Visit to Fox River

 

About 45 minutes drive from Greymouth is the Fox River which flows from the Paparoa Ranges through the National Park to the Tasman Sea. This area has different nature walks which are probably for the more intermediate to advanced hikers as there are caves and limestone gorges.

B and I are not hikers, we do not have any hiking or safety gear so we only walked for about half an hour. The whole hike I think is about 7 hours long and there is a DOC (department of conservation) hut at some point for people to stay in. This part was down by the carpark. The river water is fresh down from the mountains and then runs out to the ocean nearby.

This photo and the 2 below this one are of the river itself after we walked through the bush. It seems Summer finally hit at the beginning of February and yesterday was a lovely 24 degrees celsius so the water was nice and cool to paddle in.

Our weather on the West Coast has been very very hot over February but much of the north island of New Zealand and the East Coast of the South Island have been inundated with rain and flooding. It is becoming very dry here, even a tiny bit of rain would help.

This photo and the one below it are 2 of the bush walk. This part wasn't too strenuous, but sadly I didn't see any fungi or mushrooms, think it's a bit early for them.

Linking up with Tuesday Treasures, Happy Tuesdays and Wordless Wednesday.

Carew Falls Walk

More from Moana - Lake Brunner. A couple of weeks ago B and I also completed this 30 minute nature walk. This is a DOC walk so it is a area where Kiwi most likely live, we were dismayed to see a family with a dog walking the track.

Lots of dried skeleton leaves - typical for this time of year.

 

 

One side of the watrefall going down the mountain to the lake below.

In most New Zealand nature walks it's common to see little mini waterfalls along the way.

And here's what we came to see - Carew Waterfall. Again I didn't have my camera with me so the photos and videos here are taken with my cellphone.

Linking up with Through my lens, Tuesday Treasures, My corner of the world, Wordless Wednesday. 

The lonely stag

 

Once in a while we love to venture out on a mini road trip. 3 weeks ago we decided to drive south where we stopped at Whataroa to enjoy lunch and coffee. It's a very very small town and in 2013 the population was estimated to be around 288 people but I wouldn't think it's grown that much since then.

This cafe "The Lonely Stag" is where we got out of the car to stretch our legs. The cafe served beautiful food and they had a part bengal "cafe cat" that let us pat her. 

Speaking of travelling, we dropped my daughter R off at the Hokitika Aiport earlier this week as she is spending 2 weeks in Northland at a friend's wedding. She will be catching up with friends from school and visiting family up there. She also has high anxiety so I was really proud of her for organizing everything and flying up there by herself. 

I also bought 5 packets of Freesia bulbs to plant along the front fence so I'm thinking that by Spring we should have a lovely row of red and white flowers coming up.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday and Tom's Signs.

The little church at Ngahere

I've driven past this little church a few times on the way to Nelson Creek and Reefton. There's not much known about it sadly except it was privately owned until recently when the owner passed away. It's not looking good, very unloved - I wonder what the interior looks like.

Linking up with Through my lens, Tuesday Treasures, My corner of the world and Wordless Wednesday.

An afternoon at Rapahoe Beach

The beaches down here on the West Coast are all very wild and windswept - this one is our favourite.

The old hotel still sits back from the beach over the hill and was once quite a popular spot but is now privately owned as a house.

Rapahoe Beach is about 15 minutes from home and usually it has golden sand further down but today the tide was coming in so we pulled up logs to sit on instead of sitting on the stones. This couple in the distance turned out to be a work colleague and they had their little dog with them.

So this beach is roughly 2km long and in the distance in this photo is Point Elizabeth. I was going to walk down and explore the rock pools but feared I wouldn't get back in time once the tide fully came in.

 Lots of textures - this one is a half a mussel shell attached to some seaweed sitting on the rocks.

The seagulls were quite happy to be nosey on the hill behind us.

And we watched this lone surfer brave going out into the waves in his wetsuit - he ended up being dragged over to the opposite side of the beach.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday and All Seasons. 

The first church in Ikamatua

Last time we travelled out to Reefton I spotted this lovely little church on the way in Ikamatua. There apparently was one before this but it was replaced by the current one in my photos. Named St Patrick's Catholic Church it was built around 1911 and the land underneath it was donated by a local family named the O'Malleys. Out of this family came a Mercy Sister; Sister Mary Aloysius who entered Reefton Convent in 1895.

This church is part of the Sacred Heart Parish of Reefton and still has Sunday masses every week. 

Linking up with Through my lens, Tuesday Treasures, My corner of the world and Wordless Wednesday.

Driftwood

This morning we were out at nearby Rapahoe Beach, about 10 minutes drive from home picking up driftwood off the beach. We have been due for rain and thunderstorms (which have now started) but for a few hours the sun was trying to peek out from behind the clouds. Edited to add: for those who have asked what I am going to do with the driftwood; the smaller pieces will be kindling for the fireplace and the bigger bits will go in the garden.

