Welcome to Back Country Stations: Rakaia to Kaikoura Coast
I’ve been guiding for MoaTours for many years now and have been fortunate to be the Kiwi Guide on the Back Country Stations: Rakaia to Kaikoura Coast tour a number of times.
When I first guided this tour, I was slightly apprehensive as I had never been to most of the locations on the itinerary though, of course, I needn’t have worried. I knew Ena (our tour planning guru) had visited all the places along the way, worked with the amazing people we met, and organised us access to some very unique experiences.
For those who have travelled on the MoaTours High Country Stations, Gardens & Goldfields tour, this can be considered a sister itinerary.
Where are we going?
Starting in Christchurch we visit Rakaia, Hanmer Springs and the Hurunui region, the Clarence Valley, Kaikoura Coast and Marlborough, ending in Blenheim with a cruise on Queen Charlotte Sound.
What is the idea behind this tour?
Back Country Stations gets its name from the farming tracks our coach travels along from Cleardale Station in the Rakaia Gorge to Bluff Station at Kekerengu in the Kaikoura Ranges. At Bluff their private farm track winds its way inland 12km to their small settlement at Coverham with spectacular views out to Mt Tapuae-o-Uenuku, the highest peak in the inland Kaikoura Ranges.
How did we manage to access so many amazing places?
Ena has family farming in the south who offered to establish connections with their friends at the stations. This tour is, therefore, very unique to MoaTours.
What is the High Country?
We spend time on some High Country Stations. But what does that mean?
There are many high country stations in New Zealand. Some you may have heard of or visited such as Erewhon or Walter Peak Station, and many you won’t have heard of. The high country is generally considered to be 600 metres above sea level, and predominantly runs the length of the South Island.
Maori used the High Country as a seasonal food source and travelling route between the coasts. In the 19th century farming came to the fore, with sheep being the predominant focus, grazing on the extensive grasslands (as did those pesky rabbits that were also introduced and had already reached plague proportions in the 19th century). It is said that the Scottish Highlands were a model for the way we farm our High Country.
In the second half of the 19th century fencing was introduced, with cheaper, thin wire becoming available from the 1860s, leading to significant advances in farm management. In the first half of the 20th century there was serious intensification in many areas, up to the 1950s, considered the peak period. While the government retained the land ownership, they granted runholders 99 year renewable leases. In the later 20th Century, land tenure and competing interests from DOC and other conservation movements, impacted the runholders.
And so over the period of 150 years New Zealand has developed a culture and folklore around the High Country farming lifestyle that is embedded in our national psyche to this day.
On this tour we visit farms and stations that are located in the high country, valleys and plains closer to the coast.
Rakaia to Hanmer Springs
Cleardale Station
Located in the Rakaia Gorge, Cleardale Station is a great example of what has gone before and what is to come. It has been in the same family since its inception in 1914. It is now, at 1400 hectares, a much bigger version with additions, conversions, leases and expansion into other areas including forestry. Its tagline is Genes for Profit. It is in the business of genetics investment.
We call into the station for afternoon tea with Ben Todhunter and Donna Field, and with Ben as our guide we travel the tracks in the coach around the station getting among the action. Here the Rakaia River butts against hills at a point where the impressive, eroded cliffs drop down to the river continually adding stones to the flow to help create the areas braided river system.
Tonight we stay in Methven before heading into the Hurunui region.
Flaxmere Garden
Penny Zino is an extraordinary host. First we lunch with Penny then stroll with her in the garden. Always energetic and enthusiastic, her passion for her garden shines forth, as well as her entertaining skills.
Flaxmere is a large country garden based on the principles of strong design and is perfectly integrated with the terraced riverbed country that surrounds it.
More than 50 years ago, Penny established her garden on a sheep farm in North Canterbury. Flaxmere was boldly designed to enhance the breathtaking mountain vistas and create a sense of tranquility with a series of ponds. The garden’s vistas have been described as “art forms.”
Located near the Southern Alps, Flaxmere Garden has evolved into a stunning garden that showcases the beauty of the changing seasons, and is magnificent throughout the year. MoaTours has been visiting Flaxmere for many years and it is always a rewarding experience.
The Lakes Station, Hurunui Valley
Google might have said it is 1 hour 40 minutes up the Hurunui Valley, along the picturesque Hurunui River to The Lakes Station. Ena told me it was only an hour and, of course, she was right. Like all the places we visit, this is a working farm.
Sarah Greenslade and her husband Jim are working partners at The Lakes Station. Why The Lakes? There are six lakes on the property. One more picturesque than the next. This is the real back country, at 8000 hectares, including both alpine and a small amount of flat land by the river, it has everything.
