We left you in Part 1 at Pīpīriki, having returned from a Whanganui River excursion. The Whanganui River Road had been speedily cleared of cyclonic detritus and was again passible (although the alternative route out via Raetihi to SH4 southbound was now closed due to landslips). Thus we took the River Road towards Whanganui, where our first evening was interrupted by an M6.0 earthquake. Our journey back to Wellington would take us to coastal Whanganui-Manawatū towns and beaches, and along the Kāpiti Coast from Ōtaki Beach to Paekākāriki. We would hike the Escarpment Track, visit Red Rocks Reserve and explore Ōtari-Wilton’s Bush before boarding our ferry.
Coordinates
Whanganui River Road
The Whanganui River Road is an annotated scenic drive along the river from Pīpīriki in the north until it intersects SH4 near Ūpokongaro in the south:
The river road has many interesting historic places/ points of interest to visit, including Jerusalem (or Hiruhārama in Māori) with it’s Catholic St Joseph’s convent/ church featuring Māori woodwork from 1892, London (Rānana), Corinth (Koriniti), and Athens (Ātene). Also noted are a culturally-important marae (meeting ground), an old flour mill, oyster cliffs and a closed gallery/ café. Views over the Whanganui River may well have been better going up the road, but we were glad to travel downriver, as it turned out that State Highway 4—our alternative road—had been closed due to storm damage.
Whanganui town and gardens
We pitched in a social club carpark in Whanganui and took up the offer of a refreshment from the bar. Later that evening, a 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck off the Kāpiti Coast (it was initially reported as M6.3/ strong). The van rocked from side-to-side enthusiastically for a few seconds, leaving us a little shaken but not stirred.
Good views across Whanganui are available from the top of the Durie Hill Memorial Tower (reached via 176 steps). From there walk down into the city centre, which is home to New Zealand Glassworks, where it is possible to observe artists at work from a viewing gallery. A UNESCO City of Design, Whanganui has a historic centre that appeared well-maintained, full of shops to browse and eateries in which to dine. The regional museum houses collections covering both Māori and settler history, including the Lindauer portrait gallery of important Māori leaders and the biggest collection of moa bones. As we had parked at the Tower, naturally we rode the Durie Hill Elevator to return. This became operational in 1919 and still uses DC electricity, with a 213m access tunnel leading to a 66m vertical shaft. We also saw (but did not board) the restored Waimarie paddle steamer.
Māori local accents
Whanganui, both river and city, include the letter “h” when written. In Māori “Wh” is typically pronounced as an “f” sound, as in Whangarei. We noticed some businesses/ signs omit the “h” when writing Wanganui. A helpful lady in the i-SITE visitor centre explained that in the local iwi (tribal) accent the “h” is silent. European settlers thus heard and wrote Wanganui in error.
🤔 Curiosity
S had obtained parāoa rēwena (Māori bread) from a local bakery; this rises with a “bug” from fermented potato water and fuelled our morning visit to Bason Botanic Gardens on the city outskirts. Privately owned until 1969 they are now maintained by Whanganui District Council for all to enjoy. We missed a performance of Shakespeare in the gardens by a couple of days.
The afternoon saw us awed by Paloma Gardens, 20km away and well worth the entry fee. This is a private garden that has been 40 years in the making and is landscaped with plants from across globe but specialises in palms, cycads, bamboos, trees, etc. It also incorporates sculptures large and small and is home to a motorbike collection. As at Alnwick Gardens in Northumberland (UK), you can also visit GOD (a Garden of Death, comprising plants that can kill).
Beyond river to lake, town and sea
The nature of van life permits stopping on a whim. After leaving the Whanganui area as we travelled down SH3 we saw a brown (tourism) sign for Lake Dudding, so pulled off the highway and the lake shore became a very pleasant overnight spot:
Continuing south we called at Himatangi Beach, an official road, so usual rules apply. Here there is additional signage indicating sand compactness, inspired by the fire risk needle. A short drive from there, Foxton is on the Manawatū River; the riverside path had been recently inundated and was thus caked in mud. Perhaps this is a regular phenomenon, causing a shop in town to post this “Kiwi as” polite notice to gumboot-wearing locals?
Foxton’s Te Awahou Nieuwe Stroom (“the new stream”) is a joint Horowhenua District Council, Te Taitoa Māori o Te Awahou Trust and Dutch Connection Museum Trust facility/ visitor attraction. Exhibits cover local heritage, and outside sits the only wind-powered flour mill in southern hemisphere (a replica of a 17th century original, erected in 2003). A café serves Dutch specialities and the windmill also houses a deli. We then paid to watch a stripper: a flax stripper. Foxton had been home to the flax industry due to its vicinity to large harakeke swamps.
Things we learned from a stripper
Harakeke is NZ flax or Phormium tenax, which is unrelated to flax in the northern hemisphere (Linum usitatissimum). It is a very important plant for Māori. For a time it made good commercial sense to use the stripped and softened fibres to make not only ropes primarily for sailing ship use, but also sacking for woolpacks and rugs. Sadly for Foxton, it did not take long for alternative fibres such as sisal, hemp, and plastic to be cheaper to import and work with than flax.
🤔 Curiosity
To counteract the dusty flax machinery, we had a somewhat hesitant drink of Foxton Fizz—offering the taste of summer (apparently) since 1918. Good to see someone making use of their chemistry skills this early in New Zealand’s history, although the colouring may shock sensitive eyes!
