Joanne very politely knocking on the front door - back door was wide open!
remnants from earlier days
Ackers Bay - where the rocks would most likely have been carried to build his stone house.
We have done much of what there is to see here but are now trapped by a three day weather event posting speeds of 40+ knots! We are making sure we continue to do as much as possible in spite of the weather. After a stormy night at anchor in Halfmoon Bay we awoke feeling slightly jaded after disturbed sleep in relentless winds that whistled around Horizon III. You would normally expect some interludes but no, this was a continuum of strong winds all night. At least the sea was coming at us in the same direction so we were sitting flat on the water. After breakfast of Muesli and toast we decided to load up the dinghy with our bikes and shoes, put some warm clothing in for our upper bodies including beanies but wore our shorts to get to shore with the dinghy easily and not to get soaking wet during our ridewalks.
We arrived at the beach and pulled the dinghy up to the high tide mark, secured it to a post then dried our feet and put on our trainers. We wanted to see the oldest stone house on the Island, built in 1836 by Lewis Acker, who was an American Whaler. we also wanted to visit the lighthouse at the point further to the east. The road led to the track, the road was metalled and pot holed but the track was to the usual high standard, so we took our bikes as far as we could go, which was right to the Stone House. He built this himself, he married a local Maori woman, Meri and they had 9 children together that they raised in the house. The bunk beds he built inside were right to the ceiling and 5 tiers high! He was forced to leave when the Island was bought by the Crown thus forcing him to leave the Island after he lost his land. Sad really, he ended up living near Invercargill. In the meantime Captain James Harrold and his wife Agnes moved into the bay just above the stone house and built a house and a shop, turning the stone house into a smithy (blacksmith’s workshop) and later, a Storeroom, brewery and a boat building workshop. Captain Harrold continued Acker’s tradition of boat-building in the Bay.
Hardcore (now local) complete with cycle helmet.
The rugged coast not far from the Lighthouse.
Following the visit to the Stone-house we then left the bikes to scale the steps and track out to the lighthouse around the headland. We were amazed by the bird life through there and surprised to see the level of effort going into pest eradication on the Island. There were tags and signs and traps every 50Metres or so. The coastline below was extremely rugged and with the weather there was a reasonable sea running albeit from the west (our protected quarter). We soon arrived at the end of the track to find the newish lighthouse (solar powered) that replaced the earlier gas powered lighthouse. They used to lug the big gas bottles up the cliff face from the sea below to power the light and the anchor post for this still remains with winch wire in place.
Very large male Tui singing his heart out! They make the most beautiful sound. The bush here was full of them.
The Solar powered lighthouse replacing the old Gas powered lighthouse
Brommies beside the track around to the lighthouse
We made our way back to the Stone-house where we picked up our bikes for the steep climb back to the road. We cycled back into a strong head wind (particularly as we rounded the bends). The wind was racing around every headland. Soon we were back in town and heading to the cafe to reward ourselves with a coffee.
As we approached the first intersection, the local Policeman approached the tee junction and had to give way to us riding with hatsbeanies and no helmets.... ooops.
He rolled down the window to call us over and promptly gave us a stern telling off. He was the first car we had encountered in an hour of cycling on the road!! The recommended speed limit is 30PKH hardly a hazardous environment. I guess rules are rules. I think he enjoys ripping into locals as he must get frustrated walking the tightrope of law and order versus long term relationships with locals.
We rode the short distance to the South Sea Hotel for our coffee reward. It was great to get a warm drink in a warm environment. After coffee we headed back to the boat for lunch. As we arrived it began hammering down with rain and strong winds continued long into the night. We were completely over the weather here and would have left tomorrow, if not that the forecast was exactly the same for the next two days and beyond. Sunday still looked like our best bet with 25 - 30 knot winds and 3 metre seas. Once at Dunedin it was looking like we would be enjoying 15 knot winds as we enter port so that will be a new experience!