Flora Saddle(Part3)

Our fun on a bike got us back to the Last Resort for a beer and a tidy up before dinner so after a couple of games of 8 Ball we wandered off in the evening air to the 'bottom pub' to enjoy our evenings meal. Typical older NZ pub so we knew we would be focused upon  as from 'somewhere else' so and easy steak meal and a bottle of red wine had us seated to enjoy West Coast pub hospitality in a relatively quiet bar diner beside the TV.

Just settling into our meal we get a tap on the shoulder and lo and behold our new mate Gordon, from a couple of days back in Wagner Strip, joins us for a natter! Heck where else would this happen? Gordon had driven across from Nelson with his wife to attend a family celebration right here in Karamea of all places and spied us entering the pub! Well, great conversation followed and a drop off at the airport next day was offered to us before we bid farewell that evening. These experiences are what makes these tiki touring missions so enjoyable as we wander around the coutryside.

Next morning sure enough Gordon arrived to pack our gear aboard his 4x4 to head to the airport. Not before Murray and I had shot a few games of 8 ball beside the breakfast room in The Last Resort after we had settled our expense at the front desk.

The airport in Karamea is just that little bit too far when carrying our overnight gear so this was a welcome drop off from accomodation to aircraft in one easy step. Packing our gear aboard our respective aircraft and completing our preflight checks as we chatted was an enjoyable begining to this new day so the time came to bid Gordon farewell for his return to Nelson while Murray and I took in the Open Day at the Karamea Aerodrome that was taking place in a nearby hangar with BBQ fired up and people beginning to arrive. A quick chat with a few of the locals then away we went to Hokitika in great flying weather coastal to Westport via some of the isolated west coast spots like Little Wanganui, Granity and then southwards to Punakaiki and Greymouth to finally arrive at destination Hokitika. Fine and smooth flying all the way gave us spectaluar views of the coastal mountains and surf lines on the beaches showing big swells impacting on the rugged west coast foreshore.....

Turning finals for runway 03 gave us a glimpse of the Wildfood gathering beneath us so we knew that day was going to be a goodie. Murray was again there to meet up with us to deliver us to the show while he headed off in a separate direction. Funnily enough just as we landed at Hokitika there was also another MBAC member in the circuit with Chris arriving in his 4 seater also doing the flying mission with a mate from Auckland. There to meet him was his wife Judy & friend who had been doing a cycling tour along the coast prior to Chris's arrival. A good natter with all concerned over a terminal coffee before we all split off in our various directions.

Hokitika friends advise me that Wildfoods has always been a fine weekend since inception 30 years ago. We were not disappointed! It was great to see that variety of different foods available for sale under this banner once inside the Festival. Murray had been hanging out for his whitebait fritters since we had begun this journey this year so the time was ripe for him to get into the first queue he could tail onto once in the gate!

This quenched our initial thirst for for food from the wilds of the west coast and allowed us to wander around the other stalls to ponder our next choices. Always good fun as the event gets lots of people out to celebrate the day with their various bright costumes giving a real excitement to the day while the various artists on the stage pump out their music to entertain the crowds. Hoki Murray reappeared during the wander around and introduced other friends to us as they were enjoying the celebration too. Wandering off after a quick first round, took us through the township of Hokitika to learn more of what keeps this township thriving for the rest of the year and along the way we discovered some other interesting things to be enjoyed.

An interesting way to explore these places is always on foot to absorb the delights at a relaxed pace and this gave us time to make our way out to the beach where the Volunteer Fire Service runs a beach camp each year for the festival.
This is always a bit alternative and good fun, leading onto the Ocean beach with the huge swells crashing on the stoney foreshore to add to the interest when camping out here.

We decided the pub that we had observed earlier may be a good place to refresh as we made our way back to the festival and so it turned out to be, meeting up again with Hoki Murray as we sat in the beer garden enjoying the afternoon sun.

The festival though was calling us back to enJoy more of the food and a little more of the music until it was time to set up camp at our overnight accomodation on the hill above. Hoki Murray had offered us the use of his hangar floor for the night so we climbed the hill to the Aerodrome to lay out our overnight bedrolls for later in the night when we were to return in the dark. The day was still holding up well, weather wise, so we decided a cool beer might just be a great way to end a day and that thought set the direction of our travels once again.

The township was 'busy as' and all restaurants, bars, pizza shops were overflowing but we managed to sneak into a Speights Stumpers Bar in the heart of the eatin' district to lean on the bar and have our order taken. A fine meal gave us time for a couple more coldies as the disco within the bar set the theme for the entertainment for the evening until the fireworks exploding outside had us all heading for the door to observe the action in the evening sky. Well what a fantastic finally to our week's exploration of the Flora Saddle Flight Adventure! This had us heading back uphill in fine spirits looking back over the township of Hokitika to enjoy the lights of the evening sky before sleeping bags called us into the hangar for the night.

Next day was once again a beauty for us to set off but not before Chris and Judy had arrived to pack their aircraft, us the Pelican and Cessna 152 and Hoki Murray had arrived with his sniffer dog to do the final security check on us at the gate! This was followed by a departure coffee and scone to launch us northbound back to Masterton, for Murray, and Greymouth for me, Judy to Auckland and Chris and his mate off on a flight adventure of their own.

"Farewell till next year Murray" as I descended into Greymouth while Murray flew onwards to Omaka for a quick stop along the homeward journey to Masterton while I  parked the Pelican in Evan's hangar for about 10 days while I headed off to the Intercity Bus, departing at 1300 for Murchison, where I would be deposited for the night to begin the Ghost Trail the next day with my tramping friends arriving from Nelson followed by the West Coast Wilderness Cycle Trail. Whew this is great fun...

Now where to next year?