The rain came, there is no shelter here at the campground so we packed quickly and got moving. Because we are so close to Pelorus Bridge we decide we need to do a full circle, back to where we started. A very atmospheric drive up in the clouds. We got to the cafe at Pelorus and got some morning tea. The place has changed quite a bit since we last visited. They only do cabinet food now, I am guessing low numbers through covid.

We ended up having a very late lunch at a burger place around 3pm. Making life easy we headed back to the Matai Valley campground. Rowan cooked up some small steaks and potato salad for dinner. We had a small meal because we were not hungry form the late lunch.

I wake up for the sunrise and find Rowan did sleep outside all night. We watch the sunrise, it is fairly mild because it is very cloudy. Jenna wakes with a migraine today, not good. It is quite a bad one so we just chill a bit for the morning. Not long though and she agrees we should go explore. Google reckons an hour and a half. It takes us more like 2 hours. Because we stop to take photos. I was hopeful for a beautiful spot to relax on the water. Reality is you get to the end of the road and Port Ligar is private no access. At the end of the Bulwer Scenic Reserve is private properties. There is a small goat track in the reserve that may take you down the the beach. With all that anticlimactic ending we turned around and headed back to camp.

Back at camp, we had a late lunch. Then we headed just up the road to a walkway where there is a lookout and beach access. The lookout wasn’t that exciting and the beach was smaller but really nice because no one else was there the whole time.

We slogged back up the track and headed for the next lookout. This one was much easier to access and I couldn’t help but jump onto the dolphin.

Of course the others needed to join in! Back at camp we got chatting to the neighbours and ended up talking to them all night. A couple from South Africa who have been living in NZ for 12 years. Rowan and I had a swim in the ocean and a cold shower to get the salt off.

I have never been to French Pass before and I have always wanted to explore the area so when the suggestion was made I jumped to say yes. Rowan has been there a few times but only when sailing his yacht. The road is mostly tarmac which is more than we expected. We got high up in the clouds and the views were fantastic. The wind was gusty and we could tell we were in the sounds. Majority of the land is private so you can’t get down to the water edge. In Okiwi Bay is the first chance down at the water.

We booked the DOC site for two nights so we can explore a bit more tomorrow. The DOC site is basic with cold shower. Only 18 sites are there. There is no phone signal which I love apart from the fact I can’t call my Nana for her birthday. I didn’t realise what day of the month we were up to let alone they day of the week. Sorry Nan!

We came across a block with my mums initials. I am upset she didn’t tell us we could stay at her property haha

In the morning we finished off any leftover jobs we needed to do. Rowan had a bit of paining on the tin roof and I put another coat on the boat. Jenna helps trim the horse hooves and then we headed into Motueka. We checked out the op shops and headed to our friend Kelvin in Nelson.

Kelvin & Paula are good friends who we often stay with when we are in Nelson. It was great to catch up with Kelvin. We will come back and stay when Jenna heads home. About 5pm we head off to the Maitai Valley where Nelson Council has a campground. It is a pretty basic place but good enough. We have no reception out here but it will be nice to spend a few days here.

Once it got dark we realised we had set up camp right under the street light for the campground. Hilarious and annoying all at the same time!

We had a pleasant stay at Mārahau, the rain came in the night. This continued for the day. Off to the Motueka Markets where the majority of people were packing up and heading home. We got to meet Harmony, Jenna’s friend, who we will stay with for a few days. Harmony normally sings at the markets and used to have a horse trekking business in Mārahau. Next to the supermarket for supplies before driving 30min into the hills behind Motueka.

Up in Graham Valley Harmony has an off grid place with a few little buildings and buses for extra people. He often has woofers help out on the property. There are 5 horses, 3 dogs and countless chickens. One of the chickens even has baby chick’s. It is horribly wet and very drab in the wet. We chat and drink hot drinks for the afternoon. There is more heavy rain coming so we take a break in the rain to get our gear inside the little cabin. There is a small river near by to have a swim. It is incredibly cold and I don’t last long at all. Rowan, of course gets right in! We have an early night.

Harmony needs help with a few things around the property, so I get the task of painting the boat, which is used as a dog kennel. Jenna is working the horses. Rowan is sorting out a tin roof. The place is a lot better without all the rain. It is quite basic, a bit too basic. Rowan and I would like to do a similar thing one day just with more comfort. We go to the river to wash up before dinner. It is incredibly cold. My feet feel like they are going to fall off. After dinner, Rowan helps with lining a roof with tongue and groove. He says he needs another swim and feels all gross. Tomorrow we head off to Nelson.

