How Do You Pronounce That?

About an hour and a half south of Kaikoura we passed a sign saying, 'Motunau Beach'. 
We tried pronouncing it using the Maori vowel sounds and didn't come up with any name that we had heard of before. Feeling pleased that we'd found a new spot we hadn't known about, we turned off the highway and headed east towards Motunau Beach. We imagined it to be a deserted little place with a rugged foreshore.
Well we were in for a pleasant surprise.
The country road leading to this newly discovered place was sealed and reasonably narrow. Each side of the road was farmland. It wasn't as dry as I'd expected it might be for December, obviously all the rain that had fallen in previous weeks had made an impact.

It wasn't long before we saw a tiny glimpse of the ocean ahead.

After about 6kms a small settlement appeared. The muddy-brown Motunau River was further proof of the heavy rain the area had recently had.

We soon came upon a quaint seaside village, nestled at the northern end of Pegasus Bay. The baches appeared to be well cared for, with tidy grounds. 

Most holiday homes had boats, indicating this was a good spot for water activities and fishing.

We parked along Motunau Beach, overlooking an estuary, where the Motunau River flows into the Pacific Ocean.

1.2 kilometres off the coast, is a small island, called Motunau Island. It's a native reserve, which can only be accessed with a permit. The island is managed by DOC and is home to many seabirds - such as; white flippered penguins, white-faced storm petrels, sooty shearwaters oysters catchers and white-fronted terns. At times you'll see fur seals (kekeno) resting on the Island's rocks.



Unfortunately dogs aren't allowed on the foreshore reserve or along the beach. So, Bernie happily stayed back at the bus to dog-sit, while I wandered around. The reserve looked ideal for camping, however, a sign stating 'No Camping' suggested otherwise.

If anyone is keen to swim here, they'd have a choice between a freshwater swim (in the river) or saltwater, in the waves off the beach.

Divers also come to the area to explore the rocky coastline. Scuba divers need to be careful as the tides are deceptively strong. Motunau attracts lots of boaties and anglers. Blue cod is often caught and when the sea temperature is right, kingfish are also about. Boats are launched along the river's edge.
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The beach has lots of interesting, weathered rocks with circular holes. These are scattered amongst white and grey pebbles - a geologists dream.

If you're interested in fossils, the sea cliffs are a popular hunting ground for these preserved remains.

Later, we told some friends about this cool spot we'd discovered. They hadn't heard of it either ... that is, until we showed them where it was on a map.  
When they said, it's pronounced 'Mutton-hour', we realised that we'd definitely heard about this place before. Oopsie, Bernie and I had confused ourselves by trying to pronounce it in Maori. We'd been saying it like  'More-Too-No'. No wonder no-one knew what we were talking about.

Haha...we hadn't found a new spot after all!!!

St Anne's Lagoon

This picturesque lagoon a few kilometres north of Cheviot is a great place to stop for a picnic or to stretch your legs.

The gravel roads runs along the lake and leads to an area you can park under mature trees.

The area had had a lot of rain recently so we stuck to the harder road and parked.

Another car wasn't so lucky and had gone onto a dirt road and got stuck. A guy in a Toyota happened to come along and tried unsuccessfully to tow the Ranger out. Eventually a winch was used and the owners of the Ranger were freed.

As per normal, Bernie boiled the jug and I went walking with Oakly and Boo. Yes - it's dog friendly.

It's hard to believe this lagoon can dry up. When we were there the lake was so full, the trees were surrounded in water.

In 2017, after three years of drought conditions, the lagoon completely dried up, which threatened the lives of thousands of eels. The local community, DOC, ECan (Environment Canterbury) and some school kids collected eels and transported them in drums, to be released in the Waiau River.

St Anne's Lagoon (Mata Kopae) is set in 40 hectares of beautiful parkland. The day we visited we didn't see any bird life, however it's known as a popular spot for bird watching. This wetland is home to many geese, swans and pukeko.

