We began our journey through the South Island (known as Te Waipounamu
in the Māori language) in Hokitika. The South Island is an area known not only for
its cold, glaciers, fjords, and mountains, but also for its forests, lakes, and
beaches. The Southern Alps run along the
entire length of the island with fjords and glaciers located in the southern
half of the island. The east side of the
mountain range is dry with few forests, while the west coast is rainy with
forests, mountains, and glaciers. It is
900 miles long, making it the 12th largest island in the world, with
a population of just over 1.1 million people.
Although 32% larger than the North Island, it has only 23% of the
population. The largest city in the
South Island is Christchurch (in which we will now spend one evening).
After a quick flight from Wellington to Christchurch, we
boarded a bus for our 4 ½ drive to Hokitika.
Along the way we visited a sheep station (ranch or farm) in Rubicon
Valley, home to over 3,000 sheep. Some interesting facts about New Zealand’s sheep
· 5:1 – Current ratio of sheep to humans in New
Zealand (world’s highest ration)
· 59 ½ lbs – the weight of New Zealand’s
heftiest-ever fleece, belonging to a ram named Shrek, who became a national
icon when, after years of avoiding capture, he was shorn in 2004
· 90 lbs – the weight of the fleece belonging to
an Australian sheep named Chris, who overtook Shrek in 2015 to claim the title
of world’s heaviest-ever fleece (the average typically weights just under 10
pounds)
At the sheep station we first had a delicious lunch of Angus
beef sausage, lamb patty, 3 different salads, relishes to include beetroot
(very good, if you like beets), garlic bread, and cookies and brownies for
desert. After lunch, our guide, Chris
gave us a short talk on the sheep station and what his job is. He does not own the station – he works for
the owners as a manager. There are 3000
Romney sheep on the station. Their wool
is very coarse and not good for clothing so it is used for making carpets. The lambs are sold for their meat. We then went outside for a sheep dog
demonstration. Chris has 3 dogs – 2 are
trained and the 3rd is a puppy that has just started his
training. It can take up to 3 years to
fully train a dog. You only train them 5
minutes in the morning and 5 minutes in the afternoon and only on one command
at a time. When they have mastered that
command you move on to the next. The
commands are “come-bye” which means for the dog to go to the left of the sheep
and circle around behind them; “come-away” means go to the right and circle
around in anti-clockwise motion; “lie down” which can mean stop or slow down,
and “get back” means to back away – the dog is too close to the sheep and is
scaring them. He then had his two
trained dogs, Blue and Flynn, both border collies, go out to the pasture and
bring back about 11 young lambs. It was
a very interesting demonstration.
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| Feeding the sheep |
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| Rounding up the sheep |
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| Sheep dogs in action |
Chris then told us about the alpacas they have one the
station. There are 18 and they are kept
for their wool. We got to pet the
alpacas and have our picture taken with them if we wanted. We also go a picture with Blue, one of the sheep dogs.
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| Cuddle time with the alpacas |
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| Blue, the sheep dog |
We then went back into the shed where Chris demonstrated the
skill of sheep shearing. Today sheep are
sheared using a motorized shear. A well
trained shearer can shear a sheep in about 90 seconds – they can do up to 300
sheep in 8 hours. He then gave us the
opportunity to try our hand at sheep shearing using the old hand held
shears. It does not hurt the sheep, but
the sheep shearer has to keep a tight hold on the sheep as it does frighten
them.
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| Shearing the sheep |
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| Shearing the sheep |
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| Trying my hand at sheep shearing |
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| River near the sheep station |
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| Sheep on the mountainside |
From the station we continued our journey across the South
Island. To get to Hokitika on the west
coast of the island, we had to travel across the Southern Alps that contain the
highest mountains in New Zealand. Mount
Cook is the highest and Mount Tasman is the second highest. The scenery was spectacular. We followed a river (or creek) through the
mountains and saw several large waterfalls.
We were unable to stop, but on our return trip to Christchurch in 2
days, we will have a chance to top and take photos. We traveled through the mountains through
Arthur’s Pass, the highest highway across the Southern Alps.
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| On the road to Hokitika |
Hokitika, known as the Cool Little
Town, was founded in 1860 during the height of the gold rush on the west coast
of the South Island. Located on the
coast where the Hokitika River meets the sea, it soon became an important
port. However, a sandbar in the ocean that
shifts with every tide caused the wreck of many ships trying to reach the port.
At the height of the gold rush there
were about 45,000 people living in Hokitika; today there are only about 3,000.
Today the town is famous for its
galleries and the Maori carving of pounamu (greenstone/jade) into jewelry. Just north of the town is the Arahura River
where much of the pounamu is found.
Pounamu refers to several varieties of nephrite jade and bowenite which
vary in patterns and colors of green and yellow. Pounamu is found only on the waterways of South
Island and holds great spiritual significance in the Maori culture. Before the European colonization of this
area, the Maori used this precious stone for bartering for food and other
needs. As it was the hardest material
known to the Maori, they also used it for making weapons and tools. In fact, the first person to bring home a
souvenir of pounamu was Capt. James Cook in 1769, when he picked up a small
tiki pendent that had been carved by the Maori.
