Hanmer to Hurunui

Wednesday 28th November

Tuesday we left the Top 10 Campsite, feeling very clean, and did the Conical Hill walk through Pine Forests for a good view of Hanmer and the surrounding mountains. We met up again with a couple , he from Austria and she from Korea, who Len had talked to at Marble Hill. They are here, travelling round for 2 years, and hope to get residency.

View from Conical Hill top

After lunch we went to the Hot Springs for which we had been given a 2 for 1 voucher by some other campers so it only cost us $18 for as long as you want in the various pools. So we had a very relaxing couple of hours moving from pool to pool - some placid pools, some therapeutic with good strong jets and of course the smelly sulphur pools - all great. The temperatures over all the pools range from 35 - 42 but we also had a swim in the tepid laned pool. It was a little cloudy overhead so we found it cold when walking between the pools - we just had to make sure that we kept drinking lots of water while we stayed in them!
Afterwards we enjoyed a hydrating glass of Montieths at the Monteiths Bar & Cafe before driving back to the NZMCA camp just south of Hanmer - our 3rd night there. We had a great sleep after the pools as we were so relaxed! And I hadn't even felt the need for that massage I had been promising myself! Will just save it up for another time!
Today we drove through the lovely valley by the turquoise Waiau river to the Amuri Golf Course which is just north of Rotherham and played 18 holes on their 9 hole course - they do have different tees for the second nine however. Again, the course is in a basin surrounded by the distant mountains - the scenery is so awesome down here. The Amuri Club only has about 60 members and you wonder how the courses survive - the fairways were a little like a cut hay paddock but the greens were springy and manageable.
The land is very dry all around this area, virtually ever since we left Nelson. There is vast sprinkler irrigation everywhere and the paddocks that aren't irrigated are really just dry stalks, like the golf course fairways. And its not even summer yet although we have had some lovely hot days recently.

Relaxing after a long drive (22km)!

Since the golf, where again we saw not a soul, we have moved on to the Balmoral Recreation Reserve, just out of Hurunui - it is a huge treed area fairly close to the river with space for 100s of campers.
There are probably only about 6 vehicles here (miles away from us) at the moment but apparently they do get busy over the holidays. Just $5 for a family to stay and there are toilets and fresh water.
We had a walk down to the river and linked up with a young guy, with dreads and barefeet, and one of his dogs. (He has two). He has "been on the road" for 15 years so maybe he's in his late 30s - he "lives off the land", no benefit, and has always just walked the South Island with his dogs which he loves. Two years ago he was given a malnourished "5 year old gelding" which turned out to be a 3 year old stallion and it is now in good condition, as we found when we met up with it at the river where he has been staying the last few days. He showed us the good swimming hole a bit further up the river but we're not quite sure yet if we'll do that! The water felt a little nippy! Anyway "Indiana Jones" now travels with his horse and 2 dogs. Last week he gave horse rides at the local A&P show and was rapt because he made $50 and was able to get a lot of apples for himself and the horse. I just so wish that I had had my camera with me - these different moments are quite special and we would so much like to know more about his background and what happened in his life that he ended up on the road. Perhaps we will meet up with him again tomorrow and I can get that precious photo!

Len has made a delicious chilli mince and nacho dish so it's now time to eat!

Hamner Springs

Monday 26th November

I think Sunday was our first real day of just "blobbing out" in the last 2 months - we enjoyed just staying on site at the NZMCA camp just out of Hanmer Springs, catching up with the reading and the puzzles in the Listener and some magazines we had been given. Len did his bit for the roadie community by helping Gaylene and Brian from Paeroa, who live in their caravan, set up Skype so they can talk to family.
Today we drove into Hanmer Springs which is really just down the road and played golf at their nice flat course which has a spectacular backdrop of mountains all around, some still with some snow on their tips. I played one of my best 2nd nine scoring 48 so was very happy wth that!

Waiting fo T to take her shot and she took this one instead!

Trish's tee shot at the 17th landed in their pond!

