This morning was a 7am roll out for a slightly chilly wake up call. We headed down the coast to pick up a kayak and jumped into the ocean where the south-westerly wind really started to pick up, giving us quite the morning workout against the waves.
We paddled around the coast to Split Apple rock which is pretty self explanatory. The Maori people have a habit of naming things exactly as they are. Mount Cook (the highest peak in the Southern Alps) is even known as the cloud piercer. What a cool name! Although the Maoi legend surrounding the split apple Rock is less obvious. Apparently the land of and sea god couldn't decide who owned the rock. The sea god argued that it was in the ocean so it was his. The land god argued that the rock was a part of the land and was his. The sea god got angry and split the rock in two with his spear so that each god could own half! Geologists disagree and say the mineral in the rock was weak and split in two - BORING! Maori legend is better!
After paddling back to Kaiteriteri beach against the tide and wind we jumped straight on the bus towards Westport, via Lake Nelson. We're starting to see some autumn cours shine through the trees and grapevines, as well as an increased amount of snowy mountain tops!
We stopped off at Lake Nelson for lunch, where it was absolutely freezing! Wind blowing up from the South Pole made it hard to stay outside. But some huge eels in the lake to look at and Kamal getting attacked by ducks made it easier!
Lake Nelson's Maori name is Lake Rotoiti, which means small lake. There is also another lake called big lake and together they both make up the nelson national park. The lakes are glacial carved about 20,000 years ago, leaving behind a beautiful landscape. We stuck around just long enough to admire the view before our feet froze off!
(Even their toilet hut tried not to ruin the view)
One river drains out of the lake, the Buller River - named after Samuel Buller. We followed the river all the way from the national park to Westport as it grew from a gentle bubbling rocky stream into a raging river with a water volume only second to the Amazon apparently.
A few intimate moments with a cliff road too. The builders had to blow a hole in the cliff to build the road alongside the river.
Westport is the second largest town along the west coast of NZ, with about a 5-6000 strong population. It's inhospital land meant that Maori tribes generally avoided the south but there was one tribe who took it in their stride and settled due to the impressive amount of greenstone (Jade) found there. The Maori called it ponamu - hard rock and it's only found in South Island of NZ. The region has a huge amount of tectonic energy, jamming mountain plates together forming the very hard rock. Maori tribes used the ponamu for tools and weapons. Other than that tribe the south was relativity deserted.
Until our old friend Captain Cook spotted whales and fur seals off the coast and lots of Europeans followed as the whaling industry boomed. A few small settlements set up, only accessible by ship in early 1800s. All changed when gold was discovered around 1860s. The goldrush began and was so successful that the entire world's price of gold came down. The south with just one Maori tribe as its population turned into prospering towns almost overnight, some with populations of approx 7000.
After about ten years, many people left as gold became harder to find and mining towns were left as ghost towns. The main trade here along the West coast now is coal mining. For example, Stockton mine in Westport employs over half of the towns people.
We were also warned of a further temperature drop in the next few days. The Southern Alps along our path are a result of the huge Pacific plate rubbing into the noa Australian plate and forcing the land upwards. The plates are still rubbing and the mountains are still growing!!! The south Island of New Zealand and South America are the only land masses that share the lower hemisphere and so not only do we get winds from the South Pole, we get rain from across the ocean. When clouds hit land after the long brewing over the ocean, it rains hard in the west. Luckily it means there's a lot of rainforest here too for us to explore but just to put the rain in perspective - Milford Sound receives the entire annual rainfall of London in one single day. Better buy myself a brolly!
We passed through Inangahua, which means 'lots of little fish' (white bait) as the river boasts huge amounts of the little fish during the good season.
Finally arrived at Westport, where I fell in love with the town. And the hostel is by far my favourite so far!!