In 1997, the Maori were given exclusive rights to all naturally
occurring pounamu on the island.
However, pounamu found on the beach may be kept.
We arrived in Hokitika about 6 PM and immediately went to
our lodging – Stopforths Premium Accommodations. This is a brand new motel and was built after
OAT signed a contract with the owners (Sonya and Phil) that allowed them to get
the necessary bank funding to build the 16 unit motel. It is a beautiful building with very
comfortable beds, a Jacuzzi bath, and the best home cooking. The hotel provided our dinner which included
a green salad, beets, roasted potatoes, and roast lamb that was so tender. Desert was home-made apple pie and ice
cream. What could be better!!! Although we had not done much today but
travel in a bus, we had gotten up at 5:30 in the morning for our flight to
Christchurch so everyone was ready for bed after dinner.
Our second day in Hokitika began with a visit to a
photography gallery owned by an immigrant from Germany. He takes fantastic pictures and then mounts
them on blocks of wood. He loves birds
and has many photos of the native New Zealand penguins and keas (the mountain
parrot). He also sells genuine pounamu
and there was one just calling my name.
So another of my trip objectives has been met. When someone in the group mentioned Hamburg,
Germany, he commented that he was from the area between Hamburg and
Hanover. Bill’s grandmother is from a
small town in the area, Stadtoldendorf.
He mentioned that and the owner knew the town. It’s a small world.
From his gallery, a local guide took us on a 45 minute walk
around the town. There really is not
much to see in Hokitika. There are many
little restaurants and many shops that sell the green jade. He showed as a statue of a gold miner and the
town clock that was erected to commemorate the coronation of King Edward VII in
1902. We walked along the riverfront to
view the old custom house and he spoke of the many shipwrecks that occurred in
the 1700-1800’s. Charlie also pointed out
the peaks of New Zealand’s two highest mountains – Mount Cook and Mount
Tasman. They were just barely visible as
the clouds were forming over the Southern Alps.
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| Hokitika Town Clock |
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| Miner's Statue |
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| Old Customs House |
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| Southern Alps |
We then went to a jade gallery where the owner, a Maori,
explained how they turn the pounamu into the beautiful pendants you can buy
today. It takes about 3 different
cuttings (using diamond tipped blades) to get a piece of jade the size needed
for the pendant. Then there are several
different tools that the carver uses to carve the intricate designs of the
jade. And finally it takes another three
tools to complete the polishing process.
The carver said that he can carve a small Tiki pendant in about 2 days.
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| Mound of Pounamu |
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| Large Diamond-edge saw for cutting the stone |
Following this visit, we drove outside of Hokitika to a farm
owned by an eclectic artist. She used to
have her own store in town where she sold her jewelry, to include the blue
pearls from the abalone shell and gold jewelry.
She allows 2 mining companies to use part of her land for gold mining,
but she has strict rules as she is very pro-conservation. When the mining is done, the land must be
restored to its original purpose and trees must be planted on the restored
land. She also raises a few steers,
ducks, chickens, and sheep, and has quite an extensive garden. She is also very into “Steam Punk” which I had
never heard of. Apparently it is quite
popular in New Zealand. You go in period
custom and everything must be made from recycled goods. She had one outfit – a barb-wire bikini! And she actually wore it to one of the Steam Punk events!!! They also have teapot races at these events
and everyone has to make their own teapot which is then mounted on remote
controlled cars. As I said, quite an
interesting lady!!!
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| Remote car teapot |
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| Barbwire Bikini |
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| Great sign |
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| Tree in her garden covered with lichen |
After we left the farm, several people wanted to be dropped
off in town for more shopping, while 3 were going on a helicopter ride over the
glaciers, and the rest of us (with Lindsay) were going to Hokitika Gorge. Located about 20 miles from the town it is famed for its milky blue waters of
the Hokitika River set against white rocks of the ravine and the lush green
forests on either side of the gorge.
Unfortunately, the heavy rains they had last week had filled the river
with a lot of silt and its color was more of a steely gray. However the short walk we took was
wonderful. It was like walking in the
rainforest, but without the heat and humidity.
We crossed over the river on a rope suspension bridge to a lookout with
a great view of the river, rocks, cliffs, and forest. The swaying was not to Bill’s liking and he
decided not to cross.
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Suspension bridge at Hokitika Gorge -- and no Bill
did not cross it! |
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| Rainforest walk to the Gorge |
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| Hokitika Gorge |
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| Hokitika Gorge |
Back at our hotel, we rested for about an hour and then
walked into town for dinner. Lindsay had
recommended several restaurants and we chose to go to the Kitchen. It was a good choice – Bill had smoked BBQ
ribs and I had a very delicious seafood chowder. After dinner we walked down to the beach to
watch the sunset into the Tasman Sea. Hokitika is said to have the best
sunsets – fiery and vivid – in all of New Zealand. It was a beautiful sunset, although it did
not have the reds and oranges of many we have seen.
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| Hokitika Beach |
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| Sunset at Hokitika |
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| Sunset at Hokitika Beach |
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