Back to Christchurch

Saturday was the last of our long driving days as we returned to Christchurch. Our trip also completed the central loop of our ’figure eight’ tour of New Zealand’s south island – a driving trip of 4,250 kilometres.

We started the day by driving down the west coast from Punakaiki through Greymouth to Kumera Junction where we found a good cafe and a nice coffee. From there we travelled east over the Arthur Pass and across the Southern Alps.

The old town of Kumara is a few kilometres up the road from the junction. It was founded in 1876 and became one of the country’s chief gold mining centres following the discovery of gold about 3 kilometres to the south-east. The population was 4,220 in October 1877 but is now only about 200 people.

We noticed three interesting features in this old, almost ghost town.

The Bank of New Zealand and Gold Office was first established in Kumara in 1876.

Held annually in January, the Kumara race track (complete with its grandstand) holds an old-fashioned country race meeting. The main race is the Kumara Gold Nuggets, for which the prize is a real gold nugget.

The Theatre Royal Hotel is the West Coast’s only fully restored gold miners’ hotel, and once world-renowned theatre. The hotel features six themed accommodation rooms. Each room is unique, with its blend of Victorian decor, antique furnishings, modern amenities and West Coast charm.

After leaving Kumara, the road travels through pastoral country. It follows the Taramakau River which is one of New Zealand’s typical braided rivers. At first the land is quite flat but the further you go, the steeper it becomes and eventually you enter the Otira Gorge.

There are a number of settlements along the way that are just a collection of houses. At Otira, is the Stagecoach Hotel which was constructed in 1865 to meet the growing needs of the gold mining and ever increasing population growth after the opening of the road. The building was restored in the early 1900s ands is now more recognised as a museum. With all the quirky stuff around, and inside, the building, it certainly has character of its own.

The road to the gorge is winding and steep At one point, it is covered by an avalanche shelter and near the top of the pass a viaduct crosses the river.

Finally, the road reaches the top of the pass soon reaches the alpine town of Arthur Pass. It then starts its descent down another river valley to the plains around Christchurch.

I am sure that we have driven on this road on a previous trip but somehow I have no memory of it whatsoever. That’s interesting because the scree covered mountains on either side of the valley are splendid and quite unique. We travelled between them for about fifty kilometres with the valley becoming wider all the time.

For the last forty kilometres of the day we travelled across the flat Canterbury Plains. We reached our hotel in Christchurch at around 4.30 in the afternoon, satisfied with our trip and the scenery that we saw. We have a day to look around the city tomorrow before heading home on Monday afternoon.