Christchurch has long history with the Antarctic

leading the way from the airport

Christchurch is home to the Antarctic research offices of New Zealand, United States and Italy’s Antarctic programmes, and artists, tourists and explorers have all prepared for their challenges in the city. This means the city’s rich heritage is reflected in museums, walkways, statues and even an Indian Totem Pole of friendship.

The International Antarctic Centre has a rich introduction to the continent and an acknowledgment of the explorers who, over three centuries, have been spellbound by the awe-inspiring, frozen land, starting with Abel Tasman and James Cook who both found New Zealand while looking for Terra Australis Incognita (Antarctica).

[Read more about my trip to  the Antarctic Centre here]

Adventurers associated with both Christchurch and Antarctica include Robert Falcon Scott who left from the port of Lyttelton to again try to reach the South Pole after his earlier attempt had failed. Terra Nova returned to the port in 1913 bringing news of the death of Scott and his four companions on their way back from the South Pole.

Norwegian explorer, Roald Amundsen was the first to reach the South Pole in 1911 and later gave a popular public lecture in Christchurch. In gratitude to the Canterbury Museum for their help, he donated the penknife used to cut the flagstaff marking the South Pole; and Irishman Ernest Shackleton who first travelled to Antarctica with Scott but was invalided out and later tried again with his own expedition on Nimrod.

For people bought up in Christchurch during the 50s and 60s – a period of intense activity in the Antarctic  –  ‘Operation Deep Freeze’ and the early morning sound of DC3s heading ‘to the ice’ are part of our imbedded personal history and its seems highly appropriate the International Antarctic Centre should be sited here.

It’s not often that a tourist facility covers science, technology, fun-rides, history, ecology, nature, conservation, and the rescue of penguins, but this one does. It is a modern shop window for Antarctica and a fun, exciting and hands-on experience for all: no wonder it has won so many awards and international acclaim.

Other Antarctic sites to visit in Christchurch, New Zealand include:

• Ferrymead Heritage Park

Contains a huge collection of working machines, including a restored DC3 plane used for US Antarctic supply missions in the 1960s.

• Air Force Museum

Brings together a collection of historic aircraft, including original Beaver and Auster aircraft used in early Antarctic aviation.

• University of Canterbury

The Macmillan Brown Library houses an extensive collection of Antarctic archives. Many of them describe original scientific expeditions to Antarctica and New Zealand’s sub-Antarctic Islands. The University’s central library is also home to the Antarctic Collection.

• Lyttelton

Lyttelton is the port that has serviced Christchurch since the days of early European settlement. It was the last port of call for many of the early expeditions. It is estimated that 50,000 people gathered here on New Years Day 1908 to farewell Nimrod on her journey to Antarctica. Lyttelton continues to be a busy working port and is a refuelling station for several Antarctic supply vessels.

• Christchurch International Airport The Indian Totem Pole of friendship at the entrance to the airport complex was given to Canterbury by the Oregon Centennial Commission and Portland Zoological Society in appreciation of hospitality given to personnel of Operation Deep Freeze. The totem was carved by Chief Lelooska of Oregon in 1959.

• Canterbury Museum

An essential place  to call in the Christchurch Antarctic trail – Check out Amundsen’s nose: it well polished by years of visitors rubbing it!

By its very nature, Antarctica holds great fascination for scientists all over the world. Many countries have bases there from which extensive research is carried out, these include  . . .

New Zealand
Antarctica New Zealand operates this country’s Antarctic Programme at Scott Base, which in 1959 became a permanent base. Antarctica New Zealand’s focus is on initiating, managing and delivering high quality scientific, environmental programmes related to Antarctica.

United States
The United States Antarctic Program has had a close association with Canterbury, since 1928 when Admiral Richard Byrd made his first visit.

In 1955 Byrd assembled seven ships in Lyttelton to support his fifth and last expedition to Antarctica, leaving on 10 December aboard Glacier. Six vessels were spread out across the Southern Ocean between Lyttelton and McMurdo to act as weather stations and rescue vessels for the first flight to Antarctica.
Britain
In 1958 the Commonwealth Trans Antarctic Expedition, led by Vivian Fuchs, with Sir Edmund Hillary, achieved Sir Ernest Shackleton’s goal of crossing the entire Antarctic continent. Hillary’s tractor and Fuch’s snow cat are displayed at the Canterbury Museum.

