Motueka is like a magnet to Jude and I, it has been a year since we were last here and here we are back again. We arrived at the NZMCA Park yesterday (Friday 4th) to beautiful hot weather, just as we remembered it last January. Went down the Main Street and being a Friday it was as busy as, with people everywhere, lots of traffic heading either to Kaiteriteri or over the Takaka hill to explore the Golden Bay area for the weekend or possibly they just got their Xmas leave after working the holiday period. It was a hot afternoon and the walk back to the NZMCA Park was stifling of which a nice cold lemon citrus beer from DB was just the remedy for a parched throat. Jude prepares a lovely evening meal and the hour long evening walk around the estuary in the warm evening after dinner was a lovely way to cap the day.
This morning it was another awesome day with the promise of topping the previous days temps, not a cloud in the sky and the day heating rapidly. It’s a 16km bike ride to Little Kaiteriteri beach for a swim, the ride we had done so many times last year. The ride to Riwaka was flat with a slight head on hot breeze but once past Riwaka the hills protected us from the hot breeze, it was then just the heat in the hills sucking the fluid from our system… overall not a hard ride, just damn hot, we just about sucked up all our water by the time we reached Little Kaiteriteri, a much quieter beach than Kaiteriteri itself. It was so hot by the time we arrived we couldn’t wait to hit the water…. that was until I put my toes in, with the heat of the day and the body temp from the ride it was like stepping into an ice bath. Mustering all my southern diving experience in winter waters I made the plunge… sharp slap of the cold was as expected… a jolt of freezing OMG moment before the bliss of the “wow that’s so refreshing moment”… Jude on the other hand chose the slow millimeter by millimeter method, but eventually she managed to get in before I was forced to crash her party.
With such a refreshing swim and a bit of soaking up the sun on the beach we both looked forward to a coffee and one of the famously good pies at the Ginger Dynamite Cafe In Riwaka. The Ginger Dynamite is a converted container that bakes all their own food and the pies are not big but huge on flavour and quality… both Jude and I loved their steak and ale pie. Another stop that Jude seems to make is the fruit and veggie stalls where she gets good fresh fruit and veggies for low prices. With Shane whinging about the heat and moaning about the distance it was off to Toad Hall for a gelato before heading back to the NZMCA Park. Now this is what I like about some locations, as we were riding along one of the tracks to our Moho Jude discovers plums, plums just hanging off the trees along the track. After testing a couple and finding they were sweet and juicy we decided to pick a couple of kg for eating and stewing to have with our breakfast…. man they were nice.
Once back at the Moho it was still a scorcher of an afternoon, I swear it must have breached 30 degrees easily. Jude suggests we head down to the river for a swim and to rinse off the salt from our beach swim earlier. We arrive at the Motueka River bridge turn off the main road and drive under the bridge and onto the stoney river bed near a soft flowing hole right below the bridge.
There were half a dozen kids playing in the river, jumping from a swing rope tied to a tree, something else I was pleased to see were kids jumping from the bridge although there were big warning signs saying “Jumping From This Bridge Is Strictly Prohibited”, kids know when it appropriate not to be able to read. The water was cool but not cold and very refreshing as the heat of the afternoon was becoming slightly overbearing, not that I don’t love the heat of summer, but it is important to find a comfortable shade or pool to chill out in. We really enjoyed the swim in the Motueka River…. it cooled the body and the soul together and as the late afternoon baked away and the early evening temperatures added a little relief to the temperatures heading into the later evening. Back at the Moho for dinner but first we sit down to a cold lemon citrus beer from DB…. what a fantastic day and just like last year when here the weather is awesome.
From Motueka it was over the Takaka hill to Takaka where we camped at the NZMCA Park at Port Tarakohe, a beautiful spot about 2km past Pohara. The view of golden bay is awesome and of course the weather was perfect. Over the next few days we visited the Cobb Reservoir which involves a drive up the Takaka River which runs up the Cobb Valley, along a narrow but well manicured gravel road, climbing to a height of 1035 meters above sea level before descending down to the Cobb Reservoir. The Cobb Reservoir, surrounded by Kahurangi National Park and fed by the Cobb River. The reservoir feeds the Cobb Power Station and is 819 metres above sea level but drops significantly with low rainfall.
The Cobb Reservoir is the highest hydro storage lake in New Zealand. The dam that forms the reservoir was built from 1949 to 1954, replacing a smaller structure built about ten years earlier. It is an earth dam 32 metres high by 221 metres long. The geology of the area precluded the construction of a concrete dam.
As I previously mention, a narrow winding road leads over Cobb Ridge at 1036 meters then down to the Cobb Reservoir and along the lake’s shore, providing access to tramping tracks in the area surrounding the valley. The road was built in the 1940s and remains unsealed from Cobb Power Station onwards. The drive up is with steep drop offs down to the valleys below where the river winds it’s way out of the mountains as it heads to Takaka to enter the waters of Golden bay, native bush shades the road and covers the terrain all around making the views spectacular. At the top of the Cobb Ridge before dropping to down to the reservoir there is a information hut / shelter, it has pictures and historical information that makes you wonder how the hell did they do this. An interesting fact is it was here that the first bulldozer was used in New Zealand. On the way out Jude spied the start of the Asbestos Cottage track and I sort of knew we were going to attempt this track at some stage but first she tried her luck at trout fishing the Takaka River… not a sign of any trout being interested in her lures. For the next few days we enjoyed some swimming and fishing, of course as fruitless as it was it was still fun and yes there is an abundance of fish. Over the following days we explored places like Liger Bay, Tata Beach, Wainui Inlet and Takapou Bay. An area well worth visiting and we are bound to return.