The left hand side of the beach has a row of old posts leading out into the water but I'm not sure if it is the remains of an old wharf. In the end we filled up 3 shopping bags with bits and pieces of wood. Now I'm starting my week off from work today and no doubt I will get bored after 3-4 days.

Linking up with Through my lens, Tuesday Treasures, My corner of the world and Wordless Wednesday.

Our Lady of Charleston

I've discovered this wee gem on the way to Westport. Located at the edge of the Charleston Cemetery is this monument named "Our Lady" she looks over mostly historical burials of Irish people who came here to gold mine when the area was first settled but she has been in the wars over the years. Apparently vandals broke her arms off and there were a few cracks. According to some local information I found someone found some mannequin arms which were put on and the local priest added some filler with paint and now she looks as good as new.

Linking up with Weekend reflections and the Weekend roundup.

Pancake Rocks Mural

At Punakaiki aka Pancake Rocks on the outside of the Ice Cream shop is this mural showing some of the local wildlife such as the Little Blue Penguins. The artist is West Coast man Mark Haldane.

Linking up with Mural Monday.

Ngakawau Tavern

On the outskirts of Westport just past Granity is this building named the "Ngakawau Tavern" just near the Stockton Mines. Apparently it use to be known as the "Charming Creek Tavern" due to it being close to the Charming Creek walkway. It didn't look too busy when we drove past but there is a sign on the building saying that rooms are $50 per night, so pretty cheap.

Linking up with Weekend reflections and the Weekend roundup.

Charleston Tavern Car

In Charleston just before Westport is the Charleston Tavern and outside is their lovely old car. I'm not sure what the name of it is but many stop to take photos of it.

Linking up with Through my lens, Ruby Tuesday, Tuesday Treasures, My corner of the world and Wordless Wednesday.

West Coast Whitebait

 

Another utility box I found on the main road into town. Painted by Abi (this is all the information I have on here) this one depicts Whitebait as they are commonly caught here on the west coast. I like whitebait fritters but they are not for everyone. In my region people may only fish for them from 1st September until 31 October and you need resource consent from the Department of Conservation.

Linking up with Mural Monday.

Hokitika Gorge

Last time we were out at Hokitika Gorge was Summer 2022 before we moved down here. I remember being surprised by how many campers were parked there. 

The whole walk round is probably about 45 minutes and was quite easy except for 2 things.

Swingbridges - I hate them. I have this irrational fear of heights and the first bridge was at least 10 feet high from the water below but after psyching myself up I finally walked across....fast.

Apparently the water is this colour because of a mixture of glacier water from the mountains and chalk from the side of the cliffs.

At the second swingbridge I stopped when I realized this one was even higher than the first then I noped out and walked right back around to the beginning. There was one lady there who flatly refused to walk over.

Linking up with Through my lens, Ruby Tuesday, Tuesday Treasures, My corner of the world and Wordless Wednesday.

Travels through Otira Gorge

Last week B and I travelled out to do some sight seeing through the Otira Gorge, about 90 minutes out of Greymouth. B regularly drives through this area for work so he thought I might want to see the snow that's been recently dumped there. 

Otira Gorge is a highway that runs through the mountains on the way through Arthur's Pass, eventually ending up in Christchurch. We didn't know it was going to be as cold as it was, in fact in the last photo I was wearing a winter coat and an extra layer underneath of thermal clothing but I think I should've worn a sweatshirt of jersey too as the windchill felt like it was about - 5 degrees celsius. 

Despite the Winter cold we did see some incredible scenery.

Linking up with Through my lens, Tuesday Treasures, Ruby Tuesday, My corner of the world, Wordless Wednesday.

Arahura River

 

Last week on Queens Birthday Monday, B and I drove to the Arahura Valley which is just north of Hokitika in search of Pounamu aka Greenstone. Originally I was under the impression that the ordinary person was not allowed to pick up this gem from river beds but after googling again B found more up to date information which said that you can as long as it's not from private property.

We had heard that this particular river is a good place to start so we carefully climbed down the rocks to the water below which was freezing cold.

 

We managed to walk across the river further upstream where it was shallow over to the sand and rocks on the other side. 

These are the pieces that we found not just on the sand but in the river water. When they are wet you can see how green they are but once they dry they turn a dull grey. B is going to buy some polishing equipment so we can shine them up nicely.

Linking up with Through my lens, Tuesday treasures, Ruby Tuesday, My corner of the world, Wordless Wednesday.

Greymouth Evening Star Mural

I spotted this mural on the side of the local Newspaper building - the Greymouth Evening Star which was first established in 1866. It's circulation area covers most of the West Coast from Westport right down to Haast in South Westland. This mural depicts the town's history through the gold and coal mining era as well as today.

Linking up with Mural Monday.