Enroute to Abel Tasman

Aoteroa: Land of the Long White Cloud
Near Mount Cook

It’s taken three days to move from Fiordland up north to Abel Tasman National Park. Our first night we returned to Avalanche B and B in Wanaka where we stayed on our 2010 visit. It’s really nice to see Trish and Davy again, and after chatting briefly, we opt for dinner in their garden and an early night. Driving is more tiring than hiking. Our room is under their house and enjoys a beautiful view of snow covered Mount Avalanche. Trish’s garden is a winner, and it’s almost strange to see these cultivated plants after our time in Fiordland.

The next day we go as far as Franz Josef Glacier to Ribbonwood  Retreat B and B. The co-owner, Jo, is a former DOC (Department of Conservation) employee and like many Kiwis, he seems eager to chat. He’s been on his own for awhile as his partner, Julie, a primary school teacher, is away visiting her mum in Christchurch. Joe relates that her mum’s house came through both earthquakes OK. After the first, a spring appeared under her driveway and after the second, it disappeared, apparently diverted somewhere else.  Though there was liquefaction close by, she was one of the lucky inhabitants of the devastated city. Joe had an interesting and  varied career, attempting to control  the burgeoning possum population, saving the rarest NZ Kiwi, the Rowi and even wrestling with the deer as a young man in the early days of the deer recovery program.

He gave it all up to run a B and B in the tourist season and to follow his partner on her teaching jaunts in remote locations including Jordan and Dubai. Their beautifully appointed eco-friendly house is furnished with textiles and art from their journeys to the Middle East, Asia and South America.

We relate well to Joe who maintains a shipshape pristine operation here. He grows most of the produce, makes the yogurt, bread and tea cakes, and gets the eggs from the chooks at a neighbouring farm.  As long as we take our shoes off, we’re given the run of the house with tea and coffee making facilities readily available. Our bedroom is huge and the bathroom is spotless with luxurious toiletries, fluffy white towels, hair dryer and even a hair iron available to guests. He also has a self-contained cottage that is beautiful too.

The next morning we meet the American family inhabit the cottage in the garden. Peter, the father, was familiar with the intersection of King and Bay in Toronto so I pegged him correctly as a financial guru. He consulted in some capacity to all the Canadian banks and knew some of the bigwigs at BMO Financial where Duncan worked for over thirty years.  They have spent the last twenty years living in London, UK. The wife, Jane, is very down to earth, loathes shopping for clothes and loves this beautiful country like we do. Their daughter, Caroline, is currently a student in Sydney – lucky girl - so their trip is the reverse of ours; they are off to Australia then finishing up in Kauai’i on the same dates as us so we may run into them again as it’s a pretty small island, though not as small as Moloka’i.

I marvel at Jo’s beautiful garden and “tunnel house” or polythene greenhouse in the back garden. He’s busy composting and  growing the familiar crops of tomatoes, eggplants, Swiss Chard (silver beet), zucchini, gooseberries, black currents and strawberries. The soil here is volcanic so this is no mean feat.

Lonely Beach at Okarito

Joe provides directions to nearby Okarito, home of Andy Apse and Keri Hulme, so we head there to enjoy our flat whites. Okarito is at the end of a winding road and the inhabitants must enjoy living off the beaten track. It is famous as the breeding ground of NZ white herons that return each year a nearby island.  We cross a bridge over a lagoon and see that the tide is out. Apparently one can come in the evening and see Kiwis feeding in a nearby National Park. Too bad we missed that! I love those Kiwis.

Okarito reminds us a bit of Moeraki, a small cluster of homes sequestered into the hillside overlooking the sea. There is a kayak business, a small campground, and baches dotted about.  We enjoy our coffee in the tiny cafe and chat with the locals who point out Andy’s beautiful house on a nearby cliff. We tell them we’re trying all the coffee shops in NZ to find which makes the best flat whites; they are definitely in the running. They sell Andy’s books in this shop, but not Keri Hulme’s we note. Their only copy of the one we want is a bit shopworn so they phone Andy but he’s not home, so they direct us to the bookstore in Hokitika. They promise to tell him we’d come for a visit and we’re sure they will. We visit the windswept beach that is the point of embarkation for the hike to Three Mile Lagoon, but opt for an easier one through a marsh where we see whitebait swimming in the tea coloured water below. We only know they are whitebait because the locals told us to look out for them by the way.

Birds Ferry Lodge

Our next stop is Birds Ferry Luxury Lodge and B & B, near Westport, 30 minutes north of Punakaiki, the place to see the Pancake Rocks and the blowholes. Andre and Alison Gygax are our hosts at their beautiful luxury retreat. Andre, originally from South Africa, both personable and knowledgeable,  is also a massage therapist.   Alison from Edinburgh is a gourmet cook and enjoys preparing dinner upon request for lodge guests. She reminds us of Duncan’s sister, Lizzie, happily buzzing in the kitchen while talking to the guests. Luckily we have requested dinner, along with a couple from London, UK, who are in the country to attend a wedding in Raglan. We pass a very pleasant evening with the two of us sharing an entire bottle of Seresin Sauvignon Blanc. It’s great to be able to wobble back to our room rather than drive from a restaurant. Whenever B & Bs offer to make dinner, we take advantage as their location is usually somewhat remote. We’ve never been disappointed in the food or ambience.  We enjoy individual whitebait soufflés, stuffed chicken breasts with fresh asparagus, mixed salad with greens from their garden , apricot pudding and NZ cheese with quince paste and crackers. We opt for both  dessert options and switch plates as we often do. Because they have WIFI here, I retreat to our room to continue with the blog while Duncan swaps funny stories with the Londoner, whose wife, a CA, unfortunately has to do some work before bedtime.

The next morning we enjoy tea in bed, then fruit juice and bircher muesli with homemade toasted bread and jam. We decline a cooked gourmet breakfast as we look forward to another long day in the car with little exercise. We reluctantly say goodbye to our hosts and their two vivacious terriers, one a Norfolk the other a Norwich but the only difference we can see is that one has floppy ears and the other pointy ones. We’re sorry we aren’t staying two nights because Andre includes a half-day guided tour of the region to those lucky guests that do; I somehow overlooked this option on their website. He spends each morning advising guests about expeditions and hikes in the area and recommends some in the Abel Tasman area to us. Alison, the foodie, tells us about a pub for lunch and The Boat Shed Cafe on the seafront outside Nelson for dinner. She warns us not to miss the Saturday market in Nelson, and bills it as the best in the South Island.

Haunting Beach at Greymouth
sand is black and volcanic

We take the long drive to Motueka and visit their iSite (information site) to book our first water taxi to the Abel Tasman track. The long drive enroute from Fiordland included our least favourite west coast area through rugged mining country, site of the recent November 2010 Pike River mining disaster where 29 men lost their lives. We couldn’t help but think of the bereaved families as we drove by Greymouth. New Zealand has been hit hard in recent times with the Sept. 2010 Christchurch earthquake, the Nov. 2010 mining disaster and the Christchurch aftershock in Feb. 2011. A small country, these catastrophes affect the morale of the entire nation deeply. We feel for them they’re such nice people.