THE CLARENCE RESERVE
This year we decided to explore the Clarence Reserve country with plenty of local help from all-round good bugger Shaun Ford, or Fordy as he’s known to most. Sam and I were in the trusty ol’ Patrol and Mum and Dad were in their Ranger.
The Clarence is very open, clad mostly in sweet briar, a bit of matagouri and a few stands of dry alpine manuka, with bright green poplar and willow in the creeks. Mildly reminiscent of the Otago tussock lands but with short summer-beaten grass instead, it’s the division between the scrubby coastal Kaikoura country and the vast, dry Molesworth territory. The harsh country felt almost desert-like by New Zealand standards, but absolutely beautiful because of it. It’s got some really varied geology along with active faults, highlighted by the 2016 earthquake.
Historically it was a bit of a hidden Mecca for pig hunters, but a few 1080 drops knocked the pig numbers around and sheer pressure combined with the advent of thermal imaging has reduced it to pretty normal public land hunting. Summer was always going to be iffy for the dogs so February was as early as we could push it, but at the same time last year I had six inches of snow in Oteake so I wasn’t expecting nigh on 40°C!
Crossing the Seaward Kaikoura ranges over Blind Saddle was awesome; we could see kilometres of big, dry high country unfolding out toward Molesworth, with the distant ribbon of the Clarence down below. Follow that river several more kilometres and you’ll find yourself at Muzzle, New Zealand’s most remote station. Vehicle access was
