River Road, Tukituki River Wander

15th July 2025

Today we really needed to walk in the wild, so we headed to River road thinking we might wander along the stop bank as it's pretty muddy almost everywhere presently. Quite suddenly we decided to via right instead- I wonder where this path goes to? And so we had the best winter Tukituki river wandering adventure & found spots & views we've never seen before. 

This spot is accessed by heading down River road, past David Cranwell's place & the Pocket Park, via left & park up the top just after the trees, or stay right & head down to the main car park. From there most people walk out along the stop bank or over the wide open spaces. You can go for miles- all the way to Haumoana. However, if you simply via right from the car park instead & follow your nose you'll find a whole nother landscape that is quite, quite different.

As you look up & back there is the back of Te Mata Peak.

And all the willows in winter grace, with buddleia davidii in the foreground.

The solid presence of Kahuranaki in the distance.

From season to season the rivers create new paths to suit themselves. The Tukituki has opted for the far bank choice at this time, so to reach the flow you have to wander across a good expanse of river beach.

And how beautiful. Looks like a good swimming hole to return to in summer.

Moss

Perhaps like people rivers never stay quite the same, with each visit there's a new interface, all depending on the season, if it's rained recently or not, weather conditions and the health of the river.

This was very much the spot to find. It's not the same wandering around in the blazing sun so winter is a great time to do the investigating.

On our return we came across what looked like a great little set up until our friend Rachel roared with laughter when she saw this photo as she recognised school issue equipment.

It's still astonishing to see just where the water rose to in cyclone Gabrielle (February 2023).

Fortunately for us there's some trail bike tracks well established that we were able to follow through the trees. 

And another tracking heading further on to the right past a horse paddock.

You have to wonder how on earth these stars (narcissus) manged to get themselves planted here in the middle of nowhere.

Happily, fragrantly naturalised.

We weren't quite sure how far this path would take us & if it was passable at all. Sadly a bird caught in a hawthorn tree, no doubt due to the cyclone.

This was the first sign of a hawthorn anywhere along here. 

This area is known as Undercliff. 

There's a homestead named Undercliff just up there too.

Lovely horse.

Oh yes here's the gateway to Undercliff as we pass by on Waimarama road.

Then over Red bridge & along Tukituki road on our way home. Lovely avenue of London Plane trees.

Then up the hill to the lookout, a tidy tucked in pull over to the side of the road near the fence & looking down- there's the spot we've just been wandering around in. 

Just on the outskirts of Havelock North this will be a great spot to return to.

Winter Foraging By the Sea

 July 8th

It's a little strange what draws us to certain places through the seasons. Citrus takes us to the coast through winter & early spring & we love visiting all the little beach communities during this time. Today we walked from the Succulent Beach to the mouth of the Esk river & found some interesting creatures there. The Succulent Beach is found at the end of Le Quesne road (pronounced Lucane), we've been coming here a while now. It's quite fascinating what can be found growing at the beach. Often the community will dump garden waste in various spots & sometimes out of those deposits a certain plant or bulb might unexpectedly make itself at home. You wouldn't overly expect a Jade plant (money tree) to thrive at the beach, but they do & they flower all winter long giving off a sweet fragrance & attracting bees & bumble bees with ease.

Wood sorrell (oxalis) has happily occupied this bank. The lemony flowers are handy in salads.

Puha finds a home almost anywhere but it has an extra salty tang when foraged by the sea. A good cooked winter green.

Nice to add in with other wild leaves like nasturtium. Few pests & no frosts by the sea so available all year round.

The leaves are quite spicy raw & not to everyone's taste but they are fabulous cooked & can be used anywhere you'd normally add spinach.

Right at the end of the road there's a track that takes you out to the mouth of the Esk river, if you follow it. Along the way we came across these wattles- fascinating flowers.

And amazing seed pods. When we got home I discovered that they are: Brush wattle (Paraserianthes lophantha).

Which is apparently regarded as being very weedy, however, in this situation they are not supplanting anything more worthwhile.

It's a funny thing finding the 'end' of a river.

Sometimes funny 'things' can be found there too.

Fascinating creatures, in fact.

Across the river is a council concrete dumping ground which seems a tad perverse. And up the road is Pan Pac "New Zealand specialists in providing sustainable, tailored forest products. Pan Pac Products include forests, lumber, pulp, and fibre supply." Easily spotted by the steam plumes. They were hit hard during cyclone Gabrielle in February 2023.

Locals tootle about on their quad bikes- not a bad idea, have you ever tried walking through deep shingle for miles?

We did drudge along the beach back to our car & along the way we found other fascinating objects- poor tree.

A precocious daffodil way up the bank, an accidental discard from someone's garden waste, once again.

The lost & found pile.

On our way home we stopped in at Pandora estuary. We always love to see what's happening in this strange, neglected space where once there were fishermens' cottages. We've noted an encroachment of blackberry that's not welcome so we decided to take some stiff gloves, secatuers & a bucket with us to at least attempt to remove some of it. 

We cleared this whole area, for now. Plenty more to work on another time.

And since it's winter we took it all home, cut it in to little pieces & put them on the fire.

It's also time for making broth, nettle infusions & chocolate avocado mousse with the excess avocados we have just now. The mousse freezes well as a gelato too.

You can find the recipe just here in our kitchen blog.