Springtime Sunshine & Smiles…

We’re all still big fans of the Goldilocks climate in Springtime in New Zealand, not too hot, not too cold and just perfect for spring snow skiing and warm sun on the beach for the start of the surfing season. We bought the kids longer wetsuits for the cooler water temps and the girls especially were super excited to be back in the water bodyboarding again after many months off. It wasn’t long into Term 3 before the tricky Delta variant of the Covid-19 virus found it’s way into New Zealand and once again we were on a level 4 and then level 3 lockdown – fortunately for us the weather was very kind once more, making the local adventures plenty to keep us amused for the three weeks of lockdown. Lots of fun was had making another silly song which you can watch here if you missed it…

Home learning was a bit tougher this time with Em basically carrying on work as normal at the hospital so I had to shout loudly at the children a few times for interrupting my online lessons but we got there in the end. It definitely works well removing the commute and having a more balanced day of work and family time but you miss the face to face contact with students at school and I was still glad when we returned to school to get back to normal, face masks at school lasted a day or two before everyone gave up – with no cases on South Island (touch wood) it did seem a little OTT! The lockdown got everyone panicked though and vaccination rates went through the roof from almost no-one to 80% of the over 12 population in a couple of months, pretty impressive stuff!

Probably the best lockdown adventure was a biking/climbing link up, along scenic summit road and out along the scrambly ridge of Castle Rock which is in a great position above town. Best daddy day trips were doing a 50 miler hilly cycle loop from the house to Diamond Harbour and back, nice to be back in shorts and t-shirt again though a bit chilly in the shade of Lyttleton Harbour if truth be told! Other one was the classic 20km run round Godley Head which I really should do more often as it’s super scenic…

After a few weeks off the slopes, we were all happy when we were back to level 2 and the ski centres opened so headed straight up to Mt Cheeseman which is a lovely friendly club field with a couple of T bars, great snow in the back bowls for backcountry fun and some cruisy pistes for the mini team. A slap up dinner in the Sheffield hotel for Em’s birthday always puts a smile on your face and we were sad to learn a few weeks later that they’d had a huge fire there and were shut for the long term. Back to Bottle Lake made for a fun birthday weekend. The girls enjoyed a prancing pony party (complete with unicorns!) the next weekend while Ethan and I enjoyed another trip to the adventure park and especially the wild rollercoaster of “Name that Trail” – not having to cycle up hill definitely has it’s merits!

So after weeks and weeks of lockdowns and endless day trips we finally had a weekend away plan, staying in Porters Lodge but sadly the forecast was dreadful for the weekend but fortune favours the brave as they say, so we went anyway. Plan a) was to cycle the Wharfedale track but the road to the carpark had a full spate deep ford to cross so we retreated to the safety of some gentle forest tracks near to Springfield as the rain got heavier and heavier. Somewhat surprisingly we were the only people staying in the lodge that night but had the whole place to ourselves and feasted on burgers and got a good nights sleep. We woke to blue skies and fresh snow everywhere so raced up to the nearby slopes to get some skiing in, sadly the weather closed in at lunchtime but we’ll take half a day of powder and sunshine in a bad weather weekend! The next weekend was much better weather so we headed up to Mount Hutt for a final family ski of the season, a cracking backcountry trip to the North Summit for Em and I and plenty of “big air” in the jump park for the mini team who really will be better skiiers than Em and I in no time, all three finished the day by cruising red runs from the top, not bad for aged 4,6 and 9! Surfing at New Brighton on Sunday made for a memorable start of the holidays weekend and Iona is especially keen to ride the waves, long may it continue.

What felt like the longest term ever ended and it was great to reach the October holidays and in true daddy tradition I used Jasmine our nanny to good effect to get some Daddy days off, the first one was more awful weather so I had a short, marginally miserable surf in torrential cold rain at dramatic Woodend beach (possibly not worth it?) where I had the whole beach to myself before meeting Jasmine and the kids at Uprising for a great climbing session, like surfing they will all be better than me at climbing too if I’m not careful! The next day was far, far better and despite leaving grey Christchurch behind Heather, Duncan and I popped out in the sun at Porter’s Pass for a backcountry adventure which is becoming a bit of a yearly tradition of ours to finish the ski season in the October holidays with some great skiing. Last years powder-fest at Broken River was pretty awesome but this one went even better. I have skiied the back bowls at Porters Pass many times now and always looked at the biggest mountain in the Craigieburn Ranges Mount Enys (2194m) and wished I could ski on it, luckily Heather and Duncan liked the idea of the plan so we paid the bargain $20 (ten quid) one way lift ticket to the top and set off over a few mini hills towards the impressive peak. Our first descent was a great one down a steep open face into the bowl below Enys and then after a long slog up the western ridge we reached the top which was in thick cloud but Duncan had a great plan for the descent and we dropped into the steep Y-gully directly off the summit which had spring snow and rock walls for clarity and was a great way down. A long slog took us back up to the summits above the ski centre for a final run down the ever classic Bluff Face to finish. What a day! Ginger Beer well and truly earned and I even made it home in time to have (typically slightly late!) dinner with the kids.