Opposite the lagoon is smaller pond smothered in weed. Luckily Boo managed to stay dry ... a few years ago as a pup Boo had seen weed similar to this in Blenheim and had mistaken it for grass. She started to bound across it and disappeared! Fortunately we were close by so Bernie reached in and scooped her out!

Parnassus

Sticking to our plan of keeping our traveling from place to place under two hours we headed south from Kaikoura. Less than an hour later we arrived at a small settlement named Parnassus. It's on the east coast of the South Island, between Kaikoura and Christchurch. In 2008 the Parnassus school closed and is now used by the NZMCA as a park for members. There's oodles of space to park on the grass but after a long stretch of wet weather the grass was very wet. Like most campers, we stuck to the concrete area to avoid getting get stuck.

Parnassus seems an unusual name, so I did a little research and discovered ... Many years ago, a local sheep run owner, Edward Lee, noticed a likeness between a local hill and the sacred Mount Parnassus in central Greece. It was Edward Lee who named the area Parnassus.

As I mentioned it's a small area so there wasn't a lot to explore. 

The nearby paddocks were covered with round baleage. I'm guessing these bales will be wrapped, before being carted away to be stored. Eventually they'll be used as feed for stock.

Other paddocks looked ready to be mown. After being cut, the fields will be raked and then baled.

If we visited this area in a month or so, this wild apple tree, growing along the roadside, will be ready for picking. Yum, nothing like sweet, crispy, spray-free apples!

Noticing the forecasted storm approaching, we headed back to camp. That night we drifted off to sleep to the sound of thunder and rain. Bliss.

An Overnight Stay in Kaikoura.

After leaving Ward Beach we decided to only travel one to two hours, which made Kaikoura our next stop. 
We planned to stay at an NZMCA park at the Kaikoura Trotting Club in South Bay, which is about five kilometres south of Kaikoura. However when we arrived it was full ... time for plan B. 
At the end of South Bay, there's a dump station, we headed there to dump our grey water and rubbish. While Bernie did that, I walked the dogs along the foreshore.

We parked beside South Bay foreshore, with the local bird-life entertaining us, while we discussed where we should stay. 

I'd heard lots of positive comments about "Donegal House" being a nice place to stay. It's an Irish Hotel and campervan park about 3kms north of Kaikoura and it's dog friendly. Perfect.

There was loads of space to park, one side have the powered sites and opposite is the unpowered area. We found an unpowered spot to park and settled in for the night. Our view was looking over a pond.

The next morning Bernie lifted the carpet tiles and put them along the fence to dry. I'd forgotten to mention that we hadn't remembered to put the water container into the shower as we left Ward Beach. We were traveling along the coastline, when we heard a bang! It happened at that time where there was nowhere to pull over (Murphy's law), so we continued driving for a few kilometres until we found somewhere to stop. And, you've guessed it - the water container  had fallen onto the floor and emptied out (all 20 odd litres) over the carpet. Luckily, it was an easy fix. The carpet tiles came up effortlessly. The weather was fine with a slight breeze, so in no time at all the carpet was dry and back in its rightful place. As the saying goes, 'Every cloud has a silver lining', we now had a nice, clean floor!

 Before we set off, Oakly, Boo and I went off to have a look around.

This huge gum tree growing beside Donegal House was brought over from Australia as a seed in someone's pocket. (see more info below).

Our first stop was back at South Bay to dump and fill up with water. Being such a scenic area we stopped along the beach for lunch.

The dogs didn't need asking twice when I suggested we go and explore.

I loved all the blue borage along the roadside and the red poppies growing in amongst it. I wasn't the only one who appreciated the blue borage - hundreds of bees were visiting too.

The crimson flowers of the pohutukawa tree were eye-catching.

There's so much to see around this area and I've got my eye on a couple of walks I'm keen to do. Plus there are the seals - I love seals! Although it was a brief trip, we still enjoyed our visit and next time we'll put aside more time to explore. Until next time ....