Italy
Italy established its Antarctic base in Terra Nova Bay, in the Ross Sea, in 1986. The Terra Nova base supports up to 70 people. Italy’s Antarctic Research Programme operates out of the International Antarctic Centre.

penguins and the award winning International Antarctic Centre

‘It’s like living in a soap opera’ says the woman feeding the penguins: she had just described how CC ‘doesn’t like water’ and had recently ‘left her old boyfriend for Elvis’, her new one.

CC had been found in Napier by Napier City Council workers (hence the CC) who were digging a storm water drain in West Quay when a digger hit the chicks’ obscured nest and that’s how she came to be rescued and end up living in Christchurch at the New Zealand Penguin Encounter in the International Antarctic Centre.

This is New Zealand’s first combined indoor and outdoor penguin viewing area and it can hold up to 26 Little Blue penguins in its Banks Peninsula natural-themed environment and 80,000 litre pool.  We visitors can see the ‘Little Blues’ above and below water.

All the penguins are birds that have been rescued and with physical disabilities that have left them defenceless, many would not have survived in the wild. Interestingly some of the bird have to wear little blue boots: living in captivity they spend more time on land and get sore feet!

After hand-feeding many of the disabled birds in the water a few who cannot feed in water yet are hand fed. A couple of them climb on Vicky’s lap.

“Climbing in my knee has nothing to do with being friendly or tame, it’s purely wanting the fish” she tells us – despite that, I would love to be so up close and personal with them. It seems that even wild penguins have food preferences, with one of them turning away whenever the ‘wrong variety’ of fish was offered!

It was the blue, painted, penguin footprints-trail that had led us to the centre from the airport. It seemed appropriate that our latest trip here started at the Christchurch airport, departure point for the USA, Italian, and NZ Antarctic flights.  For well over a hundred years, Christchurch has been the starting point for many of the greatest adventures to the ice, firstly from Lyttelton harbour just over the Port Hills and then from Wigram and this airport.

Even today some 70% of the visitors to the frozen continent leave from Christchurch, however, for most of us, this multi-award winning Antarctic Centre is as near to the real thing we’ll get. I have long dreamt of landing on the ice and when Marcus Lush told me he was going to Antarctica to record a TV series (Ice) I was green with envy. Unfortunately, I suspect this centre is as close as I’ll get to the big white continent. However I must confess, every time I enter the indoor polar room and the temperature drops to -18 degrees I revise my daydream – only to change it again once outside and warm.

During the Antarctic storm (every 30 mins) there is great excitement and the authentic blizzard (snow is made monthly) and the audio of a genuine 40 km/h Antarctic winds seems to make the room authentic. The room constantly chilled to -5 degrees and the wind chill machine it drops it further – an admission, I did not use the ice slide although many did.

Christchurch is home to the Antarctic research offices of New Zealand, United States and Italy’s Antarctic programmes, and artists, tourists and explorers have all prepared for their challenges in the city. This means the city’s rich heritage is reflected in museums, walkways, statues and even an Indian Totem Pole of friendship. (See more here)

The International Antarctic Centre is a rich introduction to the continent and acknowledgment of the explorers who, over three centuries, have been spellbound by the awe-inspiring, frozen land, starting with Abel Tasman and James Cook who both found New Zealand while looking for Terra Australis Incognita (Antarctica).

Adventurers associated with both Christchurch and Antarctica include Robert Falcon Scott who left from the port of Lyttelton to again try to reach the South Pole after his earlier attempt had failed. Terra Nova returned to the port in 1913 bringing news of the death of Scott and his four companions on their way back from the South Pole.

Norwegian explorer, Roald Amundsen was the first to reach the South Pole in 1911 and later gave a popular public lecture in Christchurch. In gratitude to the Canterbury Museum for their help, he donated the penknife used to cut the flagstaff marking the South Pole; and Irishman Ernest Shackleton who first travelled to Antarctica with Scott but was invalided out and later tried again with his own expedition on Nimrod.

‘I chilled out at the Christchurch International Antarctic Centre’ says my bright green wrist band: so have a prince, heads of state, lots of children and other people from all over the world.  This wrist band not only allows me to stay all day reading, watching and learning in the centre, but also have a ride on the Hagglund – a 16-seater tracked, polar transport vehicle, the same as the Hagglund all terrain vehicles used in Antarctica by the US and New Zealand Antarctic programmes. We are bumped and spun around as it’s put through its paces, swimming and going up and down steep hills. The 15 minute ride departs every 20 minutes from the front of the Antarctic Centre – the males loved it – I wouldn’t do it again!

