Driving Creek Railway and Potteries

Right at the top of our “must see” list during our short stay in Coromandel was a visit to Driving Creek Railway.  Two reasons for this – one was to catch up with our friend Frederick who is now working there, and secondly, to have another ride on the famous little train.  Last time we were here, about 25 years ago we reckon, the train tracks only went part way up the hill, and now go to the top.  It was great to meet up again with Frederick, after all, it’s been quite some time, and catch up with his news.  He is a potter himself, and gave us a quick guided tour of the pottery and kilns. 

Frederick at DCR

If we had stopped to think what the name “Driving Creek” actually meant, I’m sure we wouldn’t have worked it out.  It refers to the early days of kauri logging, much prized by the British Navy as masts and spars.  The loggers built dams across the creeks which slowly filled up, and the felled logs were placed in the dams or in the dry creek bed below.  When the dam was full, a rope was pulled, releasing a large wooden gate, and the water drove the logs down to the harbour.  So ingenious, but this practice also carried much silt and debris down too, causing them to start to silt up.

Potter Barry Brickell purchased 24 hectares of hilly scrub covered land in the 1970s, which just happened to have plenty of clay needed for his pottery.  The idea of the railway came about to transport the clay down the hill, plus pine to fuel the kilns, but has come into it’s own as a tourist attraction.  The narrow gauge railway winds up through the hills, with steep grades, curves, tunnels and viaducts.  As New Zealand’s only narrow gauge railway the track also has zig-zag sections for gaining altitude within a limited space.  All the trains have been purpose built in the workshop to Barry’s designs.

The following morning it was “all aboard” and off we went on our adventure.  The scrub covered hills have been replanted over the years with native trees, tree ferns, kauri, totara and rimu much in evidence.  The story goes that Barry swapped large quantities of  his famous home brew for thousands of young trees, with are thriving on the hills.

All aboard

The famous “bottle banks” made from wine and beer bottles held up the dirt walls, but were so hard to get a good photo as we chugged past.  But take our word for it, there were thousands and thousands of empty bottles used in this project.  Quirky pieces of pottery were placed beside the track, some small, and some quite large.

We chugged over the viaducts, through several tunnels, reversed into the switchbacks, stopped while the driver jumped down to change the points, and climbed ever higher.  One last tunnel, and what a beauty it was.

The final tunnel

Our destination, Eyeful Tower perched on top of the hill.

The view from the top was amazing.  The bush clad hills were covered in flowering manuka, ferns and native trees, hard to imagine this was once scrubby farmland, with the coastline in the distance..

 

View from the top

This wonderful area is protected in perpetuity by a QE11 Trust Covenant.  Barry Brickell died in 2016 at age 80, and is buried on his property.  He truly was a man of vision, combining his love of art, conservation and engineering.

Opotiki to Edgecumbe

It was a rainy night in Opotiki and still quite damp when we were packing up the next morning.  Various texts and phone calls took place and we arranged to meet up with Andrew and Debbie who were freedom camping down at the Opotiki estuary.  Robin and Andrew are both enthusiastic members of the NZMotorhome Forum and keep in touch about anything to do with caravanning, and motorhome related topics.  With two Leisureline vans and a Southern Star all parked up together, the various attributes and features of our three vans were well  examined and commented on.  We were grateful to sip our coffees under their pullout awning as the weather changed from rain to drizzle and a little bit in-between.

Debbie and Andrew

Andrew has made several additions to his van and it was heads down and looking as he showed Robin just what was hiding under the seating area.  He is full of good ideas to make caravanning easier.

What’s down here, then?

And how is this for a view right outside the caravan door?  So nice and peaceful and well away from suburbia.  By the look of that black cloud, another shower is on the way.   

We were intrigued just what this caravan was doing up so high on the hill overlooking the estuary.  They would have a great view, but what about the wind?  And how did it get there, we wondered?

High living indeed

After lunch we waited till the heavy downpour abated, then travelled along Wainui Road to visit the Cheddar Valley Pottery.  Margaret and Stuart Slade were hard at work, and were quite happy for us to take a few photos of their work. 

 

They make a lovely range of pottery, including beautiful plates and tiles featuring New Zealand birds.  They also do commissions and you can have the likeness of your caravan, motor-home or boat painted onto a plate or plaque.  Wedding plates are also a speciality of theirs, as an idea of what to buy couple who has everything.  We bought Muffy a cute little food dish – she can use this one at home.

Lots of lovely pottery

A new bowl for Muffy

A little further along the road we stopped at the Ohiwa Oyster Farm.  Oysters were in short supply, so we purchased some fresh fish fillets for our evening meal.  The last time we were here we enjoyed a fish and chip lunch sitting outside at the picnic tables as we watched the world go by.  It was much too wet and misty to sit and enjoy the view today.

  Ohiwa Oyster Farm

Misty view looking  out from Ohiwa Oyster Farm

Driving past Ohope with all the serious beach front real estate, we skirted around Whakatane to catch up with our travelling companions, playing telephone tag as we tried to find somewhere to stop overnight.  (We really need to come back this way again and take our time visiting all these interesting places).  Our original choice of POP was too small to accommodate our three large vans, and we finally ended up parked behind the Rangitaiki Cossie Club at Edgecumbe.  The fresh fish we bought for dinner will now have to wait till tomorrow, as we will all be dining in the club restaurant tonight.

Rangitaiki Cossie Club, Edgecumbe

Edgecumbe suffered a large earthquake back in 1987 with the epicentre almost underneath the small town.  This twisted iron girder from the Fonterra factory shows the huge forces of nature which came into play on that fateful day.  The ground level at this site dropped 2ms and a fault line formed 1km away crossing the Edgecumbe Whakatane Highway.  6000 domestic and industrial claims were lodged, with the largest claim being $144 million from the dairy processing plant on this site.

Damaged in the Edgecumbe earthquake of 1987

.