Lake Clearwater sunrise. Today we are on a bit of a mission as we need to be in Christchurch CBD by 10.30am. We do not dilly dally this morning.
We are parked up and are at Ōtautahi Tattoo. Germie is getting a kirituhi.
Jenna is really happy with her tattoo, this is her first one. We go out for ice cream and book shopping after.
Out to Lake Lyndon for the final night. We have stayed here three times now. It is apt to finish where we started.
Gorgeous sunrise over Lake Lyndon. We continue along the gravel road to Lake Coleridge.
Lake Coleridge has hydro electric. The bright blue water is stunning.
We pop into Methven for fuel and supplies.
Today our plan is to stay somewhere out near Edras (Mt Sunday). First Rowan and I jump into Lake Clearwater, the water is really nice with the sun out. When we make it to the carpark at Edras there is a large tour bus, a lot of cars and you can see a few ants (people) on the mountain. Jenna has been here before so doesn’t want to go back up. We decide to drive back the way we came and head up the other valley.
Lake Heron is beautiful, but not very exciting in comparison to Edras. If you come out this was go up there first so you leave the more spectacular scenery for last.
In for another dip at Lake Clearwater. You can park up for free by the lake here. There are about 10 others dotted around.
A beautiful bit of morning light coming in.
We made our way into Greymouth and got some breakfast before heading towards the East.
Germie and I went for a walk at the Brunner Historic Mine.
A little nosy at Lake Brunner and Lake Poerua
Rowan cooked Puffer and we had a swim in the freezing river. Rowan took these awesome split shot photos.
Arthurs Pass and Germie being silly.
Happy Big Birthday Mum! My mum Jane has hit retirement. Now I can take her out and present her gold card for a discount.
Back at Lake Lyndon for the night. Our month with Jenna is nearly over. We have packed a lot in.
Rowan and Germie had their morning swim in the Wairau River. We head off after coffee and don’t make it very far, a proper flat tyre! Even though it is early 7.30am it takes hours to get the AA service out to help us. Rowan sacrificed putting a jack in the tool compartment in order to fit more fun stuff. Obviously this was a calculated risk and we are not all that bothered. We don’t get back in the road until 11am.
We beeline to the Fox River Markets and make it there by 2pm.
Oma (Jenna’s Nana) shouts us lunch. Delicious!
Parked up for night up on the cliff next to the roaring ocean. A beautiful West Coast sunset.
Jenna and I take some instagram shots!
A morning swim in the Pelorus to wake us up and set the day right. We grabbed a bite to eat in Havelock.
In Picton we went to the op shops then on to see if we could find our sign. The definitely no camping sign had been destroyed which was very sad. We bonded over this sign three years ago.
The scenic route following the beautiful coastline. There were so many gorgeous places we wanted to swim but were private. Unfortunately all of the public access ones were a bit pants.
Instead we had a great swim in the Wairau River. But first we had some Puffer for lunch. Delicious German pancakes. In Blenheim we went to the warehouse and to Kmart.
We found a spot about 15min out of St Arnuad for the night. We were going to head south along the coastline but it was silly to do so when we have a few days up our sleeve.
An early morning swim at Paines Ford. Known for being able to climbe the rocks around the river. We were there early enough to miss all of the rock climbers.
Off to Kaiteriteri for our next swim. Today is Waitangi Day and I expected it to be busy. But not this busy. Rowan’s face as we are driving says it all. We couldn’t find a carpark and there was a pay for carpark absolutely full too. So we decided to turn around and go back to Marahau and swim there.
Marahau was a lovely swim and we timed it well. We had our swim and then noticed people flocking to the beach haha. We had a Fat Tūī burger for lunch.
I had to stop for photos of Woolf’s Stream. My grandpas family used to be here in the tobacco days.
We only stop in Nelson to fuel up and to buy a very important tub of ice cream. Germie has requested Homey Pokey.
We drive out to Pelorus for the night. We go down to the river for a snorkel and a good swim. But first we sit in the river attempting to eat a full tub of ice cream. We fail.
A fantastic fog over the lake this morning. When we came out of the clouds the view was great.
In Takaka for breakfast. We found the Flying Spaghetti Monster. I also found a book or two at the local op shop.
Germie and I went off on an adventure. We didn’t get to our destination but here at Farewell Spit we found an awesome Pilot Whale skull dug into the sand. We ended up spending an hour getting it out. We really wanted some teeth. A little bit sad about no teeth but it was still like digging for treasure. It still had some flubber attached so it was pretty smelly and we needed to swim it off.
We made our way back to Takaka and went swimming in the river there. Then we had a late lunch at the local chippy. It was so large we couldn’t have dinner.
Te Waikoropupu Springs for the last afternoon adventure. There was a very tame paradise duck which absolutely made my day. The springs are fantastic, the water is absolutely incredible.
We parked up next to the Takaka River for the night.
Woke up on Denniston plateau, Rowan and Germie went for a swim in a tarn. We checked out the old mining part.
Drive South East. Then stopped for breakfast before Murchison. In Murchison we tried to get a real fruit ice cream but it wasn’t open.
It is such a great day we head off to Lake Rotoroa for a swim. Jenna saves a couple of bugs and we tell her the poor fish are losing their food source hehe.
We hit the Motueka op shops and find some real fruit ice cream.
Out at Cobb Dam for the night. It is a long scenic drive that is absolutely stunning.
Dreary but still fantastic morning through the Lewis Pass.
We stop in Reefton for a short time to take a look around before heading out towards Westport.
A detour out to Cape Foulwind, who lived up to its name!
Westport is a quick refuel and of course the op shops. Love this hilarious sign that was in Granity. As you can imagine Rowan posed very appropriately or inappropriately depending on your opinion in front of the sign.
We get up the Denniston Plateau in the early afternoon and end up watching a couple of movies. A very chill afternoon with a great sunset.
Out of Dunedin fairly early. We stop at Otago Milk to pat the cows. We also feed the lambs some milk and say hi to the horse.
We have breakfast at Moeraki Boulders and take some photos. There is also a deer and some alpacas that we go feed.
Arriving back in Herbert and the weather is perfect to attack all our washing. I manage to get it all done and it dries really fast. The rest of the day is spent chilling.
The next day we get all organised and ready to go again. This time we head straight north and drive up to the Lewis Pass. We find a spot by the river to sleep. It is pretty late now but we got the really boring drive done.
Kiwi Hobos