After golf we came to the Top 10 Holiday Park as we felt like a good shower and we needed to "dump" and fill up with water + do some washing which is already dry.
We have just had a lovely dinner out at Whatever Restaurant, thanks to my special friends at home (you know who you are!) who gave me a very generous restaurant card for my birthday. (And we still have some credit left for the next dinner treat!) Len enjoyed his twice cooked pork belly and I had a nice fillet steak with mushrooms, all washed down with a superb Aussie Shiraz - thanks all!

En-route to Hanmer Springs

Saturday 24th November

Start of St James Walkway at Lewis Pass

We woke to another beautiful sunny day at our Marble Hill campsite and continued east on the Lewis Pass stopping at the car park for the western end of the St James Walkway which we heard was the longest tramp in NZ at 66km and 5 huts. We had decided to do the 1st day of this, up the Cannibal Gorge, along the Maruia River, to the first hut and back, which would take up to 7 hours - probably less for us with Len just having a day pack and, spoilt me, none at all.
We loved the beginning of the walk near the carpark - so much lichen hanging from all the beech trees and so still - it just looked like a magical fairyland and we felt quite awestruck. Such a pity that our little camera can't truly depict the same sight and feeling.

The walk is described as being a relatively easy one for trampers but it was quite steep and zigzaggy going down into and out of the gorge and in one place, before we got to the swing bridge, the track had virtually disappeared from a past avalanche which, with no snow, looks like a stony landslide. If you're bothered by heights, like me, you have to concentrate on being really careful not to slide down the stony cliff. DOC had thankfully fastened a rope to hold on to for negotiating the missing path and I was very pleased not be carrying a big pack. It felt much worse than the photo!

What you don't see is the big drop into gorge on left.

Parts of the walk we enjoyed and parts were tricky and I think we were quite tired still from yesterday's walk so after about 1.5 hrs (about halfway) we stopped for lunch and made the decision to turn back so we wouldn't be to tired for negotiating the tricky bits on the way home! On our return we met 2 large group of trampers, the first group being students from Aussie and the next group from Christchurch. They were all doing the 5 day tramp and some of them were finding it quite hard too!

A cup of coffee and a little siesta and we were on our way again having decided that we were ready for some cycling country after all the walking. We have had a little glimpse of Hanmer and are now camped a few km south in the NZMCA Park which we will use as our base for exploring and enjoying Hanmer Springs - I think a massage is a must and as we are allowed to stay in this camp for 3 nights we may make the most of it and stay for the whole 3.

Lewis Pass Day 1

Friday 23rd November

We left Camp Murchison about 10.00am after dumping the waste and filling up with fresh water - an essential as we know that the water around the Lewis Pass area, where we will be for the next few days, is non- potable without boiling first and one doesn't want a contaminated tank! It was a nice drive through the valley to Springs Junction and then on to the Lewis Pass road. We are parked at the Marble Hill DOC Camp which has been recommended to us by a couple of people - there are a lot of parking areas off to each side of a long gravel driveway to the river, so you can be amongst the trees or in the open. We can only see a couple of others in the distance from where we are parked which is right beside a sign saying "Alpine Fault Line"! We trust we are not linked up with Mt Tongariro and all will be calm tonight.

Guess who!

At 1.00pm after lunch we decided to do the 5-6 hour return walk up to Lake Daniells which goes from here and it is one of the walks in our book. It was a great walk, mostly along the Alfred River and whenever it left the river there were lots of little streams and waterfalls so there was always the soothing sound of running or rushing water to be heard.
The track is well formed with lots of boardwalks over the muddy areas and it passes through beech forests with a medieval feel created by the huge carpets of moss covering the ground and the trees.

Must use a different hat!

Lake Daniells

Lake Daniells itself is very peaceful and has a jetty running out into it (for what we don't know). Although there is a DOC hut there the track doesn't carry on any further. The return trip took us only 4.5 hrs but we do run the odd downhill bit and I think we are getting fitter by the day. We didn't come across anyone else throughout the walk and even the mozzies stayed away from us - they defintely don't seem to like our special detol/babyoil mix! The track was our favourite so far of all the walks we have done from the book.

Murchison continued

Thursday 22nd November

Murchison Golf Club

After doing the blog, catching up with emails, buswork, washing and having lunch we went a couple of km down the road to the Murchison Golf Course - a nice little treelined 9 hole course in a basin, but of course we had to do 18.

