We decided we needed a go nowhere day. It was quite a relaxing morning. I enjoyed their outdoor shower. The cafe at the campground made us a great coffee. I ended up watching Rowan fish. He would catch a Kahawai, reel it in and it would get away. This happened several times.
Lunchtime arrived, Rowan and I swam across the river and walked to the pub for lunch. Then we went back across the river. We had spent so much time after lunch at the pub that by the time we got back it was time for dinner. Another spectacular sunset.
We are out of the campground before 8am. We head to the shops and go to a cafe for breakfast. After a good coffee and food, we head north. Stopping several times at beaches along the way.
We have lunch about 30min from Westport at a tavern, it is not great. Won’t be going back there again. The best thing about it was the colouring in I did to waste time while waiting for our meals.
We arrived in Mokihinui and got a tent site at Gentle Annie’s. It is a great spit right at the mouth of the river. Rowan and I went swimming and we went across to the other side. About a year ago, we were here with Frank the duck but in an airbnb on the other side. We went to the pub for dinner, which was super cheap and delicious. Rowan reckons better than he remembers. Full bellies, we head back and watch the sunset.
A quiet and peaceful start to the day. I drank coffee and read my book. Rowan got up and wished me a happy birthday. Yes today I am 34! Just another day I said, no need to make a big deal. Jenna was to head west via Arthur’s Pass. We make a detour to PB tech to get a new phone for me. We also stop at Torpedo7 to send off my hiking boots to be fixed. Heading west we stop in Sheffield for a pie for lunch. When we reach the mountains there has been snow and it is truly beautiful.
Castle Hill has had some upgrades with a spot to picnic under now. Our main mission for today is to get Jenna up and close with a Kea. We get to the first spot we regularly see them and none are there. I think it is worth waiting for a bit and sure enough, one shows up, then another two. Jenna is really happy as now she has a lot of photos of them.
We make it to Kumara and Rowan would like to fossick the Serpentine Beach. I bail out after a bit and head back to the car. I call back my mum and the sun starts to set. By this time I am getting past being hungry. The sunset is stunning.
Birthday candle?
The sun has gone by the time they get back, we better head to the campground and set up. It is dark but we easily set up. Then we head off for food. Not much available in greymouth at this time with pizza or McDonald’s as our only options. McDonald’s wins. I haven’t had a McDonald’s birthday party since I was 8. They didn’t give me a paper hat… sad lol
An easy going day. We go to the little op shop and the four square for supplies. Jenna is having a migraine, so she sleeps it off. The day quickly disappears, Rowan and I sort through all our food. The weather outside is off and on again rain. By the afternoon Jenna is feeling a bit better, so we head to Motunau to hunt for fossils. I end up sitting in the car enjoying my book while they go out. The tide is coming in and by the time they get back, they are up to their hips wading through the estuary. Jenna found a couple of pieces and they took a whale vertebrae back to give to the owners of the campground.
I am finally over the cold. I have had a leftover cough and runny nose for a long time. We are heading west tomorrow, the weather is forecasted to be really good.
Jenna and I are drinking coffee in the DOC kitchen immersed in conversation. When Jenna says “guys that’s our stuff.” I turn around to see people cooking with our cooker and piling up our food and camp gear into a pile. Feeling quite shocked, I say, “Yeah, that’s our cooker too.” They apologise profusely, and we tell them they can use it, but it is common decency to ask first. The lady quickly finishes her eggs. How on earth would they think that a large pile of food, including a chilly bin and a $200 gas cooker and $200 pot is free to use, is beyond me. They must have been in NZ for 5min in a Jucy rental. The lady said the cooker in the rental doesn’t work in windy weather. We were nice about it, or should I say Jenna was nice about it. I was too shocked and slow to react.
The day is looking a lot more promising, we go up Mt Robert to see a view of the lake. Originally thinking we would head to another lake and spend another night in the area. With the weather a bit yucky, we pointed towards Kaikoura instead. This meant we needed to go back the way we came. When we reached Blenheim, we refuelled both our stomachs and the car. Germie wanted to go to the SPCA again and pick up an NZ Wool blanket. From Blenheim, we headed to Ward Beach. A beach none of us have been to. At the beach, there is a spot for self-contained campers. It is really windy on the beach, and we walk out to find the boulders.