For people bought up in Christchurch during the 50s and 60s – a period of intense activity in the Antarctic  –  ‘Operation Deep Freeze’ and the early morning sound of DC3s heading ‘to the ice’ are part of our imbedded personal history and its seems highly appropriate the International Antarctic Centre should be sited here.

It’s not often that a tourist facility covers science, technology, fun-rides, history, ecology, nature, conservation, and the rescue of penguins, but this one does. It is a modern shop window for Antarctica and a fun, exciting and hands-on experience for all: no wonder it has won so many awards and international acclaim.

For the three generations of our family, on our second visit as a family, watching the penguins was the high on our list of ‘the best parts’. “It’s pretty cool, even though they are smelly” says master-10-year-old.

kiwitravelwriter loves local films – esp this eco one

Native Clematis flowers in the Seaward Kaikaora mountian ranges

I took this photo when hiking NZ’s highest guided walk – Kaikoura Wilderness Walks, Shearwater Lodge. Nov: 2009 I will be bloging about it soon

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I have to let you know about another great NZ film by one of my local NZ Society of Authors branch members. ( I am the local chairperson so get bragging rights)

Kathleen Gallagher’s latest film Earth Whisperers/Papatuanuku was shot at spectacular locations around New Zealand by acclaimed cameramen Alun Bollinger and Mike Single. This absorbing feature documentary focuses on 10 visionary New Zealanders out to prove that a shift in consciousness can heal our environment. You’ll be inspired, and never look at stinging nettle in your garden in quite the same way again!

In the words of Nick Smith – NZ Minister for Environment and Climate Change:

‘This inspirational film weaves together NZ”s stunning landscapes, eclectic characters and unique

sounds in a poetic message of protection for Planet Earth .’

This is a movie that doesn’t just rock the boat — it rocks the world!

Check out the link above to see a trailer of the movie and hear Kathleen too.

Middle earth again … The Hobbit

Gandalf itching to return to Middle Earth

11 Nov 2009 ( this from a press release – not written by the kiwitravelwriter .. however, read here what she says about a Lord of the Rings Tour)

Sir Ian McKellen, who played Gandalf in the ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy, is itching to revisit Middle Earth after reading the script for the first of ‘The Hobbit’ films.

It’s been over a decade since McKellen donned Gandalf’s robes on the ‘Lord of the Rings’ set in New Zealand.

And, while he’s sworn to secrecy over ‘The Hobbit’ script, the veteran British actor says the part has his name on it and he’s longing for production to get underway.

Gandalf
To be directed by Guillermo del Toro, the script for ‘The Hobbit’ movies has been co-written by New Zealand producer Peter Jackson with long-time ‘Lord of the Rings’ collaborators Fran Walsh and Phillippa Boyens – and McKellen says it’s very attractive that the Gandalf part has been written specifically for him.

“As Peter has said, they loved writing Gandalf for ‘The Hobbit’ because they knew who they were writing him for. The other Gandalf was written for, well, just as Gandalf. There’s lots for me to enjoy, in all sorts of ways. And I couldn’t be happier. But I’m sworn to secrecy. I’m not to say anything at all about the script,” he said.

Unexpected Hobbit script
McKellen said he hadn’t been expecting to receive any pages of ‘The Hobbit’ but the script arrived out of the blue.

“I was sitting in London and a courier arrived from New Zealand, which is the other side of the world, bearing the script of ‘The Hobbit,’” he said.

“It was tied around with so much Scotch tape that even with two pairs of scissors, I only got into it half an hour later.”

He said the script had his name on every page with a warning that each page was encrypted, so if it appeared on the internet, it could be traced back to him.

“And I’m not to discuss it with anyone, any colleague, or friend, or family member or pet. I may not write in the script, I may not remove it from its plastic folder, and when it is taken from me by the courier, it will be shredded under supervision,” he said.

Production details
Although he has read the script, McKellen hasn’t yet been signed and details of ‘The Hobbit’ production are still sketchy.

‘The Hobbit’ story will be told in two films to be shot back-to-back with a predicted budget of NZ$474 million. New Zealand-based fan website theonering.net reports that the first six months of filming in 2010 will take place in the studio.

Work has begun at Hobbiton near the North Island town of Matamata with hobbit holes and hedgerows appearing on the farm site.

