Where in the world are we?
YES!! New Zealand!
Destination – Stewart Island
I want to acknowledge my great friend and editor, Shoba Nayar who brings my writing alive with her expert eye and great recommendations
(Don’t forget to click on the small photos and see them in real size!!)
Conception of an idea becomes reality!
Andy and Alex, our friends from Germany, were coming to New Zealand to visit family. Andy decided to come visit us for a time and we decided to do a roadie to visit the most southern of the three main New Zealand Islands – Stewart Island/Rakiura. Just as a matter of interest, why is Stewart Island called Rakiura? The answer to this and many other historical questions can be found in the link below. However, the Island is named after William Stewart, who was a sealer on the ship ‘Pegasus’. He charted Port Pegasus in 1809. The Māori name of Rakiura means glowing skies and comes from the southern lights, the Aurora Australis.
https://teara.govt.nz/en/stewart-islandrakiura/print#
A plan for friends to gather in a remote setting!
The planning included inviting Leonetta, a friend who lives in Melbourne, Australia, whom ‘the boys’ had known from back in Germany. Manfred and Leonetta have enjoyed many cooking sessions creating amazing dishes. Foodies of the Mediterranean cooking fraternity, over a glass of red wine and flamenco music, the delights that get created are fine, tasty, and just plain amazing! Leonetta joined us on Stewart Island and the cooking fun really began.
And so the trip begins
Plans were laid, bookings made, and ‘one fine day’ we three set off. Our first stop was ‘Mia Flora Cafe and Garden Centre’ (Formally Kavanagh House) in Winchester, a tiny rural town on the main road north of Timaru and Temuka.
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No ordinary garden centre!!
If you stop here, you will be in for a big surprise – it is no ordinary cafe garden centre. Prepare to be ‘wowed by’ the fine food and beautiful surroundings! After exploring the centre and enjoying cakes and coffee we took to the road again.
https://www.facebook.com/p/Miaflora-Cafe-and-Garden-Centre-100057652410666/
Historic Teschemakers accommodation
Our first overnight destination was a unique venue just south of Oamaru and near the coast. Now a restored and renovated beautiful historical building set in large grounds alongside the chapel, ‘Our Lady of the Rosary’, ‘Teschemakers Resort’ has a fascinating history.
Historically, Teschemakers started with the agricultural development of South Island New Zealand when the early European settlers began creating farmland around 1860. It began as a 28 bedroom homestead built of local Whitestone limestone quarried in Oamaru, surrounded by lawns and plantations of English trees. William Teschemaker, owner of the property, died in 1888, and his son managed the property until it was sold. In 1911, the new owners, the McCarthy brothers, donated 25 acres, which included the huge homestead, to the Dominican Sisters from Dunedin to use as their holiday home. Instead, they established a Catholic girls boarding school – St Patrick’s Dominican College Teschemakers, and it remained as this from 1912–1977. Many upgrades occurred over the years including the installation of electricity, a laundry, swimming pool, and new classrooms. A new dormitory was built after being burnt down in the early 1960s.
Closed as a boarding school in 1979, it was reopened as a retreat and conference centre until 1996. Although I can’t find any internet references to it, I recall it being a camping ground for some years. In 2000, a Japanese doctor bought it with grand plans to create a higher education academy, teaching sustainable living, health sciences and organic farming. During renovations a devastating fire razed much of the building. The doctor died in 2007 before he could realise his dream. Subsequently, the property has been through the hands of several private companies until it was purchased by its current owners.
Surrounded by farmland from the coast to the mountains, today it is an ideal location for weddings and a place for children to run freely.
Read about this amazing location and history here.
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The famous cafe on the coast for dinner
After settling in we went for a drive through the rolling countryside and enjoyed a delicious ‘Blue-cod’ fish meal at the remote Kiwiana style ‘Coast Cafe Restaurant and Takeaway’. With a 1980s hippie vibe, surfboards and combi vans feel, the cafe is quaintly perched on a clifftop overlooking the ocean just 10 minutes South of Oamaru near Campbell Bay and Kakanui. The fresh taste lingered long after we left and we took a drive in the fading evening light to the beach and around Kakanui, enjoying the atmosphere of the region before heading back to Teschemakers and enjoying a very comfortable quiet night in our rural hideaway.
