Kairuru Farmstay in Golden Bay

We stayed two nights at Kairuru Farmstay on top of Takaka Hill in Golden Bay -- at the northern tip of New Zealand's south island. It offers two cottages to stay in right on the 4000 acre working farm. The views were incredible. 

From the Pipit cottage where we were you could see down to Sandy Bay and over to the hills separating the farm from Abel Tasman National Park. We hiked up to the top of the Takaka Hill right behind the cottage. From there you could see Golden Bay, Motueka, and all the way over to Nelson. I wonder if on a really clear day you could see New Zealand's north island.

There are plenty of places to hike or mountain bike on the farm's 4000 acres. (Abel Tasman Mountain Biking offers a ride starting at the top of Takaka Hill down to Sandy Bay through the farm.) Additionally, there is the old quarry used to supply the marble for the government buildings in Wellington. However just sitting and reading on the porch of the cottage was very tempting too.

Being a working farm there were always animals walking by. One of the cows was convinced that the grass was really greener and tastier on the other side of the fence. She would stick her head through the fence everyday stretching as far through as possible.

Mount Owen and the Owen River

Several years ago I tried to do this hike up to Sunrise Ridge, but had to turn back due to the rivers being somewhat high. This time I was able to do the three hour hike with four river crossings and a couple hours of climbing up the steep hills.

The majority of the hike was up through thick beech forests. The trail is marked, but it is listed by the Department of Conservation as a "route" and not a "track". There were a couple of times I had to figure out where the trail really went. 

Along the way there was the remains of one of the many gold mines that once dotted the deep valleys of Kahurangi National Park before it was a park.

From Sunrise Ridge, I was lucky and the clouds burned off a bit and I could see Mt. Owen. It would be another three hours of above treeline hiking to summit. Mt. Owen is a marble karst whose dramatic landscape was used the in the Lord of the Rings.

I did a little fly fishing in the Owen River. Its clear water and emerald pools held some fish that I could see, but came up empty. The Owen River empties into the Buller River. 

Nelson Lakes National Park

Nelson Lakes National Park in the Tasman district of New Zealand has river valleys, lakes and mountains. The rivers are good for fishing...somewhat. 

The rivers are heavily fished and the fish feel the pressure. They have been caught and released a fair amount so that they become very picky. I would have my flies and nymphs pass directly over the fish or right next to them. Since my presentation was not perfect, they would at most go take a look and then go back to what they were doing. 

But fishing isn't always just about catching fish. The scenery is spectacular. 

I hiked from St. Arnaud along the lake side track. It is part of the five day tramp called the Travers-Sabine. It generally goes up the Travers Valley, up over Travers Pass, and then down the Sabine Valley. It was a three hour tramp to the first Department of Conservation hut, Lakehead Hut, in the Travers Valley. It is possible to take a water taxi up Lake Rotoiti to Coldwater Hut instead of walking for three hours. But if you take the water taxi you miss a peaceful walk through tranquil beech forests and the 40 meter tall Whiskey Falls.

The upper reaches of the Hurunui River

Accord to the fishing access pamphlets put out by the New Zealand Fish and Game department the upper reaches of the Hurunui are good spots for brown trout fly fishing. 

I drove about 35 km up a gravel road to Lake Taylor in the Lake Sumner Recreation Area. It was late in the day so I was going to fish on some side tributaries to the Hurunui the next day. Unfortunately a front was coming through and the next day was hail and high winds. I was woken up by my camper van rocking back in forth in the wind.

I ended up taking a short hike up to Loch Katrine, but turned back there due to the hail, wind, and cold.

The upper parts of the Hurunui have didymo, but apparently it doesn't stop the fish from going for dry flies or nymphs.

Fishing up near Arthur's Pass

While fly fishing the Hurunui River by the bridge where SH1 passes over the river, I met a guy fishing for salmon who gave me a suggestion on where to try next. He suggested going up by Lake Pearson for some rivers and lakes up there. Some of them are fly fishing only. 

It takes about an hour and a half to get from Christchurch to Lake Pearson along route 73. The scenery along this route is incredible. It passes by Castle Hill which was used as the final battle ground in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and is a very popular spot for bouldering and rock climbing. Another hour down the road is Arthur's Pass. 

I tried fishing in Lake Grasmere and Lake Sarah. There were definitely fish visible in both lakes (good sized trout for sure), but the wind was a bit high and I had trouble casting. 

The night sky at Lake Pearson was incredible. The Milky Way stretched across the sky with the texture and depth that I have only seen in photos. The stars were uncountable. Thousands of pinpoints of light. 

Near Waiau, New Zealand

After a day of fly fishing the Waiau River, I drove a bit out of Waiau and found a great spot to stay for the night. It was on a back road looking down over a valley to the west. The sunset was amazing. 

Camping by the beach

One of the joys of traveling around New Zealand are the fantastic camp sites that are everywhere. This is a beach that I camped out on near the mouth of the Hurunui River. After driving about 10 km down a gravel road, I came to the camp site. There were chalk cliffs, gravel beach, and no people. It was a great place to camp.

I rented a "micro-campervan" from rentalcarnz.co.nz which included mattress, stove, pots and pans, and some other useful stuff for camping. It meant I could stop nearly anywhere I wanted and stay the night.