Scouts looking for filming locations have also been reported in New Zealand’s South Island, and it is rumoured that a creative team is already hard at work on visuals for the two movies.

Although it is thought that other actors have seen the scripts, McKellen is the only one to have spoken publicly.

“Gandalf is a fantastic part and I long to do it,” McKellen said. Both he and Peter Jackson preferred the earlier Gandalf the Grey version to his later, post-resurrection incarnation, he said.

“He was more humane somehow. He was the guy who liked to hang out with the hobbits and drink too much and smoke too much.”

20-plus takes
McKellen said he didn’t, however, always prefer the 20-plus takes Jackson often required on set to get a scene exactly as he wanted, and he wondered if Guillermo del Toro might spare his actors such lengthy repetition.

“A slight shiver went through me just then,” he said (smiling), “because I thought perhaps Guillermo might be a little quicker than Peter, but maybe he won’t be. He’s a bit of a perfectionist. But this script plays very much to his strengths and I can see where he’s put his mark already on the script.”

Although sworn to secrecy, McKellen promised a resemblance between ‘LOTR’ and ‘The Hobbit’ in both look and feel.

“Peter Jackson is still a hands-on producer,” he said. “Guillermo del Toro comes in not as a wild card but very much respecting it all.”

Jackson and del Toro
Jackson and del Toro speak the same language, McKellen said.

“They are the same person. They were separated at birth. They’re twins. They have the same attitude. Neither likes working in Hollywood. They’re both brilliant storytellers in very much the same way,” said McKellen.

“And I think the script, because I have read it, plays very much to Guillermo’s strengths, as I’ve seen them. I have seen his other movies, and people act very well in them. So I think it’s all fine. And Peter will always be there,” McKellen said.

McKellen said that the role of Gandalf changed his life forever. “I can’t believe it’s 10 years for me,” said the actor, who first played the wizard in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – film one in the trilogy that began principal photography in New Zealand in 1999.

“I remember being told by a friend in Hollywood that ‘your life is going to change,’ and it has. Gandalf is an extremely famous character, and I quite like having him around the corner. He’s very popular.”

More information:

The Hobbit moves into Wellington

Hobbit fans eye up Middle Earth

Builders start work on Hobbiton

Kiwitravelwriter takes a Lord of the Rings tours

Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2010 book  says (pg35)  “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it, and last time we checked the land of Maori and hobbits certainly didn’t need repairing. Once again New Zealand has been put in the top ten countries which you ‘ought to put on your agenda in 2010”

Having Middle-earth right on my doorstep, it seemed I too needed to drop in on the land of the hobbits and check out the Lord of the Rings Edoras Tour (www.hasslefree.co.nz) to see what all the fuss is about.

And here, I have to confess: until this trip I was a LotR virgin! True. As shocking as that may seem to some, I have not read the books nor seen the movies – it was almost a shameful secret – but now I know a little and I’m willing to share it with you. And, it seems these tours deep into Middle-earth are becoming more and more popular as time goes by.

The tour starts in Christchurch, and shortly after I was picked up in Cathedral Square, Rex, the driver and guide for the day, pointed out the school attended by the teenage murderers depicted in Heavenly Creatures

NZ has a great tradition of great movie making – The American Film Institute has called the New Zealand film industry “one of the wonders of the world… an unparalleled success story” see more here

It was appropriate to point out the school and site for some  of the shots used in the movie as that too was one of Peter Jacksons great pictures and Kate Winslet started her career in Heavenly Creatures:

As we drove out we watch a DVD about ‘the quest for the ring’ which gave someone like me a background to the day and the film. I also learnt Tolkien was born in South Africa ( to English parents) and that, as well as having to create a road to get to ‘Edoras’  and  the ‘rocky outcrop beside silver streams’ that Tolkien described in his books, Rex also tells us “the village took months to build, they were there filming for 3 weeks, then it was dismantled.”

So on we drove, past trout-filled lakes, through little country villages, over the Canterbury plains and glacial-formed braided rivers, passed tussock covered hills until we emerged in the ‘secret valley’; home of Mt. Sunday, 95 metres (over 600ft)  above sea-level and which was transformed into Edoras, capital city of the Rohan people for the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

As dramatic music soars in the vehicle we are welcomed: “Welcome to the Kingdom of Rohan in Middle earth” – our guide makes it a momentous occasion. read the rest of the article here

Note: Hassle-Free Tours (www.hasslefree.co.nz ) also run Christchurch city tours, and an Alpine Safari which includes a jet boat, 4×4 vehicles and the TranzAlpine train so check their website for up-to-date information.

by the kiwitravelwriter,  Heather Hapeta

Off to Hanmer Springs for the day

want to bungy jump from here?

