Travelling along Highway 1 between Christchurch and Picton add short walks
to enhance the enjoyment and counteract driver fatigue. The Omihi Scenic
Reserve Walk, the stopping point for viewing the seals at Ohau Point and
the Ohau Stream walk, as well as the town of Kaikoura,
provide welcome breaks.
Highway 1 carries a lot of traffic at any time, but during the summer and
especially in the holiday period it is a very busy road. Our family have
travelled it many times en route from Christchurch to Picton, Nelson or the
Nelson Lakes National Park. That part of the country is so popular in
summer that there is heavy traffic - cars packed to the roof with luggage,
cars pulling trailers full of camping gear, caravans or boats, motorhomes,
and heavy trucks transporting goods to and from the ferry. This means that
the driver can become fed up with following the same vehicle kilometre
after kilometre, especially over the Hundalee Hills and along the Kaikoura
coast.
Our other problem when the children were small was that they grew tired of
being in the car and asked endlessly, "When are we going to get to
Nelson?"
The solution for all frayed nerves in our experience was to stop and go for
a walk. With luck the little ones spent so much energy that they fell
asleep soon after and we could drive on in peace.
Where are these walks?
Domains and rest areas all along the road provide a break, but our two
favourite walks are on the Kaikoura coast, one south of Kaikoura, one to
the north. Neither involves leaving the main road. Both take a short
time.
The Omihi Scenic Reserve Walk
If you are travelling north watch for the Ocean View Restaurant and Motels,
north of Oaro, travel 1.3 kms and pull off on the left of the road. If the
parking there is full there are parks in the picnic area on the other side
of the road.
If you are travelling south note the Goose Bay bridge and then travel one
kilometre south watching for a not very conspicuous sign in a clearing on
your right.
Cross the railway carefully at the sign marking the beginning of the walk.
This is an undemanding walk on a good track, taking twenty minutes each
way. It is fairly dry all the year round, and light footwear is adequate
unless there has been heavy rain. It begins at an easy gradient and
gradually climbs to a lookout giving excellent views north and south along
the coast. The walk is sheltered and on a hot day it is pleasantly cool
under the trees.
Trees and plants
Our pleasure in the walk was increased when we went with Joe Levy, former
Canterbury Conservator of Forests. He pointed out trees and plants that
would have escaped our notice.
The shady nature of the walk meant that we could not take photographs in
the bush, so a description will have to suffice. It is set among coastal
hardwood forest. It starts among kawakawa, the peppertree, which Maori
value for medicinal purposes. The canopy of foliage comes from the
whiteywood, and the ngaio. On the side of the track are small hen and
chicken ferns.
Tree fuchsias can be recognised by their orange-tinged, peeling bark. They
grow to an interesting shape. The five finger, popular in home gardens as a
smallish tree, here grows over twenty feet tall. Ake ake have an orange
red bark with a stringy texture.
On the left note a tall ribbonwood with a dark trunk and further along a
red matipo.
Towards the top of the track watch for maidenhair fern, golden ake ake,
(which you may recognise as a popular hedge plant), a native myrtle with a
nobbly trunk, a pigeonwood with orange berries in season, hebes, and a
large leaved Broadleaf. At your feet you may see Dianella, a low growing
plant which has white flowers with three petals. It is sometimes called
blue berry as it has rather lovely blue berries in autumn.
Birds
As you walk you have a good chance of seeing some native birds - brown
creepers, bellbirds, grey warblers and fantails.
View from the top
From the top you have a clear view of the coast to the north and the south
and can look down on the seals on the rocks below. Looking south you can
see the Amuri Bluff in the distance. The coastal strip in the foreground
was a Ngai Tahu village site in the nineteenth century and earlier.
