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Published: September 23rd 2014
The smoke alarm in our unit at Beach View Motel, Rapahoe was not connected to the local fire station.
How do I know this? Well I burnt the toast again and fired up the smoke alarm......again!
I have thought about why I do this so often and it has always been my third piece of toast that sets the alarm off as Gretchen only has two pieces leaving my third in the toaster alone getting much more toasted than if there was another piece alongside.
Gretchen apologised profusely to the owner when we checked out but she shrugged it off saying that her husband is always setting their smoke alarm off too for the same reason.
The day has dawned overcast and the forecast is for drizzle which is quite a contrast from yesterday.
We sat at the window having breakfast and taking in the sea views and trying to figure out the 6.4km path we took through the bush across the bay and out to the point. From where we sat the distance looked like a lot shorter so clearly there are dips and rises that we can’t see from the motel.
On Saturday
we drove right past the Pike River Mine Memorial on our way to Westport via Reefton seeing the directional sign at the last moment and not realising the memorial was right on the corner.
So we decided today to journey back up the Grey River past Blackball to take in the memorial to the disaster that is still controversial nearly 4 years after the 29 men were killed by an explosion in the coal mine.
It was very moving to walk around the 29 memorials to the men who died. The memorials had been erected by their families with things such as photos, bottles of beer and cans of bourbon and coke and numerous personal items that the men were known for along with inscriptions attached to large river boulders.
Like the various First and Second World War sites and cemeteries we have visited overseas this memorial site was also very emotional and of course the tragedy happened here in New Zealand and only a short while ago making it fresh in the memory.
We returned to Greymouth via the other side of the river noting the fertile dairy land on the flats above the Grey
River.
With midday approaching we drove through Greymouth and onto Hokitika to make our daily visit to a supermarket.
Not that we needed much today. Just something for lunch and some more bread for breakfast over the next few days.
New World supermarkets have an enticing cabinet full of fresh items such as lunch size pizza breads, croissants and other tasty sweet treats.
Heading further south we came to Lake Mahinapuna just off the main highway and took our lunch stop overlooking the lake even though the breeze was a little cool.
On the lake front was the remains of a small lake steamer that transported gold miners and associated people in the late 1800’s across the lake during the gold rush days when the journey from Ross to Hokitika was made by many people living in the area.
You never know when and where you are going to find a bit more of local history.
We drove on through the sleepy settlements of Ross, Harihari and Whataroa and turned off the highway and headed towards the coast and the Okarito Lagoon, the home of the White Heron or Kotuku.
Not that
we expected to see any of these graceful, pure white birds as the sanctuary for the birds is at the northern end of the lagoon where there is no road access. Still you never know and we kept our eyes peeled as we drove the road alongside the southern end of the lagoon.
It took us a few minutes to find the walk we had come to try out after realising it wasn’t going to be along the beach where there were large signs warning people to only us the beach at low tide.
The path to the Okarito Trig started off with an easy stroll across a boardwalk over part of the lagoon. Soon however the well gravelled path started to rise and as our destination was the trig station sited by explorer Gerhard Mueller in the mid 1800’s we knew that it would be the highest location in the vicinity.
It was a steady climb and we made it to the trig station lookout in 10mins less than the suggested DOC time on their direction signs.
The views were worth the climb even though the Southern Alps were blanked out by the cloud that
had rolled in from the Tasman.
It was a much easier trip downhill and we beat the suggested time back to the car.
It was only a short distance onto our overnight stop in Franz Josef and after checking into our motel we called on our niece,Catherine,who works at the West Coast Wildlife Centre involved in the hatching and raising of the rare Rowi kiwi who inhabit the bush area near Okarito.
We had a quick look through the Kiwi exhibition and spent some time in darkness watching out for one of two Kiwis on show.
A short rest and a catch up of todays news over a beer and wine and it was time to join Catherine for dinner at a local restaurant where we caught up with things she has been up to over the years since we last saw her which included a couple of years in the UK and of course her work at the Wildlife Centre.
Tonight we have neighbours in the motel unit and they had better be well behaved as the walls sound a bit thin.
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KJ
non-member comment
Sounds like your walking legs are firmly in place for this trip
Gosh the Kiwi blog for me is almost happening as it happens to you! Great to read about places I haven't been in awhile. We always find those DOC walk times are out by a long shot-must be designed for the elderly or infirm.