Mouteka & the Farewell spit.

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14th March 2008

As it was the first campsite in two days with a shower Bex & I took full advantage and were soon clean again and ready to carry on with our Journey.

Mouteka is almost dead centre of the North Coast and we were aiming to drive west for the Farewell Spit. The Farewell spit is a 26km long sand spit, and is suprisingly overlooked by most tourists and is as far North West you can go on the South Island.

We spent the rest of the morning in Motueka's I-Site & booked a Horse treking tour on the farewell spit for the day after, and also a kayak tour of the Abel Tasmen National Park the following day. So we had the rest of the day to get to a campsite around Farewell spit.

Again the drive was spectacular with some stunning views of the coastline from the road as we headed west. Along the way we came accross a road sign for Harwoods hole. We read about this in the lonely planet & decided to pull off the main road onto a gravel track. Harwoods hole is the biggest cave in the southern hemisphere, & the area around the cave was a location used for the Lord of the Ring's movies for Chetwood forest.(the bit where the hobbits are being chased through forest by the black riders in the first movie)

So after a 30 minute hairy drive on an extremely bumpy and windy road we ended up in the car park. We then had to walk through the forest for another 30 minutes to get to the cave. The walk itself was really cool, not only was I walking through a location of one of my all time favourite films, we had to climb over loads of boulders and rock formations on the forest path. We then got to the cave at the end of the path and after climbing over a few more rocks, we were at Harwoods hole. It was huge!!!!! Where the path ended we were about halfway from the top & the bottom and still there was a good 50ft above us. We gingerly climbed down a few rocks until we got to a sheer 100ft drop and stopped to take in the breathtaking views. After taking some video on our camcorder (sorry stupidly left the still camera in the car.....idiot!!!) we carefully climbed back up the rocks & walked back along the path through the forest. We got back in Hubbel & drove back along the uncomfortable road & were soon on the main road.

We got to Farewell gardens campsite around 4pm. As there were no D.O.C campsite's in the area we had to stop at another holiday park. We parked up and got out our camp chairs & sat out on the grass to get the rest of the day's sun. The owner then approached us with a friendly smile & holding a bucket. Bex & I both looked at each other & thought......What the hell?!!! He then said "you wan't some cockles?"
We both immediatly replied "How Much?"
"On the house, I caught them a couple of hours ago over there" Pointing to the nearby beach
"yeah alright then"
So the guy handed over the bucket, it must have been half full and weighed quite a bit too and we were in for a real treat, so we decided to get out one of the wines we had brought from Marlborough, and we put it in the freezer to get it cold quick!
After getting an explanation on how to cook them from a german guest they were soon ready & the wine was ice cold. Needlessly to say we had a fantastic meal and it was perfect way to end a great day.

15th March 2008

We arrived at the stables just before 9am and were quickly kitted out with helmets & put on our horses. I had never been horse riding before and was a little nervous but excited all the same. Becci was much more anxious than I was, which may have had something to do with the last time she was on a horse. She told me that the Horse Bucked & she fell off and broke her wrist and since then, has been scared to get back on. It was made worse by the fact that the horse she was given had the same name of the one she'd fallen off. I of course found it hilarious!!! First of all we had to get on the horses. We was told where to put our feet and the general technique & I nailed it straight away. Bex on the other hand found it difficult & again all I could do was laugh!! Finally we were both in place & ready to go and had a basic run through how to make the horses go faster or slower and how to get them to go left & right. So off we went one after the other following the guide also on horseback. Bex on Monty and I was on horse called Sultan, we were also joined by a nice German couple too. We had to go along a road to get to Whariki Beach (prononced Fariki). We started slow and got a little faster & quickly relaxed and started to enjoy it. We also quickly realised that all the horses had there own personality. Bex's Horse Monty liked to be 2nd in line so much so if anyone tried to overtake it would not let them pass unless she was in front. My horse on the other hand loved the back and was slower than all the others. The guide told Bex that I must be very laid back because horses tend to react to the persons personality, she was of course right!

After the road we had to go over a steep hill and that meant we had to canter up it. Before we went out we were told to try & get the rythmn correct otherwise it would be painful especially for the men. & man they weren't wrong!! After the hill we were soon on the beach. Wow this beach was amazing! Beautiful golden sands with huge sand dunes on one side and the odd rock formation on the other. In one of the rock pools there were tiny seal pups playing, jumping in and out of the water and that was great to see. We followed the guide down the beach and took in the scenery. She then led us through some of the rock formations on the beach. The first one, we trotted through a small tunnel and out the other side. We then got pretty close to the water and it was clear the horses were afraid of the sea and a couple of times they changed direction quickly to get away from the water. We then got to the second rock and as my horse AKA slow coach was now lagging behind and I could see that the water was getting close. All the group except me managed to get into the second tunnel because as I was getting to the entarance a wave came in & my horses feet got wet. Well that was it, all of a sudden Sultan turned into Red Rum and Galloped in the oposite direction to the sea and everyone else. And as he bucked (I managed to stay on Rodeo Style) my new sunglasses only 3 days new fell off my head and were left behind me. I soon managed to slow down the horse and my adrenalin was through the roof! I soon could see the others and everyone said "where did you go?" I explained what had just happened and that I had lost me sunnies. At this point we were all tired and I lost all feeling in my legs so we all climbed down & got onto our own two feet. Bex and I then walked John Wayne style round to where I had lost my sunnies until we could feel our legs again. By the time we got there they had gone and probably been swallowed up by the incoming tide. Bex was not impressed and said "You're not getting another pair"
We walked back to the horses and by the time we got back it was time to get back on again. The idea was to gallop (on purpose this time) back along the beach. But could I get my horse to move.....could I F*@!k!!!! I probably manged to gallop on purpose for about 10 seconds for the whole way back.
I had a great time nonetheless and it was a great way of seeing the Farewell spit & would highly recommend it. Becci also had a great time but was still unsure whether she would get back on a horse again soon.
We then drove to East Marahau which is the main gateway to the Abel Tasmen National Park & camped at a campsite called Old Macdonald's Farm.

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