Land of milk, honey and good biking
Canaan Downs is an area of dramatic landcapes, deep caves, great biking and the ideal cafe, writes
A cafe´ and a mountainbike track are essential if our family is going to spend more than half-anhour somewhere. Canaan Downs, which joins Tasman and Golden Bays at the top of Takaka Hill, has little else.
The name, Canaan Downs, derives from the biblical reference to Canaan as the land of milk and honey. This could refer, metaphorically at least, to the gold that was discovered over the hill at Aorere, or to the marble quarried locally in the early 1900s.
The rocky karst landscape with its extensive cave systems is a source of marble. Takaka Hill marble was used to construct the Parliament Buildings in Wellington, with 5000 tonnes supplied to complete the project in 1922. The quarry also provided marble for the Massey Memorial in Wellington and for decorative features in the Beehive in the 1970s.
Takaka Hill is a place of myth too. As well as being a film location for Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, local Maori believed a taipo, or evil spirit, lived in the area. Taking refuge from Te Rauparaha on the hill at Canaan, Maori fled when they heard deep underground rumbling, fearing it was the taipo’s growl.
The reason we were at the Canaan Woolshed Cafe´, just 150m off the main road on the right if coming from Nelson, was because I was being a good shuttle-bunny and dropping my boys off for a bike ride. The deal was for me to meet them a couple of hours later in Takaka.
The Cafe´ has tame animals with which my daughter fell in love, including Victoria the llama, Daisy the donkey and an unnamed sheep. She thought we could fill the car with her new friends to replace her father and brother, should they not survive their ride.
Canaan Road is the entrance road to the inland Abel Tasman National Park, Harwoods Hole, and the Rameka Track.
Because I didn’t like the look of the road, I made them cycle the 11km from the cafe´ to the Canaan Downs Scenic Reserve. I didn’t feel bad about this as the map suggested that the gravel road could be a spiritual experience, adding to the myth surrounding the area. The road reaches 880 metres at its highest point and passes through ancient beech forest, sinkholes and limestone outcrops.
My reluctance to drive meant I didn’t get to walk to Harwoods Hole, the deepest vertical shaft in New Zealand. From the Canaan Downs carpark, the Hole is a 40-minute walk through beech forest and limestone rock formations. Once at Howard’s Hole, you can do a 176m abseil into Starlight Cave – at least if you’re an experienced caver with your own gear or with a skilled commercial operator.
You’ll have to take my word that the Rameka Track combines spectacular terrain with stunning views of the Abel Tasman National Park. The track is around 20km of single track downhill that traverses an historic stock route (the Pack Track) and conveniently pops out near Takaka after 3.5 kms through the Project Rameka site – a volunteer-led biodiversity and recreation project.
The boys said that it was a rough trail, thick with tree roots, rocks and stream crossings, which kept them on their toes. Judging by their broad smiles and muddy clothes, it was wet and wild too.
I told them that any rumbling noises they had heard while cycling were likely caused by the underground drainage of the hill through the local cave systems.