Diary for Debbie does...round the world


Golden Bay - Canaan Downs Scenic Reserve

2017-05-04

Headed away from Nelson at a reasonable time as we had lots we wanted to do today on our way to Golden Bay - top west hand corner of the South Island of New Zealand. - off for a 4 day adventure.

Stopped off in Motueka at the bakery and brought salad rolls and a cake eack for our lunch and drove for a while longer til we got to the Mot (Motueka) River. As we had the Mountain Hunter and I was driving we zipped under the bridge and went down the track by the side of the river towards the sea. Lots of rain had beenaround so lots of mud holes to drive through which scared me slightly - I dont know why. We were in relative civilization so if I got stuck we could get help. Anyway a nice wee picnic spot at the end and lots of estuary birds around. 

Back to the road over the Takaka Hill with me still driving. Turned off at the top and drove the gravel road to the Canaan Carpark understand Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit did some filming around here and I can see why. Decided to do the walk to Harwoods Hole as was a lovely day and the track looked inviting. For some reason I decided not to change to my walking shoes and kept my walking sandals on - a mistake. Anyway headed off for a pleasant first 30 minutes. Then we diverted right to the Gorge Creek Lookout - 10-15 minutes uphill and then out over rocky boulders to see the view. Sturdy shoes are essential. The effort was worth it with fabulous views over some of Golden Bay. Then back to the main track and towards Harwood Hole. The track was quite rocky and needed some care to be taken. Harwoods Hole is the deepest vertical shaft in NZ - 176 metres. It is actually quite hard to see down the hole and very dangerous as its straight down so only experiences cavers can go down. The wanderings through the bush and beech forest was lovely and only saw 2 others.

Continued the drive to our accommodation in the Parapara Valley arriving when it was dark - initially a bit hard to find as I was doing my 'suprise Martin with what I had booked' so he had no idea on giving me any directions. However we got there and were in awe of the setting and couldnt wait to the next day to see it in daylight. I managed to fall inside whilst turning lights on and thought for an instant I had ruined my ankle but the next day it was fine. Stone Cottage (my name for it) was my dream. MR lit the log burner and within an hour it was cosy warm. The sort of place you could stay forever. Yummy home made dinner and into a lovely bed with views out into the bush, lovely linen etc. At the top end of my budget $140 but so so worth it.