The next day Em was on holiday too and despite more miserable weather forecasts (it is springtime I suppose) we set out with typically full to bursting car, on our ten day adventure to the top of South Island, keen to make the most of the holiday whatever the weather may bring. We opted to stop at Hanmer Springs the first night as the weather looked better there and we had a very pleasant walk up Conical Hill before heading to the excellent thermal baths for our usual hot tub, water slide and pizza combo. Alpine Adventure Holiday Park was a good last minute find too, much cheaper and quieter than the main ones in Hanmer and we all slept well before heading over Lewis Pass to Abel Tasman via the west coast the next day – a long drive broken up with a couple of nice walking stops near Springs Junction and at the Buller Gorge which had a cool swingbridge and flying fox to keep us entertained….we arrived at The Barn camp site at Marahau in time for dinner and settled in for a fun week….

Last year I really enjoyed mountain biking the Old Ghost Road and the Paparoa (despite not having a bike chain on the latter!) so the obvious route to complete the trilogy is the famous Heaphy Track which is a 78km 5 day Great Walk but rideable in a few days. I debated cycling it in one long day but was so glad I went for the two day option as the last bit is sensational and not worth rushing. Getting to the start proved the most exciting bit as the shuttle from Marahau was super expensive so I (foolishly) opted to hitch to Takaka instead, not quite thinking that hitching with a bike may be tricky! I left camp at about 8am and started confidently hitching, half an hour later mild panic set in and I got a hitch but he was only going half way, second attempt from half way was much more frantic waving and desperation and I got a second hitch but they weren’t going far enough to get me to my shuttle in time, they fortunately took pity on me and drove 40 minutes out of their way to get me there in time! Phew, glorious weather and a further hour shuttle ride got me to the remote Brown Hut and time to start cycling. The first two hours were a long slog up to Perry Saddle Hut and I couldn’t see what the fuss was all about, it was alright but hardly classic riding or views? As you drop down into the remote Gouland Downs it all starts to make sense and the thing about the Heaphy (and why you should do it E-W not W-E is that it gets better and better as you go. I saw a few hikers and bikers along the way but basically had the trail to myself and took lots of pictures along the way and explored the many scenic huts. At the final high hut (James Mackay) I stopped and chatted to a couple of guys drinking beer and soaking up the sun and was starting to think I should have maybe stopped there for the night but I pushed on, the next bit was a very long descent down to the Heaphy River, lots of mini bridges to jump off but being the west coast the weather was starting to turn! After a very long day of riding (62/78km and all the climb on the track!) I was glad to reach the warm sanctuary of the cosy Heaphy Hut and after a quick “refreshing” swim in the river mouth I feasted on two portions of noodles and two portions of pasta to celebrate in style! Some great banter with a group of 8 bikers from Christchurch rounded off a memorable day.

The second day was even better as despite the typical west coast sunshine and (heavy) showers the scenery on the last 16km is epic, the path hugs the coast, winds it’s way round headlands and sandy beaches and through Nikau palm groves and I even found a perfect pinnacle to climb on Scott’s Beach near the end. Was actually sad to reach the end it was so pleasant, though the next bit wasn’t quite as nice, a further 16km along the road to Karamea into a strong headwind and driving rain. Karamea is a real end of the road town with a few houses, a church and luckily for me an amazing cafe at the Last Resort and I ordered a frankly ridiculous amount of food and drink and spent a pleasant couple of hours drying out, warming up and waiting for my flight back to Takaka. The weather had closed in again by the time we took off and it was touch and go whether the small plane would make it, the pilot said he has to be able to see land and must be above 500m and we had to stay low over the sea and follow the west coast at 550m to make it, but as you reach Farewell Spit the weather changes and Golden Bay lives up to it’s name so we landed at Takaka in glorious sunshine to end a brilliant trip. Em and the kids had had their own bike adventures on top of Takaka Hill and it was nice to all be reunited again.

The next day the sunshine continued so we headed out on a boating adventure using water taxis to access part of the Abel Tasman Park that we had not visited before, and had a great paddle from Bark Bay to Anchorage with lunch at the sheltered estuary of Fisherman’s Cove along the way. The water taxi took in some classic sights such as Split Apple Rock and the seals at Adele Island and the driver had a good kiwi sense of humour and laughed at the children’s silly comments. A few caves at the end to explore by boat and foot and Em enjoyed the walk back to the campsite while we took a second water taxi back to base. Great to be back in the boat for the first paddle of the year in such a stunning place too and nice to give my tired legs a rest! We are definitely at the very end of being able to fit five in the boat, pretty sure we’re over the weight limit now but it seems to work! A fitting way to see in Iona’s fifth birthday – she certainly has packed an awful lot of adventures into her first five years and has a real lust for life!

