Joyce and I first visited Ohau Falls late in March 2008, after reading about them in Anna & Andrew Jameson’s book “Accessible Walks”.
After passing under the railway viaduct, we heard some splashes and saw seal pups moving towards the sea. A little way further along the track we met a NZ couple taking movies of more pups. They told us that they had seen perhaps 30 or more seals in pool beneath the falls, but this had been later in the season.
We tried to make a return visit on 12th March 2010 but the weather defeated us. We had only walked about 50 metres when a deluge of rain started. We tried to shelter under the railway viaduct, but it did not give much cover, and we were forced to retreat.
The rain turned into hail, and as we drove north on SH1. It was white across its full width for to about Clarence River. High winds accompanied us further north. We encountered small trees and rolling traffic cones before we reached Blenheim. We heard later that vehicles had been blown off the highway, and that buildings had been damaged in Wellington.
