Week 7 - 5th Nov

PuPu Hydro, Wharariki Beach

Thursday Nov 5th, 2009

What a wonderful day. PuPu Hydro has a walk up and around the whole instilation. We walked on a narrow wooden bridge between the water race and the outside of the cliff. There was a small railing to prevent you from falling. Oh and it was 1.7 km long. We had no idea that this was at the top of the tramp. Alan was quite impressed.

Alan and I head back to PuPu Springs and on to the PuPu Hydro trek. The trail is more like a four wheeler road that we take up to the top. It is an hour’s hike to the top but the road goes up forever and we are wondering if it will end. It is very hot out and this is a sunny hike so we stop frequently to cool down. Finally, we are at the top of the hill, but it looks like we have to go down the other side. Not far down we find the end and this beautiful pool with a direction weir and a race way off the side. We stop and have lunch here.

The water race snakes all along the mountain for 1.7 kms before arriving at a head pond where the water is filtered prior to the dropping to the valley below. As was mentioned in the display boards, this water race was originally built by the Takaka Sluicing Company for sluicing gold from river gravels. At that time the race was 3.7 km long and the end of the hose was used to wash the side of the hill down while looking for gold bits. At the end of the gold rush, possibly around 1929, the water was converted into hydraulic pressure for a generating station and the people of Golden Bay were connected to the grid.

We walk the now converted water race (1.7 km) and upgraded piping to the generating station and the trail is beautiful. It follows the side of the mountain, and at some points the trail is only wide enough to walk on. The water race is beside the mountain and there is a narrow one foot wide path on the outside in wood to walk on with a railing between you and the cliff. At first this is a bit nerve racking. At the end we were both in awe at what they had accomplished with their engineering feat at the turn of the century.

The trail down the hill was a bit dicey, we were glad we went up the other way.

We are off again, this time we headed back out to the coast and Wharariki beach.

We arrived at the parking area and the gale off the highlands just about blew us back into our car. Alan and I put on every jacket and sweatshirt we could find. Then we crossed the stile to get to the lower trail we headed out across the sheep field. Up, up, up we go but thankfully the trail is wide and an easy climb. We do have to shoo a few sheep and cattle off the track, but eventually we get to the end of the trail and follow the sign to the beach. Over another stile, up the hill. This is a sheep hill with little pathways going across it. They are very narrow.

Over the hill, down the other side, over another stile and wow……..we are at the opening to Wharariki beach. It is unbelievable with its white, windblown sand, the raw weathered look of the sea caves and cliffs, and the deep blue pounding surf. We wander for about one hour in and out of the caves then the tide turns and we start to head back to the car. We will have to come back to this again.

On the way back Alan wanted to find the hill trail, so we head out through the sheep fields and walk to the crest of the hill rather than follow the trail. It was quite difficult climbing up and down the hills as it is vertical. The little sheep pathways are narrower than my foot. The trek proves interesting till we get to the end of the hill, then we have to find a way down thorough the bush. Eventually after much climbing we do end up back at the parking lot and after a long day we are glad to be back.

See the pictures on a later blog.

Week 6 - 3rd Nov

Today we drove from Richmond to Pohara Beach. The drive through the mountain was daunting. The limestone landscape of Takaka Hill is also known as Marble Mountian. It is a surreal limestone landscape with superb views over Golden Bay and the Tasman Sea. We drove past bee hives and saw swarms of bees. They were swarming over the road further down...luckily we had our windows closed.

We took a two and a half hour walk up the beach as the tide was going out. Wading through knee (my knees) deep water, we reach sand bars far out into the bay. Along the shore the rocks were amazing. Many contained large fossils of sea shells, particulary scallop shells.

The Waikoropupu Springs, located just out side of Takaka, are part of the largest spring system in NZ. The water is protected from the public. You are not even allowed to touch the water as they plan on preserving it's purity well into the future. It is a pleasant walk into the springs through the flowering Manuka shrubs. The main pool is breath taking. I can certainly understand why this is considered a spiritual spot by the Maori.

These springs discharge 14,000 litres of sparkling water a second. Eight vents in the main pool, the largest of which is 1.5 metres wide, supplies 3/4 of this water. These are known as world's clearest fresh water springs.

Further down the trail is a very unique bridge. It is only six inches off the water. It zigs zags back and forth along the spring giving you the opportunity to view the clarity of the water. I loved this part!

Later we went to Pupu Hydro Station. ... what a name! To get to Pupu Hydro Station we took a course gravel road back into the bush, past Pupu Springs. We came across a sign that said "Ford" with an exclamation mark. Yes, this meant we had to ford a river! What an adventure.

Pupu Hydro Station orignally was part of a gold mining operation in the early 1900's to sluce gold from river gravels. It was converted to a hydro station in 1929. The water race carried water 3.7 km from Campbell creek to the penstock (pipes) dropping the water 107m to the hydro electric station. It still produces power today.

Later in the day we explored the other direction of the beach as the tide was coming in. We walked out past rocks, watching the tide carefully as we could have been trapped. These rocks look like they tumbled off the cliffs above. They are twice the size of a school bus in size, or larger. What an incredible view. We had to roll up our pants well above the knee on our return trip, as the tide was quickly coming in. Tomorrow we will explore this side at the right time of day!