Cape Palliser

CB looks back toward Wellington

Every now and then you strike a "Best NZ Ride", and this is one of them, giving the CB an outing to catch up with the Ulysses weekend excursion to Lake Ferry, South Wairarapa.
Had to work Sat morning, and duly arrived at the Lake Ferry Motor Camp just in time for the BBQ being knocked up by the committee, good chow...
The cabin as expected was pretty spartan, I guess fair value at 4 bunks for $60, but the 50 metre bare tootie dash in the night to the external ablution block was a bit of a trial.
There are also motel type units available at $80 per night, and the hotel's just a couple hundred metres away if you want a bit more style.

Sunday morning saw the mist clear off the lake, and if it wasnt for a couple of us defying the mob and taking the no-exit to the Cape we could have missed the jewel in the crown completely. Its a 30km odd trip to Palliser on a sealed road, plenty of bends, some with bumps that need watching for, but the view's fantastic. Might be different in bad weather though, so exposed to the south it is.
Palliser is the fishing community where scores of bulldozers and tractors for boat launching line the road and beach-side. There's a small golf course too.
From the village to the lighthouse is 4km odd of unsealed road, but the surface is smooth and free of loose metal in the wheel ruts. Vehicle traffic could be heavy, so a bit of care is needed.
There's a heap of seals out there, takes a bit of looking to pick them out even from close quarters, so good are they camoflaged on the rocks.

Spot the seals

The lighthouse was commissioned in 1897, the Cape and adjacent coastline having been the scene of several shipwrecks, one 6 months prior resulting in 12 of the crew of 21 drowned. The lens in the light is still the original, flashing twice every 20 seconds, and visible up to 48km away. The tower is one of two on the NZ coastline painted candy stripe to distinguish it from the backdrop hills, and there are 258 steps which can be climbed up to it.
If you like walking you can take a DOC track to Putangirua Badlands. We didnt do it, but the pics show something resembling the real deal like in USA. The area is remote enough you'd feel confident your vehicle wouldnt be interfered with while you were away.

Sam and I happily left the others going for it on the way home, opting to take in the Taxidermy Museum at Kahutara, well sign-posted off the Martinborough/Featherston road. Plenty of interesting stuff here, at a very modest fee, $5 donation.
Well worth the journey down this part of the island. Be sure your tank is full, its a fair step out to the Cape and back. You even get to take your bike through a ford!

Sam and the CX500 through the ford