Need to work on that swing!

The place was deserted and we didn't see another soul until the mower-man arrived just as we were leaving. It was nice being able to concentrate on the golf with no chatter but it took me 9 holes to settle in, the last 9 being 8 shots better than the 1st. Len was very consistent.

Nelson to Murchison (part 2)

With the plan of heading towards Hanmer and Christchurch via the Lewis Pass we headed out of Nelson to the Golden Downs Golf Club, in the Waiiti Valley, midway between Nelson and Murchison. There were another couple already there - Maggie and Alan - who have lived in their caravan for 4 years. After our nights sleep (you can stay for free if paying green fees which are only $10 each) they invited us to join them for golf on Wednesday morning. Although Maggie hasn't played for some time because of the arthritis in her hands and hips she always walks around the course with Alan. On reflection I should have just walked around too as it is very hard to pay full attention to the good conversation and play at the same time. Hence the "up" I was feeling after my last game has turned into a "down". It had the same effect on Len. Alan is a good player and years ago used to coach one of the golf pros at our Omanu Club when the pro was a Junior.
The course itself initially looked flat and easy but, for men, one of the holes is the longest in the Southern Hemisphere at 627 metres, awaiting to be officially recognised.
The downside had to be the midgies - we were attacked all day and luckily Maggie shared her repellent with us as we had yet to buy some.
After lunch and a cup of tea with Maggie and Alan we hit the road again, stopping for a 20 minute walk along the old rail track at Kawatiri, enroute to Murchison.

We've never been to Murchison before so didn't know what to expect - it is apparently known as the whitewater capital of NZ and we have already seen lots of raft-covered trailers heading down to the river behind us. It only has a population of about 500 and the town is tiny but it does have a couple of Pubs and a 4 square Supermarket where the young lad was very helpful (I hope!) when I was looking to buy some mozzie repellent. I asked him which was the best and he said none of them were very good but I could try making my own. On asking him how to do that he ran down the aisle and came back with some babyoil and detol and told me to mix half and half and it'll keep all the bugs away. I already had some detol so only had to buy the babyoil and Len has already mixed some up into a tiny shampoo bottle. Am keen to try it now so we can report back.
The NZMCA has it's own new camp ground in Murchison for self contained vehicles - a huge sealed area with safe water provided. There are a lot of areas we have been where the water isn't potable. They only charge $2 a head and although there are 5 or 6 other vehicles here we can hardly see them the area is so big.

Nelson to Murchison

Thursday 22nd November

Instead of playing at the main Nelson Golf Club on Monday we headed up the picturesque Matai Valley to the Waahi Taakara 9 hole course which was surrounded by hills and trees and had little rivers and (unseen from the tee) streams flowing through it. So there were quite a few natural hazards as well as the green corings to cope with - some of the greens had been cored, some hadn't and some were in the process of being done as we played so lots of variety. Only one big hill though! The course starts off being a little daunting as at the 1st tee you have to drive over the river but despite all these things I had one of my best scores of late so I was pretty pleased.
They don't allow overnighters at this course so we decided to head into Nelson to one of the free parking areas, down the end of Sovereign St, that our precious NZMCA book tells us about as we wanted to be handy to the bus repairer for 8.00am in the morning.

Well, driving down the street was almost an experience in itself - nearly everyone seemed to be either peering out their windows or coming out of their doors to watch us and from the unusual appearance of these people I instantly had a feeling that we were on a stage set for the Hobbit. I hopped out the bus and had a chat to one man who wanted to see that we had the latest book and who politely made it obvious that no-one would be happy if we stayed there. So we quietly moved on as all their attention was diverted by another visitor to the street!

Steptoe with all his belongings!

We tried the next free parking area in the book to find that there was a newly erected sign advising that motorhomes could no longer park overnight so all the Nelson Council rules must have changed in the last few months.
So there was nothing else to do but head on up the road to the official Nelson City Holiday Park, pay the money and make good use of their showers which were good.
We arrived in plenty of time for our 8.00am appointment to get the little bit of rust fixed under the bus and around the door but Craig, the motorhome man, didn't arrive til 9.30. However he is a nice guy and worked hard and we are happy with the results. His mother has a POP out of Ashburton so we may even stay there a night when in the area.

