Exploring the Molesworth
There’s more to the Molesworth than the road through it, as keen 4WDer Ivan Hyslop discovered when he booked a guided tour.
After missing out on a South Island trip due to not booking soon enough I decided that we would do the Molesworth trip run by the Molesworth Tour Company. It was a four-day trip and a place I had been wanting to see for many years. My Grandfather used to often mention Molesworth Station when I was younger and seemed to have great knowledge of the station and its history. We met up with the others at the Blenheim Railway Station and had a lot of time to get to know each other before the trip departed as Geoff our guide was running a bit late. The others consisted of a couple in a FJ Cruiser from Auckland, a couple in a Nissan Ute from Cambridge, a couple of guys in a Jeep from Auckland and a guy travelling on his own who ended up riding with Geoff, plus my wife and I in a Land Rover Discovery 3. When Geoff turned up we were all formally introduced and headed off with our first stop the local supermarket as Geoff had to stock up on a few supplies. We then headed south on State Highway 1 and turned off just south of Wairau Lagoon following a gravel road around the lagoon.
Fantastic view
After a few kilometres and a couple of photo stops we turned in and drove up a farm track to an airstrip. From there we had a fantastic 360 degree view of the coastline and back towards Blenheim. Geoff was an awesome bundle of information and pointed out who owned all the various land around us and the history of the area. From there we descended back down to the road and continued around the coast and ended up at a huge farmhouse for morning tea. We spent about an hour there with the owners who had a fantastic house overlooking their vineyard. We had the standard farm home baked scones and muffins and the farm owner was explaining to us all about the farm and wine before bringing out a few bottles of his wine to sample. This was great for the passengers but since I was driving decided against the samples. After saying goodbye we continued on, crossing SH1 and heading up Awatere Valley Road. We passed a huge area that was just getting set up for growing grapes
and Geoff gave us the history of that farm and how the sheep station owner was so adamant he did not want vines growing on his land he wrote it into his will that no vines were to be grown there until 10 years after his death. That time had just expired when we were there so it was hectare upon hectare of grape going in!
Mine of information
A lit tle further up the valley we came across an old cemetery and stopped in for a look. Once again Geoff had a lot of knowledge of the history of the area and was pointing out which of the people on the list at the gate had lived and who owned the properties now. It then started to rain so we moved on. A lit tle further up the road we turned into a side road up to Black Birch Observatory and continued to climb the hill ( land owner permission is required). The track gradually got steeper and narrower and we just kept climbing. Eventually we had climbed up into the thick fog and could not see the truck in front of us. We just followed the narrow rocky track and finally came to the end which had radio or transmission towers on it. Geoff told us it was the highest drivable road in New Zealand. ( However, less than t wo weeks later I was on another road which also claimed that title so who knows for sure?). It was too foggy to take photos but one would imagine the view from up there would have been awesome.
Grape valley
We slowly descended back down to the valley and drove along the road a bit more then up onto another remote track. At this stage we had no idea where this was taking us, but after about five or six kilometres up a narrow 4WD track we ended up at a house which turned out to be our lunch stop for the day. The house overlooked the valley and there was grapes growing in every direction. After lunch we carried on to Upcot Station which was to be our home for the next two nights. We set ourselves up in various rooms of a large shearers’ quarters. That evening we walked up to the main house and Bill and Nicky the station owners put on a huge country-style banquet for us all. Part of the homestead was the original Cob cottage house that Bill’s grandfather had built, but over the years had been extended to cope with a bigger, more modern family. The garden outside ( which Nicki looked after) was massive and grew almost anything and everything the family would require. The following day Bill took us up a track which followed the Grey River up to a back country hut where we had morning tea. We must have crossed the river maybe 40 times before we reached the hut. The track was narrow and washed out in a few places but all of us coped alright.
Venison on the menu
After returning to the homestead Nicky put on a huge lunch spread in the garden, a spread which included venison which one of the family’s daughters had shot the previous day. After lunch we ventured off again to the other end of Upcot Station and wound our way up a narrow, twisted track where we had quite a good view of a lot of Bill’s farm. Parts of the track were very narrow with huge drop-offs which made one of the passengers on our trip exceptionally nervous. When we got back to the shearers’ quarters that evening Geoff and Robin started preparing a BBQ for our New Year’s Eve dinner. Alan brought his FJ Toyota closer and supplied the evening music. A few beers and dinner with some making it through to midnight, and others a bit further, causing a couple of hangovers for the drive to Hanmer Springs the following day! After a hearty fry-up for breakfast and late start we headed off, stopping at a few places en route for photos. We stopped at the original Molesworth cob cottage for morning tea then continued on to Molesworth Station Homestead which we could only view from up on a lookout above it.
Along a bit further we stopped at the old Acheron Station cob cottage and in reasonable condition. There were photos on the wall and descriptions of how it used to be, DOC having done a wonderful job in this regard of providing Information boards and toilets at all these places along the way. The Crown- owned, and DOCmanaged, Molesworth Station is 182,000Ha ( about the size of Stewart Island) and New Zealand’s largest station. It supports the country’s biggest herd of cattle, grazed by Land Corporation.
Last leg
After finally arriving at Hanmer Springs late in the afternoon we spent a bit of time wandering about the town. The hot springs were an option but being school holidays they were very busy indeed. We had a group dinner out that evening at a very nice restaurant which was a nice way to chat about the day’s drive. The final day took us back up the Rainbow Road back to Blenheim. We set off about 8.30am and headed up Jollies Pass. As we got further up the pass the weather started to change for the worst. We did stop at Tarndale Lakes for morning tea and Lake Tennyson for lunch, but we almost got blown away at Lake Tennyson. One stop where the weather eased off for us was the St James Station homestead, where we had a walk around the woolshed and the old houses where the fireplaces were the only remains, the stables and blacksmiths. They still breed tough Clydesdale crosses on this station. As we got onto the Rainbow Road the weather was very wet and as we had a lot of creeks along the Wairau River to cross and I think Geoff was getting nervous about the water crossings rising. The further up the Rainbow Road we got the creeks did start to seem to be getting deeper but we got through no problems at all. We finally got into Blenheim to be greeted by a nice sunny afternoon. We had afternoon tea with Geoff and his wife Lee and arranged to have a group dinner in Blenheim that evening to say our farewells. It was an excellent trip and Geoff’s local knowledge was very much appreciated. There were certainly plenty of stories over the two-way radios and at various stops to keep us entertained!