A summer pilgrimage to the sea
Murchison is a small town straddling State Highway 6, roughly halfway between Nelson and Westport. Linger a little, and it becomes apparent that Murchison is more than a chance to stop for caffeine or a loo stops. Stu Hunt stopped to chat to a few of the locals.
Geographically speaking, Murchison is blessed. The town is nestled between two national parks, Nelson Lakes and Kahurangi and it lies at the western end of the four rivers plain where the Buller, Ma¯ takitaki, Mangles and Matiri rivers merge.
Born from gold and sustained by farming and tourism, these days the town’s population is a shade under 500.
From above it looks like a sleepy river basin, farming village with a small, tight grid of buildings dwarfed by the vast interlocked pastures, river valleys and mountain ranges. A typical rural service town, slightly lost in time.
But at ground level it’s not only picturesque, it’s vibrant, friendly and alive with possibility.
As a community, it’s a mix of generational farmers and aspirational newcomers pulling together to put the tiny town on the map.
Solana Pettus of rafting company Ultimate Descents sees a perception that Murchison is like stepping back in time, but it’s not necessarily wrong or bad.
Pettus says after having lived in big cities and small places around the world, what has come to appeal is that it is a great little community, quintessential small town, rural New Zealand.
‘‘The types of experiences are sincere and genuine, which I feel is a bit washed out in the places where they get a lot of tourist numbers, and you become another number. But places like this, it is really intimate, and you still get that small town, country feel.
‘‘There are these gems of experiences, and it’s just about taking the time to experience these things.’’
She says it’s fulfilling for Kiwis to encounter that, as it’s slowly diluting. ‘‘Taking a step back in time is quite endearing because it reminds us of a culture we can readily identify with.’’
Ultimate Descents started in the 80s and was built on the growing reputation of the Buller River – the largest volume free-flowing river in the country – as an exceptional playground.
‘‘Rafting had a heyday through the 90s when it was at the leading edge of what people were doing.’’
From seven operators at its peak, these days there are just two companies running trips on the region’s rivers from family-friendly class 2 trips to more challenging class 3, 4 and 5 white water.
Pettus says it’s about making rafting accessible. They have even embraced adaptive adventure by creating a harness for tetraplegic rafters and tailoring trips for people with visual or audio issues.
She says that people have this idea that whitewater rafting involves giant crashing waves, but that’s not what they do.
‘‘We’re about enabling people from all walks of life to be on the river and warming to the idea that just being on the river is an experience in itself.’’
She says since last year’s lockdown people are starting to look at their lives differently. Before they were under the pump to do the next thing, and now they’re more willing to invest in experiences.
Zen’s Kitchen is a bright yellow caravan parked just off to the left of the main road heading south. A little vegan oasis defying Kiwi travellers’ pie obsession. Zen Unzeitig moved to Murchison seven years ago. Originally from the Czech Republic he spent a lot of years honing his cooking skills working his way from feeding 3000 factory workers a day to Michelin star restaurants and five-star hotels.
He spent time in Edinburgh and was introduced to vegan lifestyle through a group of friends who turned his thoughts to plant-based cooking, taking traditional dishes and making them vegan.
He says he enjoyed the challenge of bringing up the flavours and the health aspect of it. So much that he hasn’t looked back.
When Unzeitig first came to New Zealand, he settled in Dunedin where he met his vegan fiance´ e, then they moved together to Wellington, where he worked at a fully organic kitchen giving him another direction in his cooking.
They settled in Murchison on his fiance´ e’s family lifestyle block, because he wanted to live in a small place, somewhere different to the big cities he’d lived in most of his life.
‘‘I like the community here, there’s a good group of people who are like family to us.’’
He bought a small caravan and set about converting it to a commercial kitchen. Six months later, Zen’s Kitchen was born.
‘‘When we first came here people were sceptical, especially in a farming community. At the beginning people were asking ‘where is the meat?’ But the word spread and now tradies are coming in for the burgers and realising it leaves them feeling better.’’ Unzeitig says he’s not trying to change everyone’s diet, just trying to provide an alternative and allowing people to make up their own opinions.
He says he used to feel a little under attack, but it’s diminishing as people gain a greater awareness of the benefits of plant-based diets.
‘‘If you go to a restaurant there’s nine different options and one vegetarian, but no vegan. There’s no focus on bringing up the flavours.
‘‘I’m keeping it simple. Four options, but I change them around, and it keeps things interesting.’’ Unzeitig is constantly making small
improvements to the caravan and, with another baby on the way, he’s kept pretty busy – but, as he puts it, ‘‘It’s been a great journey’’.
For Jess Matheson and Daan Jimmink, their time in Murchison goes a little further back.