Golden Bay to Tasman Bay

Monday 19th November
We had a bit of a problem with the last blog - I think I was too loquacious and I was stopped mid-sentence! And it won't let us edit it/ put photos in so I will just carry on from where I left off and maybe we'll add some of the photos to this blog.
I forgot to say that on the way from Collingwood to Takaka we stopped at the Mussell Inn, a character-filled cafe, where we of course had to have some yummy mussell chowder.

Washed down with their home brewed beer!

Alongside the 1.5 km water race

I think Trish is doing the washing!

From the Pupu Hydro Walkway which took us a couple of hours we headed back to Pohara Beach, out of Takaka. This time we stayed the night in the Top 10 Camp ground ( the most expensive we have stayed at being $39.50 with our NZMCA discount + extra for a shower which was puny) as I had a couple of loads of washing to do and we wanted to get all our electronic devices charged up. It was going to be the last of the sunny days and it's nice to get the washing out on the line. It also seemed to be about the first time we had actually relaxed in the sunshine with a magazines, puzzles etc!

I also took the opportunity to make Jos's famous fruit cake as I had a lot of dried fruit in the 'pantry' that needed to be used. I put it in the camp oven in the morning and other campers were very envious because of the lovely baking aroma wafting out of the kitchen!

It was raining and foggy on Saturday so instead of driving back over the big hill we wnet round the corner from the camp ground to the Pahara Boat Club where we stayed on our way up and is a great parking spot. $2 for a GREAT shower and gold coins donation to park on their big grassed area. We were joined by about 7 other travellers.
The weather cleared yesterday so we drove over the Takaka hill all the way to Greenacres Golf Club which is on Best Island out of Nelson. It's connected to the mainland by a causeway and is a nice course to play on - which we did on arriving after 3.00pm. They were happy for us to park up for the night and this is where we still are. Tomorrow our bus is booked in to get a little rust removed from underneath and around the door so we'll probably have to go window shopping to fill some time in!

Not sure yet where we will park tonight - maybe at the Nelson Golf Club if we play another game today.

Pohara to Cape Farewell and Back

Saturday 17th November

Well, on Wednesday, we left the Pohara Boat Club where about 8 other motorhomes had also parked up to travel just down the road to the Takaka Golf Club. It's a 9 hole, flat course along the edge of the peaceful waters of Golden Bay. Gerald, from Dunedin, who is up here visiting his daughter, a local vet, joined us for the whole 18 holes. He doesn't play often so it was a slow round but it rather suited me and I enjoyed the morning. we now have an invitation to park up at his place when we reach Dunedin and perhaps have another game of golf.
After the game Len and I returned to the Boat Club for our $2 showers before heading further north, through Collingwood (huge icecreams!), to a tiny place called Pakawau where we stayed at a POP located on huge lawns in front of The Old School Cafe which is, as described, the little old school which has been turned into a cafe which happened to be closed at the time so we couldn't sample it's wares but it looked really nice.

The interesting thing is that the guy who owns it also owns the camping ground over the road where he could be making a profit from people such as us but instead he allows up to 5 motorhomes to stay for free on his lovely lawn as long as you are a member of the NZMCA. People are so generous and we really appreciate that there are so many fellow members who do this.

Thursday we had a huge day and were pretty exhausted by the end of it. That's why I ordered rain for today so we could bunker down, catch up on the blog, read, play some games etc!
We drove to Wharariki Beach along a fairly narrow, very dusty road (poor Debussy - it has never been so dirty - but the beach is quite different from any others we have seen particularly for the massive white sculptured sand dunes with striations already looking like it is partially turned into sandstone, some steep dunes just crying out for kids to slide down them on some cardboard, pools of water and probably fur seals at low tide. The surrounding kanuka trees were totally bent at the knees by the strong winds that blow through.