Kāpiti Coast and Wellington
Following the coast further southward, we decided to stop at Ōtaki Beach for a couple of nights at a popular freedom camping spot. The first evening we were treated to a lovely sunset, with clear views down the beach of Kāpiti Island and South Island behind it, and inland beyond the river wetlands of the Tararua Range. It was a very popular fishing spot, buzzing with drones taking lines beyond the surf into the Tasman Sea. We were rather surprised to have visibility to the volcanic cone of Mount Taranaki way out to sea: that must be some distance!
What seemed to be an otherwise sleepy beachside community exploded into colour and action with the largest kite festival in NZ celebrating its 10th birthday (Ōtaki Kite Festival 2023; 18 & 19 Feb). Also said to be the biggest event on the Kāpiti Coast, the festival had national and international kite flying professionals in attendance—alongside entertainment, food and other stalls. Those with smaller kites appeared to be having no less fun than the pros!
Ngā Manu Nature Reserve is a conservation charity in Waikanae, near Wellington, where NZ native inmates are incarcerated for their own protection. Here we have the kākāriki (a parakeet); the kererū (a pigeon); a tuatara (a “living fossil” but not a lizard); and a kea (mountain parrot). Kiwi are kept here too, but weren’t seen on our visit.
B found the texture and colouration of kea feathers to be of particular photographic merit:
Some of the other Ngā Manu residents were more challenging to photograph. Firstly, the pūkeko (swamp hen), as you normally see their back end with it’s flicking white tail feathers as soon as they spot you. Secondly, the pīwakawaka (fantail) because they move constantly so most shots are of where the bird was, or a motion blur at best (especially in dull bush light). Others were challenging to photograph because they are small, including this free-range Wellington tree weta sunbathing on the observation tower handrail and a captive jewelled gecko:
Living on the edge—and falling off it
New Zealand’s endemic/ native species are at ongoing risk of extinction because they are unable to hide, fly or run away from introduced predators (and their human introducers!). They evolved in safe isolation after the island chain that would become NZ broke off from Gondwana, and early potential predators (e.g. dinosaurs) died out in the 80 million years since. Forest birds in particular were not low down in the food chain and didn’t face dietary or habitat competition from mammals, which had a limited presence. Some even gave up taking to flight as a result. When Māori settlers arrived from around 1250 they introduced predatory pests (such as the Pacific rat) and commenced hunting multiple species towards or into extinction, and destroying their natural habitats. Things got even worse with the arrival of European settlers from the late 18th century, who also hunted (not only for food e.g. for collectors), modified habitats on a massive scale, and introduced a wide variety of efficient killers—notably cats (which remain popular in NZ today). Some of the new species were in direct competition with the locals. The natives could not adapt to such a pace of change, with many being pushed over the edge or teetering on it.
🌲 Rewilding
Leaving Ngā Manu, we returned to Plimmerton so Curiosity could have her surgery next morning. An evening stroll confirmed that the sun doesn’t set directly behind Mana Island, but rather behind South Island, which lies beyond it:
Escarpment Track
Using Wellington area public transport instead of our trusty van, we were able to undertake a half-day walk (10km, 3h in either direction) on the Escarpment Track from Paekākāriki to Pukerua Bay—part of the Te Araroa NZ trail. It follows a hillside above the railway line and the old SH1 (now SH59), precariously clinging to the contours of the land and navigable with the aid of 1200 steps and two swing bridges. The start in Paekākāriki was lined with invasive blue morning glory (Ipomoea indica), with wild yellow-flowering fennel scenting much of the onward path, which is subject to active native plantings. Nice enough, but we agreed we prefer the Mākara Walkway.
We passed an army of Monarch caterpillars feeding on a milkweed. Google informed us that, although familiar to us from Europe, they are considered native in New Zealand, as they self-established here with the help of storms. Unfortunately, they are also now endangered.
As the Escarpment Track was not too challenging—even in the characteristic high winds of Windy Welly—we added a few more kilometres and continued walking back to our van. Thus we passed again by Taupō Swamp, once the source of some of the harakeke that was stripped in Foxton.
Last days in Wellington
From our overnight spot near Porirua Harbour we could observe the elegant silhouettes of Royal Spoonbills fishing in the shallows—birds that we had previously seen at the Miranda Bird Sanctuary.
At Ōwhiro Bay, seemingly the end of somewhere, but actually just at the southern outskirts of Wellington, we walked out to Red Rocks Reserve along a track suitable for 4×4 vehicles only—but it became evident not all were up to it. At the site of a particularly nasty road hump we saw both success and failure. As they say:
“New Zealand roads are different.”
The weather was closing in, temperatures struggling in the low double figures, with horizontal rain and wind gusts to about 60kph an ominous indication of what a Cook Strait crossing might be like.
Our final windswept hours on North Island were spent at Ōtari-Wilton’s Bush, a 100ha NZ native-only botanic garden and forest reserve in Wellington. Sightings included the tree fern (Dicksonia squarrosa); fierce lancewood (Pseudopanax ferox); “Moko”, an 800 year-old rimu tree (Dacrydium cupressinum); and the New Zealand blueberry (Dianella nigra).
Having waited four weeks already to cross Cook Strait, Interislander sent us a text apologising for a delayed/ rescheduled departure from Wellington. Better late than never, but we couldn’t help wondering if it would be prudent to reduce the chance of travel today from “High” to “Moderate” in view of the ongoing disruption to ferry services! After some additional delay our boat arrived and disgorged passengers from Picton.
Soon after we were on our way to South Island.
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