CHECK OUT THE WEBCAM FROM HANMER SPRINGS HERE

take a hike up Conical Hill

Conical Hill

one of the 360 degree views form the top of Conical Hill

Ti Kouka - NZs 'cabbage tree'

Hot mineral pools are a must do

post office long closed!

Worlds first inner-city pest-free environment

Visit the worlds first inner city pest-free environment

In a hidden, almost secret valley, kiwis are breeding only 3 kilometres from parliament – in the heart of our Capital city, a slice of New Zealand is reverting to its former glory with the help of a predator-free-mainland-island.

When early settlers wrote about this area they reported rich and diverse forests filled with deafening bird-song. Here, in one of Wellingtons best kept stories, a group of people, with a five hundred year vision, are restoring the area to that same condition.

I have taken a ten minute bus ride, and now, after checking my bag for mice or other predators, step through a gate in the 2.3 metre predator-proof fence and into the 252-hectare valley.

Katie and Allison, two of the volunteers guides, are taking a small group on a nocturnal tour.

“This is a listening tour” they tell us. “You  can except to hear various night birds but not see them” and so begins our walk on what they have dscdribed  as ‘a work in progress.’

The night-sky is clear and we’ve been given a torch.

‘Only use it to see the path when you need to’ says Allison ‘and make sure you have your fingers over the light to make sure we don’t disturb anything’

Karori, Wellington, NZ

Our eyes grow accustomed to the dimming half light and off we go, Katie giving us information in response to our questions.

The two reservoirs originally supplied Wellingtons residents with water and were decommissioned in the mid-nineties. There are around 10 paid staff and some 400 volunteers and the only visitor entry to the sanctuary is via the visitor centre at the end of Waiapu  Road. (on the left as you come through the Karori Tunnel

We walk, dusk turns into night, a large group of black shag are roosting on a dead pine tree and when we stop at the upper dam we hear our first kiwi. The call carries across the valley and a shiver-thrill ripples through my body. How amazing that this wonderful bird is safe and breeding so close to human activity. Standing on the dam, built in1908, now a  tree-top canopy walk, more birds call, we hear about five different kiwi and a couple of weka. Kiwi were released, over two years, in the valley ( from Kapiti Island) and the numbers have increased naturally since then.

On our walk back down the other-side of the dam we see glow-worms. I feel quite disoriented by them. They are so bright in the dark night and look like the lights of a distant city. Passing back through the weka fence (weka sometimes eat kiwi eggs) we stop to listen as another kiwi calls. Most human kiwi never get to hear this sound and I feel lucky to be hearing so many here on this city ‘island’.

“That’s Jackson” said our guide.

The most famous one-legged kiwi in the world!

News flash read here: the new zoo hospital “The Nest” has opened.

You can  watch the animals being treated

“Send yourself to Wellington’ the advert said, so I have. The weather’s wonderful, the food fantastic and the atmosphere alluring; what more could you want?

A day at Te Papa is a must: after some twenty visits there I still find plenty of new things to tempt me. The virtual bungee made me scream – I could not convince my brain I was not teetering on the brink of a platform, tied to a rubber band and planning to jump into thin air, many, many metres above a river.

Naturally, the theatre is a must too and Downstage and Circa always have a production well-worth seeing: as a passionate nomad, travelling alone, I often get the very last seat so suggest you always try to see some local theatre wherever you are.  The vibrant waterfront, the City Gallery and other art spaces around this vibrant city are also ‘must-do’ activities.

But enough of the arts, how about getting out in the fresh air – and sometimes the term takes on a whole new meaning in this city of dramatic weather: although its often called ‘windy Wellington’ I like the other saying – ‘you can’t beat Wellington in a good day.’  This is so true and I’ve found it has many, many ‘good days’. Today, we are off to the zoo!

A distinctly NZ sign for the toilet

“We’re going to the zoo, zoo, zoo, how about you, you, you, we’re going to the zoo” I sing (not melodiously I must confess) and, recalling childhood songs, my adult children join in while my ten-year-old grandson raises his eyebrows!

