Kekerengu Coastal Lodge

Meet at Kekerengu on the Kaikoura coast, about 45 minutes south of Blenheim, where we stay at The Coastal Lodge with hosts Ian and Lyn. Dinner this evening is at the Lodge with our hosts.

Tonight’s dinner and a continental breakfast the following morning are included in your trip fee. Before dinner there is an hour’s briefing on the itinerary, convoy procedures, use of handheld radios and safety guidelines.

Kekerengu to Bluff Station to Muzzle Station

Assemble outside on the grass verge for the day’s track briefing, then head down the Clarence River valley through Bluff and Remuera Stations to Muzzle Station in the Kaikoura Mountains. We travel south along the Clarence amongst the peaks of the Kaikoura ranges, dominated by Mt Tapuaenuku, Edmund Hillary’s first conquest. The aquamarine water of the snow fed Clarence is with us most of the way.

At Muzzle we meet our hosts Guy and Fiona Redfern, who have plenty of stories about the station. Accommodation is in the original old Cobb homestead and the newly built shearers quarters, all very rustic, with a barbecue evening meal cooked as you have never seen before.

Muzzle Station exploration

Today we explore Muzzle Station. The track is across the river, with plenty of advice from your guide on river crossing technique first. We then sidle around the lower mountain slopes with views of the station homestead before an impressive climb to 4,500 feet and views that go forever.

A second night in the Cobb homestead and shearers quarters, which saves packing up that morning. Evening meal is provided.

Muzzle Station to Clarence Reserve to Kaikoura

Depending on the level of the river we take either the Clarence Reserve track or the Bluff Station track through to the seaside village of Kaikoura. The Clarence Reserve is around 30,000 acres and is grazed by Muzzle as part of their lease tenure agreement. After crossing the Clarence the track follows the river valley into a steep sided rocky gorge, where we stop for lunch around a historic back country hut. The climb out takes us high again, with views back down the gorge and out to the Pacific.

Accommodation is at the Alpine Pacific Motel on Beach Road, north of Kaikoura. Dinner is at the Pier Hotel out on the point. The New World is on Beach Road too, so restock for breakfasts, lunches and snacks.

Kaikoura to Lake Taylor Station to Culverden

West to Lake Sumner in the Hurunui, to spend the day on a private station around Lakes Sumner and Taylor. The drive in goes through the Inland Kaikoura Road past Waiau and Rotherham and the Hurunui Pub, the oldest continuing licensed pub in New Zealand. The track runs through the valley then bears east up onto the Oronoko Range, with views of Lake Taylor, Lake Sheppard and Lake Sumner.

Tonight is Culverden Motels with hosts Peter and Sue Jones, and a meal of country fare at the local pub.

Culverden to Glenhope Station to Reefton

West towards the Lewis Pass and a private high country station with a real contrast of terrain. The track winds up a steep sided river valley with continuous views of the headwaters of one of the South Island’s more formidable rivers. Signs of wild game are everywhere, which gives you a sense of how isolated the station owners here actually are. Lunch at a back country hut at the head of the valley, then down one of the most scenic river valleys in the South Island.

This evening we head to Reefton, known as the town of lights. Gold bearing quartz reefs were found in the 1860s and the town was established around 1870. In August 1888 Reefton became the first place in the Southern Hemisphere with a public electricity supply, ahead of London and New York. We stay and eat at the Reefton Auto Lodge.

Reefton to Napoleon’s Hill to St Arnaud

A chance to see the West Coast properly. Napoleon’s Hill is considered one of New Zealand’s iconic 4WD tracks, winding through beech forest down into Nobles Creek with 50 foot cliffs either side, and you drive through two caves before coming out at the Waipuna River.

In the afternoon we make our way to St Arnaud beside Lake Rotoiti, where a swim off the jetty clears out the day’s dust. Accommodation is Nelson Lakes Motels at the northern end of the village, in units built from logs, with dinner at the Alpine Lodge.

St Arnaud, Porika Track and Beeby’s Knob

Back down the main road along the Buller to Longburn, just north of Murchison, for the forest glades on the Braeburn. The Howard Valley south of St Arnaud takes us into more of the beech forest that makes the Buller Gorge region what it is. The destination is the Porika, which starts at Lake Rotoroa and switchbacks up to views of the lake for a well earned morning tea.

Beeby’s Knob in the afternoon is the opposite, wide sweeping views over the ranges we came through the day before, at 5,000 feet. It can be icy on that plateau, so a stop at the historic Tophouse Pub afterwards is compulsory, for the owner’s account of the pub’s gruesome history and a drink poured by your own hand at the little self serve bar.

Last night is back at Nelson Lakes Motels, with dinner at the Alpine Lodge with hosts Leighton and Alexandra, prizegiving, and the usual reliving of the week.