Author Archives: Morley

Devil’s Punchbowl

Gorgeous day today – crisp and clear, but very cold. We drove out to the village of Arthur’s Pass with stunning views of snow-capped peaks along the way. It’s a beautiful drive regardless of the weather and one can’t help but be awed by the mountains and the scenery. Our destination was the mountains on … Continue reading »

Categories: Adventure | Leave a comment

Monkey Wizard

In the post about our stay at Riwaka Valley, I forgot to mention an interesting taste experience from the Monkey Wizard craft brewery in Riwaka village. We looked longingly at the brewery each time we drove past it, but operating on winter hours, the brewery was closed most days. On our second-last day the “open” … Continue reading »

Categories: Culture | Leave a comment

Up The Creek

Driving to/from the bach in Riwaka Valley, we passed some interesting creek and river names. In addition to Dead Dog Creek, Dead Man’s Culvert and Johnny Walker Creek, we also crossed the Nile River.

Categories: Adventure | Leave a comment

41 Degrees South

We recently returned from a lovely week away in the Golden Bay region at the top end of South Island. We rented a bach (self-contained cottage) on a farm in Riwaka Valley, halfway between Motueka and Kaiteriteri (see map below). The farm was delightful: it’s primarily a kiwi fruit farm but Len and Kate also … Continue reading »

Categories: Adventure | 1 Comment

Karamea

On Wednesday I accompanied my Dad on a trip up to Karamea on the northern reaches of the West Coast, where he had a couple of farm audits to perform. We set off just before 6am and reached Westport as the sun was coming up on a nice cloudless day. We grabbed a takeaway pie … Continue reading »

Categories: Adventure | 5 Comments