Weekend Drive
Weekend Driver correspondent David Coxon’s long-awaited summer holiday, exploring some of the upper part of the South Island, started with an early arrival for the morning ferry sailing from Wellington.
From Picton it was then a road trip via Blenheim to Westport, with a scenic coffee stop at Lake Rotoiti and a few photo stops along the way.
We were booked into the Top10 campsite at Carter’s Beach, just south of Westport, which proved to be a very pleasant location with no formal sites for unpowered tenting, allowing us to secure a piece of grass not too far from the facilities and away from the noisy children’s play area.
With a number of other 4WDs around, we soon found that our neighbours were part of a group from one of the lower North Island 4WD clubs, resulting in some good camaraderie in the evenings.
Although the trip from Picton had been in beautifully warm, fine weather, the forecast for the West Coast was for rain, easing over the next few days. As such we decided to make our first day a road trip to Greymouth, taking in the
Punakaiki Bluffs (aka Pancake Rocks), and save the more remote touring for better weather.
Back Road blitz
Of course we were never going to stay on the seal all the way to Greymouth, so before we even reached the main road we visited Cape Foulwind then took a gravel backroad that connected directly to SH6. Just before Charleston we again left the main highway for a very scenic run along Beach Rd enjoying its interesting little bays and coves with their small coastal communities. Past Charleston we again went off the main route, taking a rough but relatively easy track up to a small, unnamed lake.
We were planning to use this for our morning coffee break but we had barely stopped at the lake edge when the rain swept in, making for a very moody atmosphere with all the dead trees sticking out of the lake – nice to look at but not exactly the weather to pull out the chairs and have a coffee.
We returned to SH6 and continued to Punakaiki in clearing conditions, enjoying the spectacular West Coast scenery. Reaching Punakaiki we were wise enough to take parkas for the walk around the scenic tracks, which offered some impressive views of the formations and of the seas pounding in, driven by a strong wind.
Four seasons etc…
Halfway along the track the parkas became necessary for more than just wind protection when horizontal rain returned, making the walk that bit more challenging. Still the weather does what it wants, especially when traveling, and I have learnt to enjoy whatever weather we get.
By the time we got back to the cars the rain had stopped and there was even a bit of sun, giving us the chance for a dry if brief lunch in the car park.
The rest of the run to Greymouth was scenic but uneventful, although crossing one bridge I spotted an impressive cascade that I decided to photograph on the way back. Greymouth itself was a chance to stretch our legs, but with the rain returning we soon decided to head back to camp. Stopping just past the bridge, I walked back to get some moody photos of the cascades, getting soaked in the process when the heavens opened up again. As we continued damply back towards Westport, with the rain getting heavier and the clouds darker, we were getting a little concerned at what state our campsite would be in.
Needn’t have worried
However, when we turned off SH6 for Carters Beach, the rain stopped, the roads were dry, and the sun was soon shining. Back at camp we were able to sit in the sun enjoying a beer, with the only wet things being our drying parkas. I even managed a sunset walk along the beach after tea, with the inland view showing that the mountains were still buried in rain cloud.
After a short burst of rain overnight, Friday dawned a lot finer than we expected and it seemed the ideal day for a few shorter trips and get some walking in after the last two days of travelling.
Our first destination was an old gold mine near Charleston that we had seen in passing the previous day. This gave us an interesting walk along the old railway line, and the opportunity to explore some of the tunnels. We then headed back north to visit the Denniston coal mine site.
Just past Westport we took the opportunity of seeing a beach access road to drive down onto the beach for a peaceful lunch with no one else in sight for kilometres in either direction. I love the less populated South Island.
After lunch we headed into the hills for the long, steep gravel road climb 600m up to Denniston, which has the remnants of the coal mining industry on display, with plenty of signage and amazing views from the hills. We enjoyed about an hour browsing the signs and working out how the site operated before the clouds started closing in and we decided to return to our sunny campsite.
We had one more day in Westport and our plan was to go to the start of the Heaphy Track and explore some of the caves in that area. That will be the subject of the next article.