Time: 2 hours and 15 minutes
Distance: 6.4 km
Starts: Near 10 Cathedral Road, Gore Bay
Finishes: Same place (it's a loop)
Date: Friday 10th December 2021
Update/Warning 06/03/2023: Tweedies Gully Walk is closed because it has been washed away and may not open any time soon. Check out the DOC website for up to date information.
A fine drizzle was falling as we turned off State Highway One at Domett onto Hurunui Mouth Road and drove the Tourist Route to Gore Bay. We stopped briefly at the Cathedral Cliffs Lookout and peered through the mist at the columns of rock - eroded mudstone with flutes and rivulets cascading down a steep drop-off.
We parked at the public loos next to the Captain Cook information board. Gore Bay is named after John Gore, who sailed with Cook. The Te Reo Māori name for the coastline is Te Tai o Marokura - the realm of Tangaroa, god of the sea.
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| Maori trading crayfish with Joseph Banks. Painted by Tupaia 1769 |
We got off to a false start as we marched up some poor sod's driveway (the owner looked like he was about to overreact), we quickly back-tracked and found the not-so-easily-missed path: Tweedies Gully Track. Drizzly but humid too, the bush was damp with fungi and lichens popping out here and there. Bellbirds (korimako) flitted about above us and we paused from time to time to listen to their comical chortles, clicks and wheezes.
At the picnic table at the top we looked out across farmland and flowering manuka to the coast below, normally spectacular but today partly shrouded in an atmospheric mist. From here we had to somehow get over or under the barbed wire fence (#citygirlspfaffingabout) and go down the hill through a paddock of rather wet long grass (#citygirlsgetwetfeet) with no trail in sight (#citygirlsunsettled).
Below the brow of the hill we joined a grassy farm track which meandered nicely down to the main Gore Bay Road just in front of Jed-Buxton Foreshore Reserve. Zhanna (our resident mycologist) found and peeled a puffball which she encouraged us to eat. Gullibly, I was alone in my acceptance. Perhaps because I have a recently heightened appreciation of mushrooms (#6waysmushroomscansavetheworld). The puffball innards were delicious (and 24 hours later I am still ok).
At the bottom we crossed the road and walked along the stony beach with the stagnant Jed River on one side and the ocean crashing dumpy waves on the other. The tide was high and the water blue. I had my togs with me but, yeah nah.
Just before the turn off to Jed cemetery, we came across three royal spoonbills. These happen to be my all time favourite bird. We didn't want to disturb them and we were miles away but they freaked out anyway and took off. Flying overhead like prehistoric pterodactyls. All legs.
The path left the beach and went up the hill to the historic Jed Cemetery. We took a tour of the few remaining derelict grave stones - tragic drownings from the early 1800's when supply boats landed here.
We retraced our steps down the hill, along the beach and then Gore Bay Road, past all the cute baches with their colourful coastal flowers. We hopped in the car and proceeded to embark upon a most unsuccessful winery search. Our plans to sit in the sun and taste wine thwarted by marginal weather and booked out venues (#citygirlsunsettled). We finally arrived (famished) at the Little Vintage Espresso, a wee gem in Amberley. We got to eat more mushrooms and drink coffees and delicious hot chocolates. Can't complain.