From Ward Beach we headed to Kaikoura. Arriving around 5pm, I started looking up accommodation. The prices are insane. Maybe I am not used to a third person. One really gross place wanted to charge us $67 for a spot to pitch the tent. By now it was time to get some kai. Coopers fish and chips is a place Rowan and i have been to a few times and Jenna was recommended. The weather was foul about 11 degrees and lots of rain. With a unanimous decision to camp in Cheviot, we headed south. A rural setting and $45 for the night. It is also a lot closer to Motunau. A hot shower, and we feel a lot better. No love loss leaving Kaikoura, every time Jenna has been there it is raining.
It took us a while to pack up, there was a lot of gear all over the place and we had a lot of food to take with us. On the road and we op shop through Blenheim. We are looking for a coffee plunger, not one shop has what we are looking for. But we have lots of fun searching. We get some supplies at the supermarket and head to St Arnaud. We stay in the DOC site at Lake Rotoiti. The weather is just yuck and we set up camp as fast as possible. Rowan ends up cooking dinner early. I have been struggling with my phone for a few days, it is on its way out!
After dinner Rowan and I brave the rain and go swimming in the lake. We got a few strange looks in our underwear out in the rain. The water was cold but really lovely, I avoided getting my hair wet hoping to keep warm. Rowan got me to go back and get the phone for photos.
I didn’t feel cold until we sat around in the DOC cooking area to warm up. We ended up heading to bed early to get in our warm sleeping bags. Jenna wasn’t far off going to sleep herself.
Sunday, Rowan & Jenna are keen to go back to the Pelorus. Going via Blenheim we go to Kmart on the way to get a snorkel for Jenna as she only has a mask. Much cheaper than the warehouse as you can’t buy a snorkel on it’s own.
This time we went further up river to a place Rowan and I have been to many times. The river is a lot lower than usual. We are there until 5pm before we head back and get fish and chips for dinner. Rowan entertained the tourists and locals by walking along in his dungarees with no shirt and no shoes looking like a hillbilly.
Monday, heading towards Blenheim we decide to take a loop towards Port Underwood and back to camp. We went all the way down to Wairau Bar. The seals were sunbathing, shags swimming and people fishing.
It was a really nice drive and surprisingly I have never done it before. At Robin Bay I read my book while they went snorkeling. I also walked through some curious cows to see an old cottage from 1848. Rowan and Jenna got some Paua off the rocks.
Tuesday, I had a lot of social media to catch up on for Eddy. So we didn’t leave the campground till 2pm. We didn’t venture far, just down to Karaka Point in Waikawa. We had a good swim and Rowan did some fishing. He got some mussels, and a much bigger Kahawai. There was a large stingray hanging out on the edge of the rocks. To
Tonight we had a feast of Kai moana. We found some beers someone left behind. There has actually been quite a few goodies people have left here in the free pile. It was a grand feast for our last night in Picton. Jenna asked us if we wanted to travel with her and share expenses and we said YES! Not one to say no to having a bit of fun. We can carry on our walk later. The best thing about being free!
Friday, a bit of a lazy day for us. First things first, let’s get a better tent position. We wait for the tent on the otherside. Now we have a hedge on one side now so only get one neighbour. We also put up the e wing to put our gear under it. Then we headed into the town centre to grab some lunch and some supplies from the supermarket. All of the cafes and restaurants were really busy, we ended up choosing the bakery. Two potato top pies and a sweet thing. The park by the water was a good stop for lunch and we ended up having a few friends join us.
After lunch we headed to the supermarket for supplies. The supermarket has no coriander, first World problem. However we do find beer and wine, a much appreciated addition to the heat. Back at camp we have an early dinner and an early sleep. The staff here are really friendly. It is really nice being back in the south island, I feel like I am back home.
Saturday, we are getting moving for the day and decided we will go for a swim and go fishing. We ended up chatting to a neighbour German lady who is hoping to get on the ferry tomorrow and not be cancelled. We invited her along! Jenna (Yennah) has been here 6 weeks and decided to head north to do a few touristy things but it looks unlikely now. Jenna was here for 9 month 8 years ago so it isn’t like she hasn’t been to the lesser island. Jenna has never fished before. We head into the town centre and notice it is really busy and there is a market on. We detour to have a look at the market before heading to the water. We walk past heaps of sailing boats about to start a regatta. Further along we find a good spot for a swim. The water is cool but really nice. Rowan finds some Kina and pulls a few out to eat. After we finished swimming Rowan got the rod out. After a few flicks he hands it to Jenna and shows her how to do it. First cast and she gets a bite! A very small fishy, Kahawai. The hook went through the brain and it wouldn’t survive being put back so we decide we will eat it. Now that Jenna has a 100% perfect rate for her fishing she doesn’t want to ruin it by fishing again haha
We decided to go to the Pelorus and look for nephrite jade and swim! We find heaps of it and then go back down the road to the bridge to swim.
