Murchison is a small town with a big memory. On 17 June 1929, a powerful earthquake, around magnitude 7.8, struck the area, killing seventeen people and triggering enormous landslides that blocked valleys and rivers and cut roads and telegraph lines for weeks. The land was reshaped, and some of the new lakes and scars from that day are still visible. The Murchison Museum tells the story with photographs, and it is quite moving.
A few hundred people live here now, in a farming and tourism community on the Buller River, in the northern part of the South Island, with forested hills all around. In the nineteenth century gold brought prospectors to the valley, and the town was a service centre for the diggings. Today the river is the draw, with white-water rafting, kayaking and fly fishing, and the beech forests of Nelson Lakes National Park lie a short distance away. The air has a clean, green smell, particularly after rain.
The ride from the south follows the Lewis Pass Highway, State Highway 7, which crosses the divide at about 864 metres through beech forest and valleys of bright green moss. It was the main route to the West Coast from the Canterbury side, and it passes the thermal pools of Maruia Springs. Hanmer Springs, where the ride starts, has its own hot pools in a pretty alpine village, and is an excellent place to soak after a cold day. The road is smooth and winding, with long bends and few tight corners, and in good weather it is a pleasure.
Watch for rain and cloud on the pass, with cold snaps even in summer, and ice and snow in winter. The traffic is light, mostly trucks and campervans. Sandflies are a nuisance at every stop, and the beech forest is damp.
Fuel is a point to think about. The nearest larger towns are Nelson to the north-east and Westport to the west, each a good distance away. The local cafes offer a warm meal and a hot drink, and the pub is a friendly place to end the day.
Arrive with time to spare, walk down to the river, and enjoy the quiet. The valley feels like the end of the line, and in a way it is.