Capture: From the Road
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Thanks for letting us repost this Gio. I think the photos are worthy of a wider format, and while this is the highest number of images I believe we have posted in one blog, they work well as a narrative.
Your mention of the Robin Morrison book The South Island of New Zealand from the Road sent me on a mad Internet hunt for it, and I thought for a moment I had found an elusive copy for much less than the ridiculous amount being asked by Hard to Find Bookshop in Dunedin ($295 - $340), but alas after I processed the transaction, I was informed the book had been removed from sale. Maybe they realised it was under-priced.
It also led me back to the collection of his images now held by Auckland Museum. At first I thought the online collection was limited to a few highlights, but then found the main page, which seems to host 1593 images, albeit in quite small format for the web. If you have a Robin Morrison photo in mind, chances are you'll find it here.
Some are also available for order through the Gallery Prints page, either framed or unframed.
Anyway, it's nice to refocus South again, and I hope others either travelling in, or from 'The Mainland' will join in with their own photos 'from the road'.
Cheers
Jackson
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The Moeraki boulders are not accessible via wheelchair - just saying. So may as well be mythical for many tourists.
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giovanni tiso, in reply to
The Moeraki boulders are not accessible via wheelchair - just saying.
Are you sure? I thought the beach was accessible from the carpark (but not from the cafè directly above).
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The Moeraki Boulders cafe up top is a tourist trap IMO but the boulders themselves (once we got to see them up close) were enjoyable.
We visited some years ago (2007?) as part of our South Island holiday*. We rocked up to the cafe parking lot, saw that a chunk of the parking area reserved for buses, then discovered that there was a fee to use their walkway down to the beach, decided sod this, and left for the DOC carpark instead. From there we did the ~5 minute walk along the beach to the boulders. I don't recall how wheelchair accessible the boulders are from the DOC carpark but it would have required rolling along the (potentially soft) sand to get to the boulders. The DOC page isn't altogether clear.
Unfortunately, most of our outdoor attractions are not wheelchair accessible but one I remember that was are the pancake rocks at Punakaiki which was definitely worth it.
*It was getting ridiculous as at that point we had seen more of Australia than the South Island. We spent about a month** starting with the Milford Track. It was glorious.
**Being away that long gave us the flexibility to stay extra nights if we felt inclined which we did at Fox Glacier & Kaiteriteri. We took the car with a tent in the boot so accommodation ranged from tenting to getting a holiday park cabin or a motel room when we got sick of being wet or roughing it.
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giovanni tiso, in reply to
most of our outdoor attractions are not wheelchair accessible but one I remember that was are the pancake rocks at Punakaiki which was definitely worth it.
The pancake rocks are only partly accessible. You go around the first few bends on the walkway and then there's a rather grim sign - a wheelchair with a cross through it - that stops you going further. There are a lot of steps from there on in.
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My recollection (correct me if I'm wrong as this was some years ago) is that you can still see the pancake rocks (though not all of it) from the wheelchair accessible parts.
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Rosemary McDonald, in reply to
Re; inaccessible (or otherwise) tourist spots.
Giovanni has definately captured some of my particular South Island high spots...I'd love to add a few suggestions for his next trip...especially those taken out the window while the other half drives. If Peter could use a camera, he'd capture the view as one is emerging from the Homer Tunnel while driving to Milford Sound. Literally breathtaking..
However, I digress. Wheelchair access in New Zealand is appalling. DOC, of Moeraki Boulders, Punakaiki, Farewell Spit fame have made a little effort around visitor centres (so you can get inside and have a feed), but have fallen way short of actually providing access to the actual feature. We have been having a minor set to with DOC regarding its lack of accommodation for wheelchair users at their Camps.
We travel extensively in our self contained Bus. We are constantly bemused at the reaction from other campers when a wheelchair emerges from the arse end of our vehicle at a DOC camp. Kinda like....what are you doing here???? Seriously...wheelchair users enloying the Great Outdoors is an anomaly. -
The Moeraki boulders didn't seem accessible when we tried to get to them a few years ago. There are young fit people who use wheelchairs who are more mobile and some flash outdoorsy wheelchairs that can go places but for an older person in a standard wheelchair even gravel or a low step can be treacherous. On our recent trip to Golden Bay we did just manage the Mussel Inn (fortunately at it was lovely) which has a gravel carpark and uneven paving in its outside seating area (didn't even try getting indoors). We asked about accessible accommodation at the popular Tukurua Motor Camp and they don't have any but said they get lots of inquiries. So I think there is untapped potential out there for accessible tourism.
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Rosemary McDonald, in reply to
We asked about accessible accommodation at the
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So did we, gave up asking, and did up the Bus. At least we have an accessible bed and toilet/shower. Occasionally we stay in proper motor camps...and if they claim to be 'wheelchair friendly'...we will test their claim and give feedback (if they are intrested).
Some of the best hosts have made no claim to accessibility...but have a genuine desire to make all customers feel welcome.
Top of our list in this area would be Bluebridge ferries. Consistently, awsomely accommodating staff,
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Hilary Stace, in reply to
We went on the Interislander and they were pretty good too providing a priority service, temporary ramp (one of the old ferries) and considerable assistance on both trips.
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Such nice pictures, so long since I was in the South Island,
Enjoyed your traveller’s assumptions – the reality is often so far from the story we create.
One on a road.
One from a car – making the mundane a little more interesting. -
Hebe,
It's interesting to see the sights that capture the attention of someone from "away"; lets me look at home through new eyes.
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The South Island you say? I may have one or two photos to add. Routeburn Track.
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maniototo
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Oturehua cricket scoreboard
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I particularly loved your photo of the Rainbow confectioney factory, Giovanni. A really vivid shot,. We stopped in there last week, where my daughter felt she scored a bargain getting 2x 500g mixtures for, i think, $5. The lack of liquorice allsorts meant I felt nothing but disappointment. (This was alleviated by some divine fresh raspberries bought a short while later heading up the Waitaki Valley).
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An earlier stop on our journey from Dunedin was also food related- Evansdale Cheese, on the site of the old Cherry Farm Hospital. Excellent cheese; and a quirky cow ornament for a fiver.
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More South Island. Wholemeal Café, Takaka. It's been there for decades in a former theatre.
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giovanni tiso, in reply to
I particularly loved your photo of the Rainbow confectioney factory, Giovanni. A really vivid shot,. We stopped in there last week, where my daughter felt she scored a bargain getting 2x 500g mixtures for, i think, $5.
It was a particularly cruel photo for me to take seeing as we weren't going to let the little diabetic in the back seat take advantage of the bargains!
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Mussel Inn, Onekaka (half way between Takaka and Collingwood).
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Collingwood.
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Ian Dalziel, in reply to
chairs and whips?
I’m just having fun imagining what an 'Eel Tamer’ might look like
and what they would have to do…
and then how they’d approach the rare eel shark:- )
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Hilary Stace, in reply to
It does not appear to be a command, despite the skull and crossbones flag. The eels seem pretty happy and docile.
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Main highway 6 between Nelson and Picton at Pelorus Bridge. Café has good toilets, coffee, home baking, big icecreams and sandflies.
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Queen Charlotte Drive, just a few kilometres from the ferry.
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