Moving south the next day
Driving off in beautiful weather the following morning we enjoyed travelling down through coastal Otago. A little way beyond Dunedin we stopped for a picnic lunch at Lake Waihola. The restful gap in the trip was a nice opportunity to eat, stretch our legs, and watch the birds, kids, and families enjoying holiday time.
The green green hills and rolling plains of the south
Back on the road we drove through the rolling hills of South Otago and Southland before arriving at the green expansive plains that took us to the pretty seaside village of Riverton. We chose to stay here instead of the city of Invercargill because accommodation was scarce due to a big gathering of ‘bikers’ or followers of the iconic ‘Worlds Fastest Indian’ who were there for the ‘Burt Munro Challenge’.
https://www.burtmunrochallenge.co.nz/
Riverton
We settled into our accommodation, the ‘La Riviera Guesthouse’, on Riverton’s main street. The charming La Riviera, is a lovingly restored, if slightly faded, guest house, built in 1860. As the website boasts, it has been enjoyed for many years by people travelling the Southern Scenic Route. Riverton is a destination well known to me for lazy long summer holidays during my childhood.
https://www.larivierabnb.co.nz/
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Following meeting our host and registering for our room, , we drove through the beachside streets and around to Howell’s Point Reserve, the ‘back beach’ as I had known it. It faces the deep south towards Antarctica, the Great Southern Ocean, the richly scenic Southland coastline.
On the horizon, we could easily see Stewart Island, our destination the following morning. It was great to climb on the rocks, swirling with seaweed and salty water, and just sit watching the ocean. That evening we enjoyed a nice dinner at a local hotel with two of my friends who drove from Invercargill to meet us.
To Stewart Island
Early the next morning we drove to Bluff and caught the ferry to the Island. The weather was rough with wind rain and rolling waves; and although Manfred was confident, Andy and I were a bit afraid of not being good sailors (in other words sea sick). The ferry, however, was a fast catamaran, a far cry from the previous large ferries of my school days in the 1960s!! We sat and chatted to a young couple from the Netherlands and talked about travelling and interesting experiences as the catamaran skimmed and bounced off the waves.
The trip takes about 1-hour, and on the way we observed large birds swooping for food from the sea in this stretch of turbulent water called Foveaux Strait. Before arriving in Oban, the only small town on the Island, we passed the smaller Dog Island with a light house, Ruapake Island, and the Titi Islands (Titi are a saltwater bird called a Shearwater – commonly called ‘mutton-birds’).
Arriving at the wharf, we walked a few minutes to our accommodation just up behind the famous South Sea Hotel which overlooks the sheltered Halfmoon Bay in which Oban is situated.
Our accommodation was perfect for our needs. The ‘Argyle Apartments’ were quite new and the view was so lovely that I kept looking out the windows. The weather was a little unsettled but between showers we went for a walk to explore the village and find a nice coffee. This was February and, although still summer, the weather in the south of New Zealand, close to Antarctica, can be fickle. Instead of warm ‘south seas’ sunshine, we needed hats, gloves, and warm jackets.
Leonetta arrived that evening and our group was complete. The 3 friends cooked a delicious pasta meal accompanied by a nice local wine from Central Otago.
https://www.argyleapartments.co.nz/
Exploring outside of Oban
The following morning was chilly but we did not let this spoil our plans to explore and enjoy! We packed a picnic lunch, hired a car (amazing on this tiny island), and set off to where the famous 32km (20mi) 3-day intermediate level Great Walk, Rakiura Track starts at Lee Bay.
We walked along the beachside track for some distance, whereby Andy and Leonetta took a higher track to Garden Mound that looped back to the road.
Te Puka – The Anchorstone chain sculpture disappears into the NZ native bush on the Rakiura Track
Manfred and I returned the way we had come, sitting on the beach for a short time before the sandflies forced us to return to the car and we drove to where Andy and Leonetta would soon emerge from the bush track. They shared with us photos and stories of their adventure as we drove back past Horseshoe Bay and into town.
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Andy and Leonetta having just emerged from the Garden Mound track
Conservation on the Island near Lee Bay
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Lunch at Leask Bay
We drove to Leask Bay where we sat at a picnic table to enjoy our lunch. It was serene and nice just to sit and observe while travellers and locals passed by. The low speed limit of 10kmph (6.2 mph), was appropriate on the narrow, twisty gravel roads.