We did the Puponga Farm Park walk from our 100 great day walks book and I have to say it was no walk in the park! Especially for those of us who are not very good with heights and precipitous cliffs! However Len enjoyed it.
The walk which took us about 4 hours climbed up rugged farm and coastland from Wharariki Beach to Farewell Heads, the most northern part of the South Island, (and where we saw some fur seals playing) and then on to the Pillar Point lighthouse which looked rather insignificant as far as lighthouses go. But we did have good views out to the North Island and Farewell Spit with everchanging landscape. As we neared the lighthouse we were away from the cliffs it became both alpine and desert like with the lowgrowing plants and sandstone.
There were no signs of anyone else doing this walk but there were a couple of German girls at the Heads, one of them biking her way around NZ.
The end of the walk was the long dusty trek along the metal road back to the bus in the carpark where, by then, about 10 other motorhomes visiting the beach were parked.

It was then back into the bus, a quick drive out towards the spit itself where we decided not to do the tourist thing by joining a supervised tour. Instead we drove back towards Takaka, seeing people working on saving a stranded whale on the way, before walking in the Milnthorp Park. We drove out towards Pupu Springs looking for a DOC camp that was in our book but couldn't find it. As we had ended up at Pupu Springs by then we finished off this exhausting day by yet another walk through the springs - officially known as Te Waikoropupu Springs. They are the largest freshwater springs in NZ and the largest cold water springs in the Southern Hemisphere. It was an easy, nice 30 minute stroll to finish the day off.

As we couldn't find the DOC camp we drove further on up another dusty metal road to the little carpark at the start of the Pupu Hydro Walkway which we weren't even tempted to do until Friday! However we knew we were allowed to park there overnight and there was already a little van there with an ex schoolteacher from Te Puke - we always seem to be meeting up with people from close to home.

After a well earned sleep we did the Pupu Hydro Loop Track which retraced the old goldmining water race which has been re-used for power generation. It was an interesting walk for sure and we even saw a big koura

Golden Bay - Takaka

Tuesday 13th November

The morning began with us leaving the RSA car park and dumping our grey waste at the Motueka dump station ready for the trip over the big Takaka hill. Alas, as we started to drive out of Motueka, past the RSA our 4 neighbours from the last 2 nights drove out of the gate just in front of us, so we now made a convoy of 5 buses! Incidentally these buses were all travelling around together and were from Paeroa. We tried to allow some distance between us by stopping to let other traffic past but kept catching up to Smoky Joe, the rear-gunner, which was emitting huge clouds of black smoke the whole way up.

From the walking info we got from the Isite in Takaka we decided to do the Rawhiti (the name of my Grandmother's house out of Hunterville) Cave Track/Climb out towards Pohara Beach.

We are so pleased we did although we were having second thoughts on the drive there as we followed a rough track through a farm.

The walk itself was easy initially as it followed along the edge of a dry river but then it started climbing steeply for 30 minutes or so and was quite slippery. Lots of rest stops were needed!
However it was well worth the effort - such visual impact as soon as we arrived. Even though it is a shallow cave the stalactites and stalagmites were absolutely awesome, the cave bring recognised for it's nationally significant Phytokarst which is where plants and calcium work together to "grow" the stalactites and stalagmites. Because of the plant content in the stalactites those near the entrance have bent out towards the light.
Darcy Manson who originally owned the cave did guided tours there in the early 1900s but tours ceased after the 1929 Murchison Earthquake of 7.8 magnitude.

So if you are fit, and down this way, it's a must-do!

Next, we did a little 15 minute walk at the Grove Scenic Reserve near Clifton before driving on to Pohara Boat Club where we are staying for the night - gold coins donation and $2 each for a nice shower.

Kina Beach, Motueka

Monday 12th November

It was really good to catch up with my nephew, Mark and Tracey, and the younger children, Tiarne and Cody, on the way North from Nelson. It is just over a year since we were at their very special wedding in Rarotonga. Cody gave us a good demonstration of how well he can ride his little motorbike.

Tracey had been called in to help out at The Smokehouse down on the Mapua Wharf yesterday so we all popped down there for an early fish & chip dinner. It was voted the 2nd best fish & chip shop in the South Island and they were delicious. Beautiful cod with great batter. We were able to eat them at the Golden Bear Brewery while we enjoyed a glass of their fine beer.