Great to get Ethan back in the water finally!!

The bad weather forecast seemed to compress into one wild sleepless night (though the kids slept through it all of course!) of wind and rain where we worried that we might not have a tent in the morning but that was it for bad weather, the rest of the week was perfect, in fact we checked the weather elsewhere and aborted our original plan of hiking in Nelson Lakes National Park and just decided to stay at the Barn campsite, you can’t really go wrong when it’s got hammocks, slacklines, marshmallow fire pit, outdoor pool table, piano, guitar and plenty more. We seemed to be the only people in the campsite though, a few other people using the cabins and a nice three generation family who we chatted to most nights but basically it seems October is out of season in New Zealand despite being as warm and pleasant as a typical hot Scottish summer! We all enjoyed the biking at Kaiteriteri Mountain Bike Park which has perfect flowing and fun trails for all ages, the girls and I did all the Green trails while Em and Ethan enjoyed the long climb of Corkscrew and the fearsome Jaws to finish and then we all headed to the beach for a swim and an ice cream. Time for a “rest day” so we got the mini ferry from Mapua over to pretty Rabbit Island and did a nice scenic flattish loop round the island admiring the impressive fresh snow in the hills from last nights storm!

Despite abandoning the Nelson Lakes plan we were still keen for a mountain adventure so headed over to Tablelands National Park to try and stay in Mt Arthur Hut. The access road was steep, loose and exciting but we reached the chilly weka filled car park (baby weka chicks seriously cute!) at 1000m (only 1 hour from Marahau) and remained impressed (mildly concerned!) with the amount of fresh snow on the hills. You can’t book the 8 bed hut so it was a bit of a gamble whether we’d get a bed for the night but after an hours walk up to 1300m we were chuffed to find four beds free and only one other friendly family staying there. After days in a tent, the luxury of chopping wood to heat the cosy hut with a wood burning stove is pretty satisfying. We headed further up the ridge in the afternoon and bagged a couple of mini summits while Em headed up to the snowy looking main summit above. There was a great sunset and it was a lovely place to spend the night and a real contrast with the golden beaches and vegetation of the Tasman Bay which you could still see in the distance.

Em and the kids completed the loop out the following morning along a ridge and steeply down to Flora Hut before nipping over Flora saddle back to the car but I opted for a morning run, leaving my big heavy bag at the hut I ran up the ridge to the top of Winter summit and a very snowy Mount Arthur -possibly an ice axe would have helped but the snow was softening quickly in the sun so felt very secure even on the steep bits. I found a way down a steep rocky ridge and headed up the obvious second summit of Gordon’s Pyramid to make a great 20km mountain running loop. The half hour descent to Flora Hut was not quite as fun with tired legs and what seemed like an even heavier bag than the way up! A cracking mini alpine adventure and definitely all family members are keen for more nights in the excellent NZ huts which are a big step up on Scottish bothies…

Sadly time was nearly up in the paradise of Abel Tasman but we had one final day to play with and opted for another boat trip, this time from Kaiteriteri beach. The sea swell was a bit more exciting today, definitely “slight” rather than “ripples” and the white caps meant it was always going to be a short one so after 2km we turned and enjoyed the wind at our tails on the way back via two very scenic beaches, bouldering and caving at Honeymoon Bay and doing some fun coastal traversing and collecting fresh mussels at Breakers Bay. We sneaked back into Kaiteriteri main beach which is impressively sheltered for an afternoon of endless SUP and swim action before heading back to the campsite. Ethan has finally remembered why he loves being in the sea, great to have you back wee man!

We broke the long drive home in scenic Kaikoura for a night, had a tasty dinner of fish, chips and (expensive) crayfish and enjoyed a walk round the peninsula seeing an impressive amount of seals and some equally impressively large impending-doom storm clouds along the way. Overall a great trip, one of our favourites in Aotearoa so far (and there have been quite a few memorable ones now for sure) and Abel Tasman remains one of our top places in South Island to go, back to rainy and windy Christchurch (I swear it used to be endlessly sunny here!) and the dreaded return to work and school but a nice short term ahead which should go quickly up to the long strange event that is the weird summer/Christmas holiday, see you there! Haere rā!

Stop press, summer has indeed arrived early, after a week of school we scored a long weekend and celebrated with an old favourite of Akaroa, surfing at Hickory Bay and biking on the rail trail pretty fun while Ethan and Em tackled the much harder Double Fenceline in the clouds above us, rounded off with a swim in Akaroa harbour to finish and an amazing Italian dinner at the Bicycle Thief on the way home. Back to the crowds at Sumner beach for holiday Monday but who’s complaining when the sets keep rolling in and the sun keeps shining, skiing already a long distant memory! 😀