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Ackers Cottage and Ackers Point
We then drove to the end of the road and parked the car with a plan to walk along the track, visit Ackers Cottage, and walk on to the Ackers Point Light Beacon Station. It was nice wandering along the trail, but turned out to be a longer walk than expected and after already having been to Lee Bay, we felt a little tired on return to the car.
So, who was ‘Acker’?
Lewis Acker was an American Whaler who settled in Steward Island around 1836, even before the township of Oban was established. His stone cottage is the oldest European building on the Island. Lewis was a boatbuilder, farmer, and coastal trader. He was said to be a strong man and built the stone and clay mortar home himself. He married a local Māori woman, Meri, who took care of the household and raised their 9 children in the small stone cottage. In 1864, when the Island was purchased by the Crown (the New Zealand Government under the British Colonial Rule), he lost the land and moved to Otatara near Invercargill. In 1987 the stone house became part of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust and in association with the Department of Conservation the cottage was restored.
Reaching Acker’s Point
Information boards at Acker’s Point give a brief history of the original lighthouse and the importance of it in guiding shipping around the point, between the islands just off the coast and the submerged rocks. They also tell about the seabirds of the area, the Titi, sooty shearwaters, and their extensive northern hemisphere migration pathway, the islands, and the little blue penguins that live along the coast here.
(Don’t forget to click on the small photos and see them in real size!!)
Dinner at the South Sea Hotel
That night we enjoyed a meal at the iconic ‘South Sea Hotel’. We were lucky to get a table as it was literally ‘packed out’, so if you go there, be sure to book a table well in advance.
http://www.southseahotel.co.nz/
Foraging for good food and coffee
The following day, we started out ‘foraging for food options’ for our end of day meal and enjoying coffee at New Zealand’s Southern most cafe ‘The Snuggery’ with home baked cakes and pastries – and yes the coffee is good! It was a lively place ” and we shared a table, chatting with fellow travellers about the Island and travelling in general, but also the very topical weather being cold for this time of year.
https://www.beaksandfeathers.co.nz/beaks-feathers-must-dos/
Or check it out on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TheSnuggeryRakiura/
An excursion up ‘Freshwater River’
We had planned an excursion up ‘Freshwater River’ which flows into Paterson Inlet from deep within the Island. The trip includes stopping to collect ‘trampers’ (hikers) at the conjunction in some of the Islands 280km of great walking tracks the North-West and Southern Circuit tracks at Freshwater Hut.
We made our way to the small sheltered ‘Golden Bay’ just across the hill from Oban in Paterson Inlet. While awaiting our boat and driver I explored the beach across from the jetty on the other side of the little bay where boats and sheds sit on sand at low tide or on the water’s edge, sheltered from the wild southern winds and wild seas.
(Don’t forget to click on the small photos and see them in real size!!)
We met our boat driver, Rakiura, and set off. It was quite windy with rain showers as we left the jetty and hugged the coast line. Passing by a big black and white boat, we had had fun creating stories about smugglers and renegades but in-fact it was a super yacht belonging to some rich entrepreneur!
Rakiura gave us great explanations of the various places he took us to view including the historic Norwegian whaling station where rusted propellors and ship remnants of times long ago still sit half buried in the sand.
(Don’t forget to click on the small photos and see them in real size!!)
The original homestead that was used at the whaling station was transported across a strip of water and now rests on a small promontory, as a holiday home, surrounded by native bush, for its private owners use.
We then picked up speed and raced across a strip of shallow water only passable at high tide, and entered Freshwater River. Rakiura knows this area ‘like the back of his hand’ as the saying goes and we enjoyed how he traversed the little boat around corners and up the narrow waterway.
We arrived at the jetty and were able to cross the swing bridge to the hut, stretch our legs, use the back country toilet, before boarding the boat again and whizzing back to the quiet sanctuary of Golden Bay.
Rakiura adventures Ltd. https://rakiura.nz/
We thanked Rakiura for the wonderful experience that really made this whole trip so worthwhile, and started to walk back over the hill towards Oban.
Back on dry land
I decided to take a walk up to Observation Rock Viewpoint, past homes built to maximize the view and enjoyed the bush scenes and native birds along the way.
I came back down from this viewpoint and soon caught up with Manfred and Andy chatting as they slowly walked up and down the hills towards our apartment. Leonetta went to the supermarket and that night we had a combo meal of home cooked and purchased food from one of the small food providers near the bay, finished our wine supplies, and reminisced about what a great time we had on this far away place in the South Pacific.
