Category: South Island Sept 2020

We started making our way towards Westport in the morning and took a detour via Reefton in search of the Lavender flag of NZ. We found the flag but couldn’t see much as the plants were not flowering. We bought coffee and pies for lunch at a little café. Reefton really is a classy little town! Next stop was Buller Gorge swing bridge. We walked the bridge one way and then did the zip line back the other way – it was a really cool experience. We stopped at a lookout on the way to Westport where we met a couple with a disabled adult son. They recommended we go to Karamea so we took the 1.5 hour trip from Westport. We came across a little place called Gravity that had a holiday park for sale – Eddie wants to buy it! We couldn’t find a place to sleep in Karamea as it’s all filled up with white baiters! The locals are super friendly and the lady at Karamea Campervan Park suggested we go to Little Wanganui which was just 15 minutes away. We founda  beautiful spot on the beach where we parked up for the night … our first attempt at a parking spot got us stuck in sand. But thankfully Eddie’s time in Angola taught him how to dig a big vehicle out of a situation like this!  Had such a lovely evening walking on the beach and watching the sun set.

Had a sleep in and then went to Carol-Anne where we had a lovely visit catching up and reminiscing. After our visit we went to Rabbit Island which is a beautiful picnic spot/day out for families. We then drove to Lake Rotoiti. It started snowing on the way there and was freezing cold but a fairy tale scenery at the lake. We had a brief window of no snow and managed to take some photos. Eddie was too cold to get out of the car! St Arnaud is a picturesque little town. We definitely want to come back and spend a few nights in the apls. Didn’t want to risk staying overnight and being snowed in so we made our way to Lake Rotoroa … a beautiful place! There are only a few houses and because of all the rain the jetty was completely under water. We sloshed our way through the grassy spots that weren’t too wet to take photos and then hit the road to Murchison where we spent the night at the Kiwi Holiday Park.

The weather has eased up a bit so we’ve packed up and took a drive to Langsford Historical Store where we had the yummiest scones and tea. We also bought a vintage fondue set and a craft magazine from 1963. While we were sitting having our tea it came bucketing down and even hailed! We stopped at Salisbury swing bridge but again it was closed due to the bad weather so we took pictures on the car bridge. From here we thought we would go check out Split Apple Rock but visibility was zero because of the rain so we couldn’t do the track. We drove through Kaiteriteri and saw a car parked on the roof of a house!  The little town has the most beautiful beach. We had another go at doing an Abel Tasman tour but nothing was running due to the weather bomb so we made our way back to Nelson where we went to the Christ Church Cathedral and then checked into the  holiday park at Tahunanui beach.

The weather bomb hit us overnight with winds of 130km/h. We have a beautiful spot on the beach but it felt like the wind was going to blow our camper into the sea and it looked more like a dirty muddy dam. Can’t believe it’s the same beautiful beach we stopped at just yesterday! We bunkered down for the day and had dinner at the local tavern where some of the locals chatted us up and was telling us about a couple from SA that lived in Collingwood – guess we still have our Saffa accent

First stop for the day was the Chocolate factory (chocolate for breakfast is ok when you’re on holiday!) and then the Peanut Butter Factory. We had lunch at Moutere Inn, the oldest pub in NZ. On our way there we were stopped as there was a motorbike rider that came off his bike. There was a whole group of riders and the guy lying on the side of the road waiting for the ambulance didn’t look too good. After lunch and a beer we went to Waikoropupu Springs – beautiful clean water. Pity the sun wasn’t out but we managed to get some good photos. Then made our way to Abel Tasman Park. All boat trips were cancelled due to bad weather so we made our way to Collingwood for the night.

Today we drove to Nelson via Havelock. We stopped in Havelock and had lunch at the Green Mussel Pot where we had a mussel pot and a seafood chowder – the food was delicious! The boat cruise was not running so we decided to drive on. We stopped at Queen Charlotte Sounds lookout where what was meant to be a 500m walk turned into a 3.5km hike! Buy it was well worth it as the view from the top of the track is beautiful. We stopped at Perlorus bridge where we were hoping to do the swing bridge but couldn’t as it was closed for repairs. We then went to Founders Heritage Park in Nelson and then made our way to Tahunanui beach where we spent the night.

Today we traveled from Picton to Blenheim. We stopped for photos at Spring Creek then drove over a mountain pass. First stop was White Bay. There were beautiful flowers on the beach and 2 girls riding their horses. We made our way to Robin Hood Bay where we spent the night. It was very windy late afternoon but then cleared up. We got some fresh mussels off the rocks which Eddie had for dinner. The sunset and sunrise was spectacular. We were the only overnight campers and there was no cell phone reception. We had lovely walks on the beach and saw some strange orange sea creatures in the rock pools. We woke up to an icy cold wind blowing.

Today we traveled from Whanganui to Wellington. We were booked on the 1:30pm Bluebridge ferry from Wellington to Picton but it was delayed by 2 hours due to bad weather – wind gusts of 120km/h! The first half of the ferrly trip had swells of 3.5m. We got to Picton at 7:40pm and slept at the Top 10 Holiday park.