Trip Report - Day 2, 3, 4 - Destinantion D'Urville
French Pass Trip - Day 2
On Wednesday eleven vehicles led by Stephen Phillips left Havelock in light rain bound for French Pass, turning off at Rai Valley.
We travelled through Ronga Valley, dairy country, before climbing and winding to the Ronga Saddle then descending to Okiwi Bay, quite a populated area. By this time the rain had stopped, the clouds were lifting and the tide out, leaving the mud flats exposed.
From there we continued on to French Pass, a long winding road, no good for taking notes. We passed through pockets of farmland and looked down on beautiful bays and mussel farms.
Just before French Pass was a monument to Pelorus Jack and a beautiful view looking down on Elmslie Bay, which was first settled in 1857 where a farm was established. A few boats were anchored and a seal swimming amongst them. It also included a settlement and a wharf which services d'Urville Island. Whilst there on a lunch break a local joined us and distributed booklets with the history of the area dating back to the 1820's.
We then headed towards Port Ligar only to find the road stopped at the top of a hill but did manage a visit to Port Ligar on the mail boat on Friday. From the hilltop we continued down the track to Bulwer but unfortunately didn't manage to reach the settlement, instead arriving at a Scenic Reserve with a locked gate.
From there was a long windy road home again, stopping in at Elaine Bay for a cuppa.
Thanks Stephen, the scenery was fantastic and was quite an experience. Pam Phaup
Kenepuru Sound - Day 3
11 Vehicles left Havelock with Donald Taylor leading and Russ Thompson as Tail End Charlie. Heading along Queen Charlotte Sound drive towards Picton.
Turning left at Linkwater along a very windy road past Portage for a morning tea stop at a DOC camp on the Kenepuru sound road. A lovely area but would be bad for sandflies in the summer. Heading over Kenepuru saddle along the ridge with glimpses of the Endeavour inlet and Port Gore to Puzzle Peak then decending to Titirangi Bay where we had a break for lunch and a walk along the beach.
After lunch we backtracked to Waiataria Bay over a saddle to Clova Bay where we visited some of Donald and Shirley’s relations. They invited us to travel up a farm track that climbed a very steep hill to a location with great views of the sounds. Very tight corners, great track, many thanks to the Harveys. ( the land owners)
We then made our way back to Havelock very happy and tired travellers. Went to our local pub for tea once more and concluded the day about 9pm.
Many thanks Donald And Shirley for a great day. Les and Chris Weir.
Mail boat trip – Day 4
We assembled at the jetty and boarded at 10.00 am where we were greeted by Captain James and assistant Bindi. James gave us an introduction to the area outlining the stops we were going to make. He did this with a bit of humour, he had a dead pan delivery at each amusing fact, we were all in fits of laughter. Bindi also took the microphone as she added more local amusing stories.
We cruised on calm waters up the Mahau Sound, passed Kenepuru Sound into Pelorus Sound passing Maud Island which is a DOC wildlife reserve. James informed us that DOC put 19 birds on the island to breed. Checked and counted them sometime later to discover that no breeding had taken place as they were all males. Oops and lots of laughter from us.
Onto Richmond Bay for the first drop off, we were greeted by the resident and her dogs. Bindi gave the dogs a treat and had a brief conversation with the resident before moving onto Forsyth Island for the next stop. At Port Liger we were greeted by the local resident, an old labrador dog and 2 kunekune pigs. Bindi told us they slober so she throws the treats up onto the jetty (by this stage lots of pig slobers could be seen floating on the water) not so great an experience for Bindi trying to pass the mail and other goods up onto the jetty.
Onto Bulwer and Waitata Bay. Enroute we enjoyed a brief stop at a mussel farm where we observed a lone dolphin swimming around. At another location we stopped to observe Pelorus dolphins fishing and terns diving down amongst them to get a good feed. As the fish were jumping out of the water the dolphins were circling and trapping them. A great photo opportunity.
Next stop was the Te Rawa Lodge where we took the opportunity to have an ice cream or a wine at the bar. During the cruise we past many strategically placed WW2 gun emplacements.
It was great to see the places from the water that we had driven past as a lot of them were tucked away below the road. It is amazing that some of the places we visited with the boat have no access by road and no electricity from the grid.
We had an awesome day arriving back at about 4.30. We really enjoyed the informative talks from James and Bindi, so funny it was like going to a comedy gala!
Russ and Chris Thompson
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