The wharf area has a special vibe all of it's own with the brewery and about 6 cafes to choose from. They  often have a band playing and it's pretty busy, especially over the weekends, with day trippers out from Nelson. You can also catch the ferry from there over to Rabbit Island.
We were able to have a stone skimming contest in the calm water around the wharf - Tiarne and Cody have obviously had a lot more practice than me!

Len and I then drove onto Kina Beach Reserve where motorhomes can park for just $5 per person. It was our favourite spot to date. There were 4 or 5 old, hillbilly-like buses already there and big concrete block barbecues all ready to use with driftwood from the beach. Down the beach there was an old bath set up with     a fire that could be lit underneath and a bucket close by for filling up the bath. It was tempting but we didn't!

 Our bus was parked so close to the water we felt we could almost lean out and touch it!  Great to listen to the little waves before going to sleep.

Kina Beach - note that we have our own mailbox!

We woke to a sunny, warm morning and after a leisurely breakfast we drove about a km further down the road to the Kina Cliffs (Tasman) Golf Club which is a cliff top course with magnificent views over the bay to Nelson and to the southern snowcapped peaks. The course itself very undulating and quite tough with the sideways sloping fairways but at least we could admire the views which included 2 ponds woth lovely big waterlillies in flower!

We could have stayed there overnight but instead, after lunch and siesta, we travelled about 11 km up the coast to Motueka where we are now parked out the back of the RSA along with some of our neighbours from last night!

Okiwi Bay & Nelson

Sunday, 11th November I'm going to try and be a bit wiser about when to post these blogs - as I mentioned before we often have no internet or vodafone reception in the South Island so as soon as we leave a main town it is lost. From here in Nelson we will head up to Golden Bay/ Cape Farewell so I suspect that after Tuesday we will be out of range again for a few days. Last time I just did the blog in word but after transferring it I found all the paragraphs had disappeared and I couldn't edit it so it makes for solid reading! I've decided it's less hassle to do it directly on line.

Pelorus Bridge DOC Camp

Coffee at Okiwi

From Pelorus Bridge, our idyllic camp ground, we drove to just outside Nelson, going through the Rai Valley and then detouring along a very windy, hilly road for about an hour to visit Okiwi Bay, a lovely, little beach settlement which would be great for those who have their own boats and don't mind a bit of isolation.
We walked The Goat Hill track for a wonderful view of the settlement and wandered along the beach before continuing back through the hills to the North Nelson Country Club just out of Nelson where the parking was free and we were enthusiastically welcomed by Chris, a fairly permanent bus resident there. We weren't sure if we wanted to stay as there was still no cellphone coverage but she directed us to a farmers gateway, just along the road, where we could get full reception. We enjoyed a drink and a cheap, but tasty, club dinner and met the President, who also lives in a bus out the back. He is the front man for the Sealord TV ad - he has a very long beard and I would have liked to take a photo but thought about it too late so here's one of Len which I have to say is no match at all!

The next day, Saturday we moved on to Nelson where we got a little anxious when the GPS tried to take us the shortest way to the mechanic recommended by Chris for fixing the little bit of rust we have under the bus. We ended up in the hills on a very narrow street and it was a little nervewracking but Len, as always, kept his cool, just, and negotiated his way out. The mechanic is busy, but hopes to fit it in next week so we will probably come back this way. We arrived at the Tahuna Beach Holiday Park which is on the west side of Nelson about midday - it is a huge camp of 50 acres and woud be great for families with all the activities between here and the beach. There is lots of public parking along the beach and paths through the trees with water parks, bumper boats, water slide, go karts, skating rink, beach volleyball court, another huge slide, a pond for model boats and a little railway track - all set amongst the trees and right next to the wide safe beach. It was a nice sunny day and time to do another big wash so that was the first job once settling in. So great to get it out on a clothes line especially when rain is forecast for the next few days. Later we rode the 6 km cycle track to Richmond and back - an easy coastal track. We really enjoy being on the bikes. It's now Sunday and we both had great showers this morning. Unfortunately, after I had finished mine I realised, with some horror, that I had left my towel behind! I was half expecting Len to run in with it as he's used to looking after me, but, alas, he didn't! Now contemplate that scenario. All I can say is that I now have a very wet Pyjama top which is surprising as it was better for sliding the water off than for absorbing it. Now we are about to leave the campsite and will pop up to Upper Moutere, in Motueka, to visit my nephew, Mark, and his family.