My first visit to a zoo was as a preschooler and where a hippo impressed me greatly – no wonder I loved them on later travels – and still today I have that frisson of excitement about seeing animals, both native and exotic, up close.

Wellington Zoo say they are ‘the best little zoo in the world” and is open every day except Christmas Day: New Zealand’s first Zoo, it was established in 1906 and the gift of a young lion – called  “King Dick”  after Prime Minister Richard Seddon –  was officially the Zoo’s first animal and by 1912 it housed over 500 animals.

people start to gather for close encounters

The zoos history shows it has had many interesting and quirky characters including: Percy the pelican came to the Zoo in 1919 and made it into the Guinness book of records as one of the longest living birds in the world, making it to 62 years old; a grey gibbon named Nippy was the Zoo’s longest serving resident, and the oldest gibbon in the world; and in 1999, the Zoo was home to a cheeky little otter named Clyde. Clyde was very good at escaping and one day decided he would leave the Zoo and explore the nearby suburb of Newtown. He was later moved to a secure enclosure at Mogo Zoo in Australia.

turf flys towards me and my camera

No-one escaped the day we were there but we did see an otter playing with a coin that some stupid person had dangerously thrown into the enclosure (naturally we reported it to a keeper)

Our highlights included (but not only!) the noisy, augmentative, chimpanzees – including one who delighted in throwing clumps of turf at us!

We also loved Tahi, a kiwi that had been injured in a gin trap.

Although treated at the Whangarei Bird Recovery Centre and Massey University Wildlife Ward he eventually had to have his leg amputated: after his leg healed, and with his chances of survival in the wild being zero, he went to live at Wellington Zoo as an advocate for his species.

The zoo investigated having a prosthetic leg made for him and Weta Workshop (of Lord of the Rings fame)  along with the New Zealand Artificial Limb Centre made him a prosthesis – he learnt to walk with it but it soon became apparent to his keepers that he was more comfortable without it.
Now, Tahi is the most famous one-legged kiwi in the world, he has had a book written about him (Tahi: One Lucky Kiwi) and he has appeared on television and in magazines all over the world.

African dog

Wellington Zoo has around 500 animals comprising over 100 species: and to be able to see the city right on the doorstep is one of its charms – I would love to live nearby and hear the animals and birds roaring, calling, tweeting. (you can have zoo sleepovers and really be part of the zoo!)

Some of the residents are critically endangered – Sumatran tigers or Campbell Island teals – and others are unique in New Zealand to Wellington Zoo (the Malayan sun bears and White cheeked gibbons).

We were able to get up-close to big cats and giraffes as part of a Close Encounter, and learnt about favourite animals at one of our daily talks. Having been fortunate enough to have seen them in the wild, I especially loved watching the endangered African dogs tearing their food apart.

For visitors to Wellington: the zoo is easy to get to on bus routes #10 and #23

More info here and here

NZs paradise shelduck was called the painted duck by Cook

I saw my first Paradise ducklings of the season over this past weekend … these birds are unusual in they sometimes nest in trees, some 10 – 15 metres above the ground.

They are also the only birds in New Zealand who have increased in numbers since Cook arrived in NZ: he named them the painted duck.

female on Avon river

male paradise -- they pair for life

See other blogs I have written about NZs flightless birds and this website http://www.nzbirds.com/index2.html for more information.

Farewell Spit – the north of the south

Farewell Spit Eco Tours: South Island, New Zealand

I join Farewell Spit Eco Tours on the last day before the time of the tides prevents vehicles travelling on the spit for a few days every so often. (Check http://www.farewellspit.com/ for dates and bookings – AND tell them I recommended them to you!) Above photo courtesy of Farewell Spit eco tours.

My driver-guide, Elaine, is in her fourth summer and says it’s the best job in the world and she is driving Lily. “In front of you are handles. These are for you to grab during the bumpy bits when we go off road” she tells us as we get our safety instructions, then off we go.

We have 24 kms to the start of the spit and 15 one-way bridges to cross.

Originally called Te Onetahua, meaning heaped up sand the long sandbar stretches out 35 km and Paddy Gillooly, manager of The Original Farewell Spit Safari, has a family history with it as old as Collingwood. He prides himself that his hand-picked guides know what they are talking about, that they give accurate information and can’t just be a bus driver. They also have to have great people skills and must constantly read the beach, watching for quicksand.