The couple took over the helm of the NZ Kayak School in December 2019 after 12 years working with the previous owner Mick Hopkinson.
Matheson sums up Murchison’s appeal for kayakers as being down to a high concentration of easy to intermediate whitewater runs close by. ‘‘There are 15 runs within 30 minutes drive from flatwater to grade 3 and 4.’’
Up until the borders closed, 50 per cent of the school’s clientele were Australian. Matheson says the standing joke is that Murchison has Australia’s best whitewater.
Aside from its natural assets, Matheson says Murchison’s appeal lies in the location. ‘‘It’s far enough away from the big places but close enough to the big places.
‘‘If you have an interest in the outdoors there is excellent recreation between two national parks. Plus it’s an awesome little community of great people, people who are really invested in moving Murchison forward.’’
Matheson says it’s been good seeing new businesses arrive – especially from the family perspective.
‘‘The place has really grown on us, and we are proud to have put down roots here.’’
Murchison Heli Tours owners Rob and Angela Hunt set up their business in 2017.
Hunt had been working as a helicopter pilot in Canterbury and had flown over the town quite a bit, but a family camping trip proved to be the catalyst to make the move.
He trained in Nelson, so he says it was easy to come back here. There was no-one else operating out of Murchison, and he knew what the landscape was like.
‘‘It’s quiet airspace, so I’m able to take people places they haven’t been before and there’s a lot of history, so it’s easy to talk about the places you’re visiting.’’
He reels off some of the attractions: early high country mustering tracks; Blue Lake, the clearest lake in the world; and Tablelands, which are among New Zealand’s oldest complete landforms.
‘‘Everyone is happy with what they’ve seen because it changes so quickly – every two minutes you’re looking at something different.’’ Hunt says even the locals are blown away by what they’ve been living next to for years and years without necessarily knowing what’s out there.
Hunt also says the people are friendly.
‘‘A lot of younger people are creating businesses around tourism and hospitality and taking over businesses which is refreshing and people are working together to push things forward.’’
And there’s a lot of space.
‘‘In the city your neighbours are a stone’s throw away, and we think, ‘would we ever go back to that?’ It seems unlikely.’’
Dust and Rust Vintage Store is reputed to be Murchison’s most photographed backdrop.
The antique and curio shop was originally the town’s stables and the shop has stayed faithful to that historical charm.
Owner Katharina Erdl says her and partner Cameron had been living in Murchison for four years after moving there from the West Coast before opening Dust and Rust.
She says they chose Murchison because it was halfway between their Nelson city fix and the ocean feeling of West Coast beaches, and when the stables came up for sale the couple had been looking for the right business opportunity.
They set about renovating the blank slate building and in September 2014 Rust and Dust was born.
Erdl says they set out to create a funky atmosphere and a vibe people like, somewhere that people could come and hang out.
‘‘For older people it’s a nostalgic journey, a trip down memory lane. There’s items of use from everyday life that you don’t get any more.
‘‘And young people love discovering how – and how well – items were made before mass production of cheap plastic items.’’
She says that sourcing stuff is a real treasure hunting experience, and they’re always keeping an eye open, for garage sales, swap meets, and flea markets for ‘‘rustic stuff’’ or ‘‘essentials’’ for the man cave.
Erdl grew up in the alpine region in Germany, so she has an affinity with the mountain air and crystal blue rivers and, for her, Murchison offers both that and the small country town feel which is friendly and supportive.
‘‘People are getting to know Murchison – it’s not just a coffee and a pee stop any more. It has a lot of hidden gems, especially in nature.’’
Builder and former NZ mountainbike downhill champion, Arran Tandy was drawn to Murchison from a desire to get into hospitality.
Affordability and a central location were on the ticklist and when the Riversong Cottages in Murchison came on the market it was a neat fit.
Tandy renamed it Off The Beaten Track and set about transforming it into an adventure base to cater to mountainbikers with a bike shop and workshop on site for repairs and new gear. He has also started putting together package tours with his extensive knowledge of the area and love of the epic trails like the Old Ghost Road, Wairoa Gorge, The Maitland loop in St Arnaud, Kirwans Hut loop in Reefton or the newly opened Pike 29 from Blackball to Punakaiki.
He also sees enormous potential in Murchison and is working with the Department of Conservation and the Mountain Bike Trail Trust to build a track up among the boulders up Johnson Creek.
Tandy says after three-and-a-half years he is starting to feel a bit more like a local. ‘‘Being from a small town, as you get older you want to get out of the city and back to the small town feeling.’’
‘‘The types of experiences are sincere and genuine, which I feel is a bit washed out in the places where they get a lot of tourist numbers, and you become another number. But places like this, it is really intimate, and you still get that small town, country feel. Solana Pettus, of rafting company Ultimate Descents, pictured left