Over afternoon tea Sarah regales us with tales of life on the station, the champion rowers in the family and Jim talks about farming life. On the couch, snuggled up to a visitor, is Burt Munro, Sarah’s slow moving “special” dog who is always quick to sort out where he will get the most attention.
The Culverden area, Hurunui
Wynyard Farm
Today we explore the Culverden region. We start with a visit to Wynyard, a beautiful farm and garden where we are hosted by Lou and Tim Davison. Lou and Tim (Penny Zino’s brother) trace the family history on the land back to the beginnings in the 1880s.
Coldstream Farm and Garden
Many years ago Andrew’s grandfather owned Coldstream farm. In a happy continuation of the family connection Andrew Dalzell and Vicki Collett bought the land in 2010, they have also acquired a beautiful garden. We enjoy lunch at Coldstream where Vicki has used her green thumb to nurture this 1 hectare garden to its current status as a Garden of Significance.
Montrose Station
Montrose Station
We start the day with Jo and Dave McKenzie for morning tea and a farm tour at Montrose Station in the Canterbury High Country near Culverden. This fifth generation farm is a particularly rewarding stop. There is quite an astonishing history here and “lucky to be alive” was mentioned as this homestead was partially destroyed by the Kaikoura earthquake in 2016.
An amazing restoration has been made to this two story homestead which dates back to 1912. It’s classed as an Historic Place Category 2.
Visiting unheard of places off the beaten track like this is exactly why we are here. They are incredible to see and amazing to hear about first hand. It reminds me why I love my life as a Kiwi Guide getting to visit and share places like this.
Loch Leven
Lunch is at Doreen and Michael Dryden’s Loch Leven Garden. It is another amazing example of something beautiful created from nothing.
Their 3 acre garden in Rotherham began in 1989 when they purchased their small farm. With nothing but passion and occasional spare time, Loch Leven has grown into not just a much loved and visited garden but also a thriving nursery specialising in things such as Buxus. They also grow perennials and focus on the old-fashioned and unusual.
Point Farm
We take the Mt Lyford Road to Kaikoura to meet Pete Smith, Doreen’s brother. There has to be some shearing in action somewhere – and Pete provides a demo for us right here at The Point in sight of the waves on the Kaikoura Coast.
The Clarence
The Clarence River meets the sea around 40km north of Kaikoura and runs nearly 200km from its source at Lake Tennyson traversing the valley between the ranges. Today we are visiting stations either side of the historic bridge that traverses the river, not too far from the ocean. This is earthquake country. Clarence was cut off for some time after the Kaikoura earthquakes and today we get to understand a little of the impact on the land and life of the people here. (The Clarence River notably also runs through Molesworth Station, a highlight of our Molesworth Station, The Abel Tasman & Golden Bay tour.)
Woodbank Station, Clarence River Valley
We spend time on the northern side of the Clarence River this morning with Ben and Caroline Murray. We meet Ben Murray at their bull ring sales yard where the station auctions their Woodbank Angus bulls and Matariki Herefords several times each year. We enjoy our time out on the spectacular farm tracks with Ben. It’s hard to get your head around the changes that happened here. During the earthquake the flat roads were turned into hillsides and thrust many metres upwards. The valley filled with debris, the flat farm road became undulating, the river changed its course and the landscape changed forever.
Waipapa Farm
Here we are across the Clarence River for lunch with Jane and Derrick Millton taking in the magnificent views down to the ocean. We are just a few hundred metres off State Highway 1 in Waipapa Bay in an area that was hit hard in the earthquake. If there is a photo that many remember from the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake it is the one of the cows marooned on an island of grass. That was here on the Millton’s farm. Jane, a watercolour artist, wrote a children’s book about those cows, “Moo and Moo and the Little Calf Too”. Derrick guides us over the farmland and past the quarry. He has established the only limestone quarry in Marlborough and, since the earthquake, has been treated to a sea view from his office.
Bluff Station, Kekerengu
Bluff Station is another generational station, run by the Murray family. At 13,000 hectares, this station certainly isn’t small. The entrance is just off the main highway at Kekerengu, but the farm heads inland toward Mt Tapuae-O-Uenuku, the tallest in the Inward Kaikoura Ranges at 2,885 metres.
Sue Murray, joins us on our coach, another amazing person, we feel like we’ve met a few so far. I am again reminded that visiting a region is significantly enhanced when you can meet the people and hear the stories that help you live and breathe a place. This is one of those occasions.
Queen Charlotte Sound and home
We enjoy a last hurrah on the Queen Charlotte Sound/Totaranui, with an private lunch cruise. Fresh seafood is on the menu, sourced from King salmon and green-lipped mussel farms within Marlborough’s sustainable aquaculture industry. Then sadly it is time to head home.
What a unique and engaging experience this tour has been.