Picton, Blenheim, Pelorus Bridge

It's now over 4 days since I last wrote something in the blog so I need to recall everything that we have done. At the moment we are nestled into a fabulous DOC site at Pelorus Bridge between Blenheim and Nelson - it's like a big lawn with little bays, all surrounded by native bush, for parking in as well as more trees in the middle and a river running alongside. The facilities - showers, toilets and kitchen are all quite new and even though we had a "bus shower" this morning I'm looking forward to getting into the nice one here! The camp fee for 2 of us is $20 a night. There is a nice cafe nearby in the public parking area and we can totally recommend their icecreams - huge! They made Len's day as he has been rather icecream-deprived over the last 6-7 weeks with only a tiny freezer in the bus. We bought our first TipTop tub yesterday after making room for it by finishing off the packet of stirfry veges! There is no internet or cellphone connection here - a downside to parking up in more isolated country areas and it seems to happen to us often. We just have to hope that no-one is trying to contact us urgently and my other hope is that Len is able to transfer this blog onto 'the blog' as with no internet I am having to do it on 'word'. So if it all ends up looking different, that's why. l will go back now to Sunday when we took the Bluebridge ferry to Picton. We had a great crossing - virtually no wind and mainly sunny so the sea was calm. There was another bus, the same colour as ours but towing a car, on the ferry and we had a bit of a chat to the owners as well as another couple from Blenheim who gave us some tips on good places to park around Nelson/ Marlborough. The first night we just parked at a little camp in Picton itself so we were handy for exploring the town the next day which ended up being quite active - we did a walk out to Bob's Bay which was very pretty - the water is so clear and felt much warmer than what we were experiencing on land even though the sun was shining. Some ladies who were gardening in the town recommended that we also walk up through the bush to Humphrey's Dam which we also enjoyed, each of the walks being about an hour long. Then we were on the road, heading towards Blenheim until we became waylaid at the Koromiko golf course - it's just 9 holes but we did 18 even though we were Really Cold with the southerly wind. We could have stayed at the course overnight but it was on the main road so we travelled just a couple of km up the next road to a NZMCA POP - a large farmer's paddock which was just $3 for overnight parking and where we felt very safe. We thought we were the only ones there til we spotted another van when we woke in the morning. They must have arrived late. We liked the rural feel of being woken with the baaing of sheep and lambs instead of traffic. Tuesday we continued on our way to Blenheim via Rarangi Beach where there was another DOC camp beachside which looked great but we didn't stop for long with the howling wind blowing down the beach and making it rather unpleasant. In Blenheim we parked up for 2 nights at the Waterlea Racecourse where they allow motorhomes to stay for $5 a night - there are toilets and a washing machine but no showers - and around 10 motorhomes parked there each night. We didn't mind being woken by the horses doing their trotting practices around the course - all these different morning noises help us to remember where we are! Blenheim has a nice cycle path all along the river so we explored that before heading into town thinking we might treat ourselves to some takeaways but we couldn't find any so instead chose to go to Biddy Kates, the local Irish Bar, where they had whitebait fritters on special (not quite as good as mine I have to say but still enjoyable). Len had a delicious Irish stew and I was even a little envious.

Yesterday (Wednesday) we walked up to the top of Mt Vernon which took us about 2.5 hours and gave us great views of Blenheim, the North Island and the mountains. Blenheim is on a plane with the hills and mountains all around and we were struck by the different coverings over the hills - lots of bright yellow broom on some, pines or bush on others with some denuded by the cutting down of the pines. Then you see the mountains behind, some snowcapped - as we climbed Mt Vernon the fields look like corduroy with all the plantings in the vineyards.

