Okarito
After two days of torrential rain which we spend hiding out in Franz Joseph unable to see the famed glacier for clouds and precipitation, the sun is finally out. We head to the West Coast, to the utterly charming village of Okarito. The only road winds through the settlement, a single street of small colourful houses boasting 32 residents, situated on the side of a large tidal lagoon and New Zealand’s biggest coastal wetland. Right in the centre of the village is the community hall; an original timber-framed weatherboard clad building that was once ‘Donavan’s General Store’ in the height of the gold boom in the late 19th century. Opposite Donavan’s Store is a vintage-looking tennis court and a poster proudly advertising the annual charity tennis tournament. The road ends at a tiny airstrip next to the beach and the welcoming community-run camping ground. We are greeted by the resident caretakers who fill us in on the local community and recommendations on what we should do whilst here. We have decided to spend the afternoon walking the Three Mile Lagoon track (11km) that goes one way along the pebble beach (2hrs either side of low tide) and comes back along the clifftop on the old loggers track. We extend the loop slightly with a detour up the Trig Walk summit which has views over the lagoon and Southern Alps. It’s a lovely coastal walk on a clear day and we take our time, arriving back at the town to be greeted by some very friendly fern birds shortly before sunset.
Chris is up in the middle of the night, photographing the night sky over the lagoon and captures a faint glow of the elusive Aurora Australis (The Southern Lights).
We wake to a perfectly still morning for our Okarito boat tour, a three-hour tour of the lagoon and its waterways run by a lovely Canadian/Kiwi couple who fell in love with Okarito and love sharing their knowledge of its wildlife and history. Heading out into the lagoon we enjoying the classic view of the Southern Alps with their fresh dusting of snow reflecting in the still morning waters. We glide through the channels spotting the resident white herons, royal spoonbills, black swans and kingfishers.
Hokitika Gorge
We leave Okarito and drive north up the coast with a stop at Hokitika gorge; an incredible opaque turquoise river flowing through a pale granite gorge. An excellent DoC loop track takes you through podocarp forest and zig-zags on swing-bridges across the gorge.
Motukeikie Beach at Sunset
Continuing our route up the coast, we stop at Motukiekie Beach for a walk along the sand to watch the sunset behind some fantastically shaped rock stacks.
We plan to camp for the night at a freedom camp spot just up the coast at Barrytown. About half the reviews we read of this spot mention the pub at the top of the road. We raced to the camp to make it to the highly recommended pub before last orders.
The All Nations, Barrytown
We park at the end of the road on the beach and head straight to the highly recommended pub. The All Nations is certainly deserving of its reputation, an original gold rush bar founded sometime pre-1890. As soon as we sat down with our drinks, the owner Bill came over to chat and happily told us the history of the pub and showed us its memorabilia, including the original licensing documents showing that at the height of the gold boom this was one of 100+ establishments in the region keeping the gold prospectors refreshed. The community now is around 100 people and only needs one pub.
Bill grew up in Barrytown and as a teenager he founded an annual motorbike gathering that at 12pm on the 12th day of the 12th-month bikers meet for a 12th (a half-pint). A gathering which he proudly told us now has a cult following in New Zealand. We ended up staying until past midnight playing extremely competitive pool on the well-loved table with Bill and some other guests, thankfully holding our own due to the practice we had while holed up in Franz Joseph. Once evicted from the pub we slowly meander back down the road to the campervan enjoying a spectacular night sky.
We wake to the sound of a gentle sea rather than the ferocious West Coast treacherous surf that I had been warned about. It was calm enough that I am a tempted in for a morning dip in the shallows (still wary of rip tides). The beach turns out to be a hub of activity with every man woman and their horse, pony and dog out for a walk.
Punakaiki
We take a full day driving up the coast with lots of interesting stops along the way. The Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki are first, extraordinary pillars of eroded layers of limestone that look like stacks of pancakes. We arrive here at high tide to coincide with when the blowholes should be at their best as the typical ocean swells crash ashore. However, as we are blessed with unusually good calm weather, the sea is very flat with no activity from the blowholes at all.
5km up the coast is the Truman Track, a short walk-through podocarp forest to a ridiculously gorgeous and quiet cove. The beautiful beach is surrounded by limestone cliffs with tiny waterfalls falling from the tussock grass above, scattering rainbows across the limestone. The beach has tiny little smooth round pebbles that warm my toes as I walk along the beach. At low tide we walk out onto the tidal shelf on the headland and explore the round rockpools, teaming with large brightly coloured starfish, crabs, and sea anemones. We settle in for the sunset, Chris is getting multiple angles from behind the waterfall while I am sitting on the beach, sieving the pebbles through my fingers looking to chance upon a small piece of NZ jade.
