castle point

Castle Point – a word of warning.




Castle Point was named in 1770 by Captain Cook who was struck by the similarities of Castle Rock to the battlements of a castle. With its fossil rich limestone reef and magnificent 162 metre high Castle rock, Castle Point is one of the most spectacular sites along the Wairarapa coastline (1).

Castle Point via the Masterton-Castle Point road is just over an hours drive away from Masterton. To get there you have to travel on a tar-sealed road through a lot of rugged terrain. Beware speedster! To travel fast down these roads is an illusion you can’t afford to have. Road signs marking washout are a frequent occurrence, along with blind corners that just seem to go on forever. A lone pub, stands with a sprinkle of white timber houses at Tinui, which on a Tuesday night offers the only food around after six pm. And for the hungry this is an extra twenty minutes the traveller has to go from Castle Point. The Whakataki pub, which is a closer five minutes drive to the point, offers a place of relief, that’s if it’s open! As you drive down the final hill to Castle Point you notice fat pine trees, and the blue sea in the close distance. A red and white speed sign on the flat indicates that you should keep your speed to a minute twenty five kilometres an hour, and just in case you didn’t see that the first of four speed bumps help to slow you down.

After travelling past the camping ground which is hidden behind a huge green hedge, and a few houses. You see the dusky yellow beach on your left, on the right a few more houses lie before opening up to a big parking area in front of two petrol browsers and a small white shop that has the all important words painted in red on a sign in front of it, BAIT for sale. And although that is not the most important reason for being here, it is still nice to know that the paradise you have sought, can still offer some luxuries in case you run out.

An Anglican church marks the final resting place for your car. It seems fitting that a church be marking such a notorious spot as you will soon find out. A hard sandy driveway marks the entrance to the beach. And four giant fishing boats rest in their cradles, with four rusted blue tractors waiting quietly to take them out to the sea in front of them, or to the lagoon behind them. A large empty space of sand lies to their east; it’s as if this is a specifically designed turning bay for the tractors and their cargo,

And an old foot ramp with a hand railing is raised a meter of the sand, linking the mainland to a huge fossilised reef, which abruptly rises from the sandy floor. Beside the ramp about halfway across a tall wooden pole stands on its own, it tells of its own dangers with a power cable being buried below.

The reef tells a story that has lasted throughout time, with its sentiments and shells that are encased in history. To the north of the reef a lighthouse stands alone, on it a sign commemorates its birth in 1913 as a manned lighthouse through to being diesel powered in 1953 and eventually being connected to the main power grid later on. Tourists flock to this destination, and on this occasion there are two Australians standing on a small rise over looking the lighthouse and the day, they have come over here on their fly buys points. And this is their reward for them having travelled the world in eighty days. A young German couple are also exploring the outer reaches of New Zealand; they can’t help talking about what an asset this must be to have in your back yard. At the base of the reef, an elderly couple from Wanganui holds hands and walk back to their car, it is their first time over here, and it is just a day trip for them, and a very long one at that considering its three and a half hours back to Wanganui.

The locals here are very friendly and when your friends stop to ask them for advice where to camp they tell them to forget about the signs as its nor very busy here this time of year and camp wherever you please.

The reef stretches south of the lighthouse and offers many crannies to explore, with shallow pools containing the odd dead sea eel. It has many well trodden tracks, but it drops suddenly and so you and your mates are forced to retrace walking a tack that a goat would find difficult to negotiate. But it tapers off, near the blue lagoon, and it becomes like a huge wave that is frozen in time. The rough brown terrains are relatively easy to walk, but at its base, another sign warns of the hidden dangers, “Beware the reef is dangerous, many drowning's have occurred here. At the top of this lower reef there is a huge platform, with the mighty Pacific right below it, and above to the right is the perfect place for a fisherman to come and drink his beers. A shelter, much like an open sea shell provides rest and revamp from any prevailing westerly winds. The reef then drops right down to sea level and a crossing where waves crash over into the lagoon calls to be crossed, with the reward being a view to the harbour entrance of the lagoon, and the rock formation that is Castle rock. The crossing is thick with slippery seaweed and as your mates cross they learn the vital lesson of reading signs. Because if your timing is not exactly right, the waves will catch you out and although the first wave may only wet your legs, the second is not going to be as remorseful. Being bigger and badder than the one before the wave takes a deep breath, drawing right in, allowing its hidden treasures below to be seen, then it releases its breath and captures your mate, washing her far into the deep lagoon.

Castle Point, however, is not as dangerous to others as it is to some. It offers a place of sanctuary and rest. As a seal resting on the reef by the lagoon, fresh from a long trip found out, and only disappearing when three pesky humans approached it with cameras bright and early in the morning. Fish are aplenty, with Kawhai and Red Cod running close to the reef, chomping on the bait right on the turning of the tides that the fishermen throw into the surf. And its sand maybe soft in places, that best offer access for a four wheel drive vehicle instead of a front wheel drive car, and apart from the wind that can blow tents around or give the unsuspecting with a face full of grit, Castle Point is relatively safe. As long as it is treated with respect! .

The drive there and back is as much an adventure as the place itself; however a word of warning, on the trip back, at the Tinui pub turn left instead of right. Unless time and a dirty car is a luxury. For although the Manawa/ Castlehill roads that go through to Eketahuna offer a rare chance to see New Zealand as it was back in the day they are a more windier gravel road, that adds an extra hour onto the trip.