All that is gold does not glitter. We took the opportunity to educate ourselves about a working opencast coal mine at Stockton, north of Westport. We followed this by going underground and black water rafting on the Nile River at Charleston.
Coordinates
Stockton Mine
We spent five hours with Outwest Tours visiting Stockton Mine near Granity: this is the largest opencast mine in NZ. They begin by removing topsoil, blasting the rock “overburden” to shatter it, then remove the rock to get at the coal underneath. Part of the mine has been burning since 1909 (first photo). Drainage around the site is acidic due to the presence of pyrite, so lime is added to counteract this (second photo). After blending types of coal (third photo), an aerial ropeway conveys the coal down an incline (final photo) to a waiting train at Ngakawau. Much of the product has a twelve-hour transalpine rail journey to Lyttelton, from where it is exported to steelmakers (i.e. it is coking coal). Only a small amount of thermal coal is processed here.
It is possible to make steel without coal, but there is also coal in a surprising number of wide-ranging products. Even if we stop burning it, it seems unlikely that all demand will abruptly cease. However, the environmental impacts of opencast mining here have been long neglected. Little of the original sandstone landscape on the plateau remains (first photo). NZ taxpayers do contribute to site rehabilitation costs, and once the mining is finished, the Department of Conservation will take over management of the area. Rehabilitation involves landscaping the tailings—looking like glacial moraine (second photo)—then covered them in topsoil ready for planting (third photo). Small patches of native plantings (at a density of 10,000 seedlings per hectare) look almost natural after about 15 years (final photo).
Granity and Westport
Granity is a small settlement of some 160 people ensconced on a thin strip of the West Coast (first photo). A sawmill established here in 1846, while mining on the Stockton-Millerton Plateau began in 1896. Granity declined after Millerton Incline closed in 1963, but still has services (second photo) and a few shops (third photo). Originally named Tōrea in Māori after offshore rocks (final photo), it was renamed for granite in the local stream as noted by prospectors.
If you’re ever passing through Westport, do stop at The West Coast Pie Company: they’re legend! In their own words:
They used to say on the West Coast that a three course meal was a pie and two beers. They reckoned the Denniston Incline was the 8th wonder of the world, and it was true that what went up didn’t always come down*.
They said at times it rained so much it was wet enough to bog a duck, and at times it got so cold the lawyers had their hands in their own pockets. There was more than one type of gold, and most of the time, things were good as gold. She’ll be right was a way of life, and after a hard day’s yakka it was off to see a man about a dog, and that three course meal.
A pie and two beers; lore by West Coast Pie Company. *Refers to miners going up the incline, but not returning due to misfortune—mining typically involves going down in other places!
Charleston
The Māori underworld/ Rarohenga is ruled by the goddess of death and night, Hine-nui-te-pō. Underworld Adventures took us into her realm via the Metro Cave/ Te Ananui near Charleston, which was only discovered in 1960. Following a short drive and touristy train ride, we climbed to the cave mouth wearing 5mm wetsuits and helmets, with a tractor inner tube slung on our shoulders. Once underground the sights included a helictite (first photo), “brickwork” patterns at so-called Giraffe Junction (second photo), and examples of flowstone (third photo). An especially large stalagmite named “The King” sits beneath overhead veils (final photo).
There’s no evidence that the Metro Cave was known to Māori; extinct moa remains found here are from birds that likely trapped themselves. Rope borders keep cavers to path, helping to minimise human impact on the delicate formations. We paused for a photo op at “Rex teeth” (first photo). Fascinating glow-worms dangle a sticky trap (second photo) and use light as a lure for insects (third photo); they will also eat their neighbours. Walking done, we began blackwater rafting in the dark to the cave exit, floating on our backs in a human chain beneath an awesome glow-worm “galaxy”. Once outside we then rafted 700m down the Nile River (final photo), which was tricky at times due to a low water level.
Punakaiki
The beach at end of the 15 minute Truman Track near Punakaiki was worth a visit. Overlying limestone here has eroded away (which is still present at the nearby Pancake Rocks), leaving the sandstone bluffs exposed to both sea and wind. We watched the breakers roll in (first photo), found fossils in fallen rocks (second photo), witnessed the dramatic sculpted sandstone cliffs (third photo), and danced with the tide on a fine pebble beach (final photo).
We left the coast and turned inland towards Arthurs Pass, planning to visit a few rivers and lakes in Mid Canterbury.
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