Rabbit Island, Totaradale / Wakefield, Nelson

December 2nd, 2018

Before leaving Ruby Bay we had a walk around the large campsite - beautiful with trees, the beach, barbecues, toilets and cold showers - just $12 a night for 2 - and then back along the beach.

Cute & simple bbq 

We hadn't been out to Rabbit Island before so on the way to Wakefield we bypassed off the main road to explore. No houses on Rabbit Island  apart from one over the bridge at the  entrance, presumably for a worker, but lots of bike/walking trails, picnic areas with trees as well as open spaces for playing games. We had a coffee while it was drizzling in a lovely spot overlooking the beach before walking along the shoreline cycle track for about half an hour. If we had kept going we would have reached the ferry landing where the boat crosses over to Mapua.

Bush transport!

Then it was back on the road to head for Wakefield  and the 9 hole Totaradale Golf Course where the men and ladies were just finishing playing on their club day. It would have been mid afternoon before we teed off but the drizzle had disappeared and we stayed dry for the whole 18 holes, not predicted.

Getting golf gear ready 

On arriving we thought the course was pretty flat but once out there we found there were quite significant slopes to go up and down so it was more of a workout than we expected. Lovely scenery looking across to the mountains and the course was in quite good condition although the greenkeeper apologised to us for the greens being slow. We just found them a little difficult!

We stayed the night at the club - just a donation required - and the next day, after slipping in another 9 holes, we drove to Back Beach at Tahunanui in Nelson where Len did some surf casting.

A hopeful Fisher!

  He caught a small kahawai which he returned to the sea though he did get some good bites. Back beach is a very popular spot for people to exercise their dogs so there were cars coming and going into the small parking area all afternoon. I had a good walk down the beach, in each direction, while Len fished.

Can you believe it?

Our stay for the night was at The Honest Lawyer Pub, on the outskirts, but by the estuary and the excellent Nelson cycle track which we rode last time we were here as far as Richmond. The Pub has a system where overnighters pay $20 for a voucher which you can use there for food and drink so we put that towards having dinner. The Pub was very busy, even on a Wednesday night, and there were 3 other motorhomes staying in the carpark.

Tahuna Motor Camp was our destination the next morning as we had a pile of washing to do and the weather was glorious - perfect for getting the washing onto the line to dry. Len was also able to charge up his Bose speaker for improving the quality of the music in the bus. We had a large corner site and it felt quite luxurious to be staying in a campground especially with the great showers  - powerful and no extra fee to pay. After settling in and getting the washing on the line we walked to the nearest bus stop to catch the bus into town which is of course free for us goldcard holders. It was good to wander the many criss-cross shopping streets and climb the steps up to the Cathedral where they had lots of different Christmas trees on display, all created by different clubs, organisations or schools.

Tower must have been designed by fireman!

T with  the trees

We feel we know Nelson a little better now as on our last trip we didn't spend much time in the town.

Tahunanui Golf Course in Nelson had just been host to a 3 day ladies tournament so Friday was the first opportunity to play it. We booked a tee time for 10.15am and had a very slow, relaxed game on their links course following a 4some and a 3some. At least they helped us find our way around the undulating, bunker filled, interesting terrain with nice views of the estuary and surrounding hills.
I think the slow pace of the game helped me with slowing my own game down and I had a reasonably decent score compared to the pretty terrible games I have been playing lately. All I have to do is slow down and concentrate on the ball it seems! So that was quite satisfying and I equalled Len on match play.

After a coffee we were on the road again this time heading back to Blenheim through the Rai Valley, stopping briefly at a couple of free parking areas by the river, just to have a look. If we needed to stay in that area again we would stay at the Pelorus DOC camp which we loved on our last trip.