Today we set off towards Nelson but haven't got there yet. We came via Whitehaven (Lens home town in England) Wines hoping to do some tasting and purchasing but found that we should have visited the outlet in town so all we got was a photo. We stopped at Havelock for lunch and a walk into the wetlands before continuing on to this campsite at Pelorus Bridge. We did a bushwalk from here up to a couple of waterfalls (a bit over an hour) before getting our chairs out for the first time to sit in the lovely sun and have a Corona. It was 5.30 but still nice and warm and it feels that summer might be trying to come at last!

Wellington

Sunday, 4th November

Well here we are, sitting in line at the Bluebridge ferry terminal, waiting to board for our trip to Picton. As we are members of the NZMCA the one way fare for the bus and the two of us was $189 instead of about $360 - a huge discount.
I've worked on the weather and the wind has died down from gales to a gentle breeze with a mixture of sun and cloud so it should be a nice crossing. Here we come South Island!
I have really enjoyed the last 2-3 days catching up with classmates, boarders and daygirls from 50 years ago - that's half a century! So much chatter and noise, even at the Chapel Service. The dinner and the lovely lunch at Prues gave us lots of time to all reminisce even though I'm feeling a little muddled at times about who said what! Len was even able to pop up for a coffee and sweet treats at Prues, after lunch, so he was able to meet up again with Jan, Ann, Sally and other old girls whom he hadn't met before.
Caroline, and her neighbours, were very tolerant of us parking on the road verge outside her house for 2 nights. It was so special to meet Caroline's family and be very spoilt with a delicious vegetarian curry cooked by her son as well as our washing whipped away by Harriet, her other son's partner, and presented back all beautifully clean and folded - such treats and continuing wonderful hospitality.

After lunch yesterday we drove out to Pennys (my niece), Matts and Elliots house at Island Bay where we slept in a real level bed which felt a little strange at first as we are used to parking on the road camber with our heads a little higher.

We enjoyed their nice spacious home and their interaction with  Elliot who has just turned 2 - he is very cute and clever and so lucky to have such special parents.

Waikanae, Porirua, Makara Beach, Wellington

Thursday, 1st November

Yes, the golf shirt was a clue and we played a round on the picturesque Waikanae Course which had native shrubs, wetlands, pukekos and tuis, before heading on to the industrial area of Porirua where we stayed at the Elsdon Youth and Motor Camp. Our bus looked small against the 3 neighbours 10 metre buses and one had a trailer with a clothes wringer (mangle) attached! I didn't need to borrow it as I could do a big wash in the washing machine and hang it on our special tree-attached washing line. It is bliss to have access to a machine -never take it for granted!

Possible future accessory

The camp was at the base of the Colonial Knob walk which is in our new "100 Best Day Walks in NZ" book which was Len's leaving gift from the Literacy and Language Board
Tuesday was a perfect day for doing this walk - sunny, clear and no wind. We had the most amazing views - all at one time we could see the snow-capped Kaikouras, the Rimutakas, Wellington Harbour, Kapiti and the snowy peak of Mount Taranaki. Very spectacular!

South of North Island wind farm & North of south Island snowy mountain tops

Wednesday we drove through the Takarau Gorge from Johnsonville to Makara Beach - the narrow road was a bit of a challenge but luckily any oncoming traffic we met seemed to be at the right place. After having some lunch we did the Makara walk up to the gun battery and back along the very stony coast route which was quite hard to walk on. There was a strong wind blowing as we walked up the steep ridge at the start of the walk but luckily it was behind us and helped us on our way. I still wasn't that keen on being close to the cliff edge though.

The sign at the bottom-crystal clear now!

The signposting at the top wasn't dummy proof and we ended up adding on a mountain bike forest loop  which meant the walk took an extra couple of hours but altogether we were much quicker than the suggested time. Think our fitness is right up there now!

Then it was on to Karori, Wellington where we are in plenty of time for my Marsden School reunion which starts tomorrow. Way out in the hills we stumbled upon the Karori Golf Club and we were tempted to stay there the night and play today but resisted that temptation and found a rather sideways sloping spot at the back of Karori Park. We have spent the morning climbing around Wrights hill and along the perimeter of Zealandia, the wildlife sanctuary. Shortly we will head down into the city and then back to park outside an old schoolfriends house if the street isn't too busy.