I woke early to watch the sunrise. It was quite and peaceful for a while. It didn’t last long, the camp is pretty busy but not full. It can accommodate up to 850 sites!

We headed off to Takaka for some kai. On our way out we saw a farmer and his amazing view! Rowan stopped the car to take a photo and he realised what we were doing and posed lol.

We end up at the same cafe for lunch. It is a Saturday so the place is packed. We order only from the cabinet this time to save waiting for the kitchen. We planned to get a frozen berry yoghurt thing on the way out but they are short staffed, so it won’t serve till 2pm. Oh well! The local market is on so we head over for a look. The area is definitely getting more and more expensive. The local Fresh Choice is small yet has $115 bottles of Bolinger in the fridge.

Back over the Takaka Hill, we head to get petrol and frozen yoghurt before heading to Mārahau. This time we will stay somewhere that is not the barn smelly place. We got to Macdonald and realised tonight they are hosting Salmonella Dub. We decide not to camp there in the noise and head to the final option close to the beach. The place is dated but well maintained. We get one of the last sites. We order Fat Tui again but ask for a specific time of 6pm. We are all set up at camp then we head to the beach to read our books. I don’t end up reading. Instead, I talk to Eddy in Indonesia and he shows me the progress of the cafe.

Off for dinner we arrive and they say Hello Kate, the guy remembers my name haha. Our food is waiting for us. Yum, it is much better than last time. You can tell the rush is not here this time. After dinner we head back for showers and listen to Salmonella Dub from our camp. It is good, I can only just hear it so it is easy to sleep. I have seen them live before and felt no need to see them again. It was sold out anyway!

We packed up and headed to the beach we left about 9am. The beach was stunning, I can see why it was a Microsoft Windows screen! We explored along the beach taking heaps of photos. We decided to go right to the end and walk back via the lake. Overall about 7km.

We got back to the car about 11.30am. We headed off for some food and went to the Old school Cafe in Pākawau. The food was excellent. From there we decided to head to Totaranui DOC campsite in the Abel Tasman National Park. A chill afternoon reading our books and swimming.

I woke early to see a nice sunrise.

When packing up the tent I noticed 3 distinct holes in one of the sides. Miffed at how they came to be we jumped into action to repair it. We then realised the chickens must have attacked the tent either with bugs or just wanting to get in.

Today we headed towards Farewell Spit. The drive was really nice over Tākaka Hill. First time we have been able to go over with no traffic lights. When we got over to Tākaka we stopped and walked around the shops then got some lunch (for Rowan and I breakfast). We continued on until we reached Pūponga, the campsite there is really small so we thought we would book in first before heading g back to the Spit. Wharariki Beach is somewhere we want to go but the carpark is absolutely packed. Since it is right next to the campsite we decided we would go in the morning. Once the tent was all done, we headed out and went to Cape Farewell. A small walk out to see the arch but we ended up walking a lot further over the hills to get a view of the Spit.

From there we headed to the Farewell Spit and decided we could come back tomorrow. So we headed back to camp and made dinner so we could have an early night.

We all hopped in the river for a swim! Much cheaper then paying for showers. Rowan needed to send a picture to his friend so you guys may as well see his full moon too!

From Murchison we headed to Nelson. There was a lot of road works so it took longer than normal. We stopped at Wakefield for a pie (the best in my opinion). From there we had some errands to run in Nelson. Pharmacy, Vodafone etc. When walking through a shop Jenna had some friends see her unexpectedly. They had met in Hokitika. We invited them along to join us in the Aniseed Valley for a rock hunt in the afternoon. Once done hunting it was still fairly early so we headed to Marahau where Jenna wanted to stay. There is a burger joint there called Fat Tui and it is supposed to be really good. We order our burgers and they say they won’t be ready till 8pm so we find our camp and set up the tent. The inside will need to wait. From camp we walk down to the burger joint and wait. The wait ends up being 40min, which is annoying because we could have set up camp properly. The burgers finally are ready, I found them to be a bit bland and lacking flavour but Jenna loves them.

When we got back to the barn campground it was really smelly. They must have a full septic tank or something. Very unpleasant indeed. It was quite late by the time we set up and showered.

We pack up and have a coffee. When we arrive in Karamea we head to the cafe for brunch. Great pies and really cheap!

We head right out to the end where the Heaphy Track is. It’s a stunning spot with only a few people around.

From there we head to the Box Cave and to Apara Arch. Unfortunately the arch was closed and one of the caves was closed. But we enjoyed the Cave. It had a few gloworms too. Last time we were here with Frankie!

From Karamea we headed to Murchison, we got to Westport at 5pm for a refuel. Murchison Riverside holiday park was really nice. We washed in the river because why not!