Back at camp, Rowan prepares pizza. He is doing an instant dough so not as good as his usual but understandably he couldn’t be bothered. A great end to a fun day
Julia, a lady with a sleeping bag is coming to us. This should be a lot warmer than what Rowan has been using recently. She is incredibly nice and we try talk her into quiting her job and walking haha. I think we may have planted a seed. To get out of Dr Michaela’s way we plan to be out all day. She works from home so we have been trying to be unintrusive. We head off to Macpac and return the sleeping gear. It takes a while to get a park but eventually we find one. With time to kill I vote for Te Papa! Now it is a bit ridiculous but I haven’t been to Te Papa for 21 years. Well there is definitely some samesies, squid, quake shack, marae. But some very cool new stuff. The Gallipoli exhibition is incredible the sculptures done by Weta Workshop took 24,000 hours to make and you can tell. They have excruciatingly good detail. If you haven’t seen it please do!
I really wanted to break the glass and steal this!
We stayed a few hours and really enjoyed seeing it all. In the nature area I had a random fella come up to me. “Are you Kate & Rowan?” Haha we are now famous, this Danish guy had seen us on Facebook and recognised us. We chatted a long time. Back at Newtown and I start packing for tomorrow. The weather is average and there will be swells but no where near as bad as it was in other parts of the country.
We have a package of stuff to send to my dad passports etc. We head off to do that and then finish our packing. Gareth is dropping us off on his way to work which is great as the rain is non stop. We get down to the ferry terminal and there is a huge sign no new bookings until 21st February. Phew I am glad we booked a few days ago. We drop off our gear and go to subway for lunch. The ferry is running 45min behind but we are still to board at 1pm. We wait outside and a Imogen comes up to us. “Hey you are TA walkers?!” Yes we are. “I have seen you on Facebook.”
Oh we really are famous now haha. We chat to kill time it is a whole hour later before we get on the ferry. Finally on board it takes another hour before we set off. 2 hours late! I am glad I booked our holiday park. We have great long chats with Imogen she has done NOBO (North bound) to Waikanae and made the smart decision to turn around and walk back. North Island is not going to be doable for a long long time. The sea is not bad we go out the long way and swing back in so the passengers don’t get moved around as much. There are plenty of people feeling unwell but luckily the outside is open so we don’t have to see it or smell it.
Now in Picton we just need our bags then a short we kms to the Tasman Holiday Park. There is only just enough space in the tent area for us. It is rather cramped. But mostly because people have parked their cars next to their tents which isn’t very courteous. We set up and make dinner. It is dark by the time we eat. This is a small cramped campground but it has good facilities. They have a pizza oven so now I just need to convince Rowan to make his famous pizzas!
I thought we were going to be a Frisbee last night. No real major lift offs but there was a couple of gusts that felt like it! We found a break in the rain and packed up our gear. My nose is constantly running and I feel a body aches. When we stumble out and reach the carpark there is not one car in the carpark! I knew we should have gotten out yesterday afternoon. We got a little signal and sent sos messages to Michaela & Gareth. Luckily Michaela can rescue us in a few hours. We then come across a carpet layer who is having his lunch break but won’t be heading out till 6pm, no good for a ride.
We get to Sheilds Flat where there are historic walls but no idea why as all the information is weathered so you can’t read the information plaques.
Rowan just took his pack off and I was about to when I saw a ute coming from one of the private properties. So I went out to the road to flag them down. A really lovely man said he could drive us in to Otaki. We were very grateful. As we got moving he said he was heading home to his house in Plimmerton and that he could take us there. Even better! He had two lovely border collie dogs who got lots of pats from me in the back. The Kapiti Coast was super calm and flat, talk about calm before the storm. Once we got near he dropped us off at the train station. It only took 7min and the next train was there to take us to Wellington. In Wellington the weather was pretty good, we got some lunch and hopped on a bus to Newtown. Finally catching up on the news it doesn’t look so good out there for the upper North. We really don’t have the infrastructure to cope for this weather.
Tuesday, I wake super early and can’t get back to sleep. The ferries are getting booked out really fast so I book for the next available one on Thursday. Then we head out to get our jobs done. Michaela has been kind enough to let us use her car again. Rowan needs a cheap temporary backpack to get his sent away and fixed. We also need to return the sleeping kit he got a few weeks ago they are just not going to be warm enough. The whole day is running around. We do have time to kill waiting to hear back from Facebook sellers and we get some op shopping in.
P.S I don’t realise it is valentines day until 4pm lol
Kiwi Hobos 