The Seasons - they are a-Changing

 The Seasons - they are a-Changing

SUNDAY 30 MARCH 2025 - THURSDAY 10 APRIL 2024

Having been around boats for most of his life Dave continues to keep a close eye on his weather forecasting apps so we altered our plans slightly as he started tracking some really nasty weather that was going to hit the West Coast. We decided this was a good time to head inland for a bit. 

We wanted to head to Reefton but to break the trip up decided to stay in a little place called Ahaura as you could ‘freedom camp’ in the pub’s car park. Unfortunately said carpark was a bit tiny and not that salubrious so we had a pint in the pub instead - it would have seemed rude not to! Fortunately, even though Ahaura is tiny it had a Domain Campground and we stopped there for a couple of nights instead. Ahaura is right beside the Ahaura River which meant we could bust out the spinning rods again, but this time for trout. We gave it our best shot but didn’t get a bite - although we did get bitten, the sandflies in this neck of the woods are relentless.

We could tell that the weather was definitely changing, the sun was conspicuous by its absence and the temperature was dropping, definitely time to head to Reefton. We booked into the Reefton Motor Camp for five days so we could batten down the hatches and weather the storm. 

Reefton is a little gem in the Buller District’s crown. A quaint town overflowing with mining history and opportunities to discover the past. We took the time to wander through the town and I can’t believe that I didn’t get any photos but Dave did indulge in one or two of Nanna Ni’s Homemade Pies. One thing we did discover was The Reefton Distilling Company which is home to Little Biddy Gin. This discovery coincided with getting an email that said Dave had a very small amount of Airpoints that were about to expire and as luck would have it Little Biddy Gin matched that number. As it was going to prove impossible to order online without providing a delivery address I went into the distillery shop and asked if I ordered it online, could they just call me to come and collect it. It is a small town and a small distillery so the lovely lady in the shop was also the lady who made up the orders and she assured us that we could just come back the next day and she would have it ready for us. This is where I give Little Biddy Gin a HUGE thumbs up from us - we tasted all of the range when we went to collect our bottle of Classic and although this was our favourite, we did enjoy the Amber as well.

And then the rain came - not as fierce as predicted but certainly kept us inside chilling for a bit. When the sky cleared we took a walk along the Inangahua River which runs through Reefton. When we arrived in the town the river was clear and there were large boulders in the centre of it that you could see. After the rain, the boulders were covered and it was a muddy brown BUT it did have a swing bridge over it. Super!

On our last night in Reefton we went to the Bassano Pizza Parlour for dinner. This family had immigrated from Italy in 1908 and they had certainly brought all their pizza making skills with them. Bassano may have been in the main street of Reefton but it would have shone if it had been on Ponsonby Road.

The weather apps were again warning of severe weather which prompted us to delay our trip to Hokitika again and look for somewhere slightly inland to stay. As we searched the maps we saw a spot called Lake Brunner which boasted good fishing and walking tracks so we headed there. We had never heard of this lake but boy, what a beautiful spot. The lake is huge and quite warm (21℃) as it is not glacier fed. 

We met some young lads who were fishing on the breakwater and they assured us that there were large Brown and Rainbow Trout who were just asking to be caught so we put that on our ‘To Do’ list for this stop. The first thing on our list was to take advantage of the newly completed 16 kms cycle path around part of the lake but unfortunately the weather hit with a vengeance. It is amazing how much louder rain sounds in a motorhome!! When the sky cleared a little we thought we should at least give the fishing a go to avoid getting cabin fever. 

To get to the right spot on the lake for Dave to gain some practice in his fly fishing manoeuvres  we needed to cross…..yes, you got it…. another swing bridge. Luckily Dave got another video.

Again, we gave the fishing our best shot but the trout remained elusive. To return the favour I got this video of Dave busting out his fly fishing moves.

That night we woke to some of the heaviest rain I have ever heard and the wind had got up so Dave had to head out into the rain at 4:00 am to pull the awning in. In the morning when we woke we had lost our view of the lake BUT we had a wee lake around the motorhome - a bit of a moat really. The rain continued and gave us plenty of time for reading, knitting, writing blogs and planning out our next two weeks to ensure that we had places to stay over Easter and the school holidays. We also booked in for another two nights at Lake Brunner as the weather had stopped us from exploring and making the most of the walks and cycle paths.

And just like that the sun came out - the mornings and evenings were chillier than we were used to but the sunny days were glorious. Dave got the bikes down and we headed off on the 16 kms of Lake Brunner Scenic Trail bike track around the lake. This bike track was built by volunteers and had bridges that were named after the local families that had donated the money to fund them. The path was dappled with sunlight, rocks and tree roots but mostly it was just an easy cycle, through native forest, following the lake shore. 

By staying the extra days we were also able to take advantage of the walks in the area. The first one we did was the Rakaitana walk that had information boards about the trees within the walk and also had a very impressive fairy grotto that had been added by some of the locals. The second walk was the Velenski Walk which took us into the bush behind the motor camp. The significant thing about this walk is that this area has not been logged so the trees in this walk are huge natives. We also spotted a black Fantail and, thanks to Mike Wilson, who is an amazing bird photographer, I can share that 5% of South Island Fantails are in an all black morph. 

Having never heard of this lake we are so grateful that impending bad weather made us hunt it out and commit to a visit. Moana is such a well kept secret. Obviously South Islanders know about its beauty as the ‘holiday’ homes here are pretty amazing. It really is an untouched part of New Zealand.

Tomorrow, we head off to Hokitika on the hunt for the two ‘G’s’ - Gold and Greenstone.

Wish us luck!