew from NZ to North Korea (non-stop - approx 10,000 km, for 7 days 13 hours at an average speed of 56.5 kph).  She spent about six weeks refuelling and then flew a further 7,000 or so miles (another 7 or so days) to Alaska - before making the more direct trip back to NZ.

 We wandered around Cape Farewell (most northern spot on the South Island and about same latitude as Foxton), went to a lovely beach around the coast (except no good for swimming) before heading back to the campsite and another meal at the little cafe.  That night bonfires were lit on the beach and we sat talking to the guy who helped us pitch our tent in the rain.

Next morning we packed up the wet tent and headed to Collingwood (originally called Gibbstown but renamed after Nelson's second-in-command at Trafalgar). The town grew during the gold rush of the 1850's and at one stage it could have become the capital of NZ but that didn't happen - the gold ran out. Today, Collingwood is a mixture of old and new. Modern buildings include the general store, hotel and memorial hall, while rather special buildings like the old court house and post office have become cafes and  backpackers - a quaint reminder of the past. We wandered up to the old cemetery - where many of the first settlers arriving in the 1840's are buried. One rather rare sight was a grave stone for Tamati Pirimona Marino - the first Maori grave stone we've seen in an old European cemetery.  So, I read a bit about him...He was the Chief of the Collingwood District Nelson, preferred to keep on the right side of the Europeans although he had been involved with some of Te Rauperaha's conquests in both the North and South Islands. During the goldrush period he fed many hundreds of Maori miners.  There's lots more on the web...