Leaving the Island life behind
The following morning, as we were to leave, the sun decided to shine! We cleaned up and took ourselves down to the wharf, boarded the ferry, and enjoyed the calm ride back to Bluff with a plan for the next stage of our journey. We had decided that if the weather was good, we would drive ‘The Catlins’ road back towards Dunedin. Once on the road we stopped for a coffee at the Fortrose Cafe and Restaurant on the edge of a lovely lagoon at the Mataura River mouth on Toetoes Bay.
Curio Bay & the Petrified Forest
We then drove towards Curio Bay, exploring the Petrified Forest laid down in the Jurassic times of Gondwanaland 170 million years ago, when Kauri and Matai trees were strong and upright.
It is thought the land and forests were subjected to huge waves and volcanic action freezing them in time and the structure of the trees, even though the are now laid down as rock, can still be seen. This place is fascinating and well worth stopping to visit.
(Don’t forget to click on the small photos and see them in real size!!)
There are plenty of information boards above the petrified forest rocks, a penguin sanctuary, a cafe and museum, along with a generous camping area. We had plenty of time, so we enjoyed the forest, a long picnic lunch, and the atmosphere before I dragged the others back to the car to enjoy more of the Catlins.
https://www.catlins.org.nz/plan/captivating-activities/scenic-highlights/curio-bay/
Along the Catlins
Along the whole Catlins drive, there are many highlights such as lighthouses, waterfalls, cathedral caves, and much more to choose from to explore and enjoy. Our next stop was the view over Tautuku Bay where we sat and breathed the fresh southern air.
We then had an authentic rural experience of driving through a large flock of sheep, much to the delight of the visitors. Having been bought up in the Southland countryside, I lead the way through the flock followed by campervans and travellers not used to this kind of fun!
The video shows some of the sheep running onto the road!
Papatowai
Next stop: Papatowai, (meaning ‘where forest meets sea’) a cute seaside village with a permanent population of about 30 which swells in summer holiday time. Historically the Māori hunted here as far back as 800 years. Papatowai sits on the wide river mouth of the Tahakopa River and we enjoyed coffee and scones at Carols Caravan and played table soccer in front of the Lost Gypsy Gallery caravan.
Nugget Point Lighthouse
We drove on through the native forests towards the Nugget Point Lighthouse near Kaka point – a small town with beautiful beaches of golden sand. We took the walk to the lighthouse and enjoyed the views above the steep sided rock promontory with the lighthouse on its sea point tip. Sitting at 76m above sea level, and almost 10m high, the lighthouse was build in about 1870.
Nature’s paintbrush saw the setting sun’s light play on the rocks below which are thought to resemble gold nuggets and are frequented by fur seals, elephant seals, and a plethora of bird life. Yellow eyed penguins come out of the water in the late afternoon, early evening to go to their nests in the extensive coastal vegetation.
Moving towards Dunedin, we then drove around the north side of the Otago harbour towards the charming historical suburbs of Roseneath and Port Chalmers, a place of creativity, artists, writers and musicians. Our accommodation was truly wonderful and our hosts were superb, accommodating our needs while we enjoyed the outdoor table and a chat about the garden.
On the recommendation of our hosts, that evening we dined at the Carey’s Bay Historic Hotel and were not disappointed.
Victorian, characterful, olde worldly and with good food, this was a great way to end our long adventurous day.
Ultima Thule Accommodation and Gardens Roseneath
https://www.airbnb.co.nz/rooms/966963301450125798
https://www.careysbayhotel.co.nz/
The following day, we drove over the hills above the bay on the Blueskin Road to Waitati, affording great views and passing the Orokonui Ecosantcuary – Te Korowai o Mihiwaka. This wildlife sanctuary boasts native animals such as kiwi, walking tracks, and a visitor center and café. Unfortunately, as we were leaving early to get back to Christchurch, it was not yet open for us to enjoy.
Back home
Back home, the trio continued cooking and created a lovely fresh pasta meal. Leonetta flew back to Melbourne the next day and a few days later Andy flew back to Alex in the Bay of Plenty. We were happy to have shared a few short days on the road with great friends, food, and adventures.
Keep an eye out for the next adventure…..