First called Murderers Bay by Abel Tasman in 1642, when James Cook came he called it Massacre Bay and the early settlers first called it Coal Bay. It was then re-named in 1850s when alluvial gold was discovered in the Aorere River, giving the area its current name  Golden Bay: much more melodious and welcoming.

Growing out of a service delivery, taking fuel, food and school lessons to the light housekeepers and their families, carrying passengers began so they too could enjoy the landscape and see the wading birds. It’s from those beginnings the trip I’m on began.

I had not expected the pools of water all over the bay which replace the long wide beach I had expected  - no wonder wading birds love it here, and the cockles grow so well, I’d had forgotten it’s a mudflat not a beach.

The tides rise and fall fast. “At about walking pace” I’m told: “not at the speed of a galloping horse” that the Nelson artist, Anna Leary, had been told as a young girl  - a dramatic picture that has always stayed with her.

Whale strandings happen in Golden Bay too. It is particularly notorious for pilot whale strandings and during the 1990s there was often one every summer and is why some whale experts call these months ‘the silly season.’
Over the years more than half were refloated, but several hundred have died and been buried on the beaches where they died. The most recent major standing was in December 2005 when 123 whales beached at Puponga and after a massive rescue operation, were refloated.

After visiting the northern-most point of the South Island, Cape Farewell, a bold cliff top which provides a spectacular view of the wild Tasman Sea, we head for the spit, passing “the oldest resident in Puponga” on the way: a face in the craggy rocks.

Through the locked gate we drive, from here, the public may only walk. Down the beach we drive, seeing a few spoonbills and black-billed gulls and many black swans feeding, reminding me I am too early for the godwits which arrive in the thousands from Alaska and resolve to return when I can join a bird watching tour with this company. Wading birds abound from September to April, with February and early March being the ultimate time. With so many seasonal feathered visitors, its no wonder this area has been named a sanctuary, a wetland of international importance.
Driving over the spit to the northern face of Farewell Spit I now see the huge sand beach I was expecting on the bay side. It’s impressive.

The spit could be likened to an iceberg “up to 250 metres deep” our guide tells us, “and growing in length at 4-metres annually. The sand dunes further along the spit are up to 25 metres high. This makes about 3.4 million cubic metres of sand.”  I later find it has been growing for some 6,500 years and settlers have visited the area since the 1870s.
At our first stop at Fossil Point I pick up 3 plastic bottles which have washed up on this pristine area and search for fossils: we find a few in the rocks and I watch some Caspian terns swooping and diving into the sea. There are also some black oystercatchers with their distinct red legs and bills and shrill calls warning me against coming too close! Despite the name, here they dine on tuatua (a shellfish which we Kiwi love to eat too).

Down the beach we drive and I gloat as we pass the post – 2 km down the beach and 4 km from the locked gate –  as this is as far as people can walk, while we continue for another 22 km to the lighthouse.

The wind is picking up the loose sand making the dunes look like the waves beside them: the Nor-wester is the prevailing wind and it is windy 70% of the time, an essential element in forming the spit and consequently Golden Bay.

“How good is this?” asks Elaine “No roads, no signage. So no advertising and no traffic so just sit back and take in the awesome picture of nature undisturbed.” And undisturbed it is.

She has already told me it’s been about 18 months since she got stuck in the sand although in her first year it happened regularly. Her male colleagues kept telling her they would paint her shovel pink.

They had also told her “You are only really stuck if you can’t dig yourself out. If you have dug yourself out you weren’t really stuck!”

“There are probably photos of me on the end of a shovel all over the world” she laughs.

We eventually arrive at the lighthouse which has its power line buried the length of the spit although I think the lighthouse itself is solar powered and the light rotates every 15 seconds.

As a result of many shipwrecks, the first lighthouse was commissioned in 1870, a wooden structure that had to be replaced in 1897 with a steel one. Automated in 1984, this lighthouse is also depicted in a 1969 stamp series of light houses: The Farewell Spit stamp was valued at 10 cents.

After afternoon tea in one of the lighthouse keepers old houses, I climb to the second level until my fear of heights beats me and I retreat and go to look at the Pouwhenua which depicts my favourite, pacific-wide, mythical person: the mischievous Maui Tikitiki a Taranga who is credited with fishing up the North Island while standing in his canoe, the South Island.

According to the notice beside this carving by locals, “as Maui pulled on his line, his feet were dragged along the land, pushing sand in to the dune formations which form Farewell Spit.”