Day 58: Abel Tasman Coastal Track to Hokitika

The Abel Tasman National Park is the smallest in New Zealand yet the Abel Tasman Coastal Track is 60km along the northwestern coast of the south island. It is a beautiful track that weaves through beautiful forest and beaches. Due to our lack of lightweight hiking/camping gear we only spent one night and two days on the track. Thankfully we had acquired a new travelling mate who had a tent big enough for the three of us so we did not have to bring our sad broken and not compact tent. And just to be clear when I say big enough for the three of us, picture three grown adults, including two tall Germans, squishing into a "3" man tent along with our bags. All I can say is that it was an entertaining night. Between the three of us we were able to pack all our gear and hike to the Totaranui Campsite. We started at the Wainui Car Park, hiked up to Gibb's Hill and on to our campsite. A much shorter hike than we had expected but it gave us plenty of time to enjoy the campsite and make some new friends. AND have my one and only camp fire of my whole trip. It was amazing. Fire bans are seriously the worst when you are camping for months. Camping just does not feel complete without a fire at night to sit around and enjoy.

Our day ended with an absolutely stunning sunset. Seriously. The last leg of the hike took so long because we were all in absolute awe of the beauty of the sunset (and because my blisters were back with a vengeance but I thankfully discovered walking barefoot does wonders to solve that problem). We were on our way to our next campsite and unexpectedly met a woman on the road at a "bridge" trapped in a flooded river with sand filing up under her car. Meaning we had no way to pass until her car was moved. The "bridge" was no bridge at all. It was called a bridge however it was in fact a small ditch that was covered in concrete to create a road for passing. It was obvious that this happened often but not obvious why on earth they did not just build a bridge there. After spending roughly an hour trying to push, pull and literally dig this car out, even stealing boards from neighbors fences to shove under the tires for traction, all the while avoiding the eels flowing down the river that formed over the road, getting drenched and cold, we gave up. There was no hope for this car unless someone came from the opposite side of the road to pull the car out. And then came the French!...well a French couple, with a sturdy camper van equipped with a hitch. Our knights in shining armor! With a lot of team work and some friendly Frenchman's engine power we freed the car and could finally be on our way. After plunging our way through the river we drove a couple hours to a campsite very well off the beaten path. The drive there felt as though it would never end. Winding and weaving down unsealed, crumbling roads we felt as though we may never get to the campsite and may also be slightly lost, but we kept on truckin'. The dark, mountainous gravel road, torrential rain for days, hunger and late night driving does not bode well for an enjoyable drive. FINALLY we arrived at the Cobb River Campsite. I thought we would never get there and never have I ever been so nervous driving anywhere. We slept...very poorly, due to discomfort and extreme coldness and poor choice to all sleep in the car instead of setting up our tents, and woke up to find that we had made our way down into a very beautiful valley. We appreciated the beauty for a short while and decided to make our way back up out of the valley. I will say the roads were not nearly as bad in the daylight. However, they were still awful and soo narrow. If you met a vehicle someone had to back up in order to find a wider part of the road. Only slightly terrifying.

The following days were filled with "on the road housekeeping", hanging out in Takaka, Uruwhenua Reserve site where we had incredibly beautiful star filled skies to stare at for hours. 

Te Waikoropupu Springs are the largest freshwater springs in New Zealand and are recorded as being some of the clearest water measured in the world. The following is from some of the information boards they had at the springs. 

Te Waikoropupu Wai Ora (Water of Life)

"Life cannot survive without wai (water). For Manawhenua Ki Mohua, water is the source of all life and the waterways carry the lifeblood of the land. The waters of Te Waikoropupu represent the lifeblood of Papatuanuku (Earth Mother) and the tears of Ranginui (Sky Father). Wai Ora is the purest form of fresh water. It gives and sustains life, can rejuvenate damaged mauri (life force) and counteract evil. The waters of Te Waikoropupu were used by tupuna (ancestors) for cleansing and spiritual healing."

 We then made our way 400km south of Takaka to Hokitika on the west coast. 

The beauty truly never stops here.

Day 51: Kainanneca

Oh the road south to the Abel Tasman we drove through Nelson and after driving through a torrential downpour we spent a night at a beach side camp site. Thankfully we were fortunate enough not to get flooded out unlike many others who literally had their belongings floating in ponds and rivers in the night. It was a beautiful location with a very powerful ocean crashing into the beach...

On to Kaitiritiri town, which is the gateway to the Abel Tasman, to spend a beautiful day at Kaitiritiri beach with it's beautiful golden sand. We got ravaged by the crazy waves on the beach. The boys played in the sand and re-diverted a water flow on the beach by doing a whole lot of digging. And the day ended with some amazing views of some uber cloudy valleys. 

 

Day 50 - To the Sounds They Said!

Pelorus Sound (Te Hoiere) is part of the Marlborough Sounds in the north of the South Island. Marlborough Sounds is made up of flooded river valleys that were formed in the ice age thousands of years ago. Absolutely stunning area. After getting a little lost, or rather just misdirected, we found our way to Cow Shed Campsite for the night. Once again arriving in the dark. The seasons are unfortunately changing, which means the sun does not like to shine for too long, making the days much shorter than we would prefer. We woke up in a quaint campsite, which included shower facilities, say what what! They were cold but getting clean was worth the ice cold streams of water that flowed from the luxurious shower head in the middle of the wilderness. We also discovered Weka at this site. Weka are another flightless bird native to NZ. These sweet looking birds are curious and mischievious little birds, intrigued by humans and their activities. They, like the sandflies in this country, are determined to steal from you. Unlike the sandflies, Weka fortunately do not attempt to steal your blood, leaving you with innumerable, indescribably, itchy bites. These birds want your treasured belongings. Sometimes so desperate to rip through your tent in order to steal from you. Thankfully we were highly aware of these curious beast that we were able to fend them off every time they attempted to attack. One bird was almost sneaky enough to steal one of our spoons but we were much quicker than he, leaving our site unconquered by these feisty little birds.

We made our way to the end of the Pelorus Sound to one of the best campsites I stayed at in all of New Zealand. This site is by far one of my favourite places in the country. Titirangi Farm Campsite will go down as some of the best camping of my life. It all started here, driving up to an incredible view point where we could see our final destination, which is the beach on the left hand side in the photos below. We stayed here for a quite a while taking in the incredible views.
    
Titirangi Farm Site is literally a pasture just off the beach, with toilet and shower facilities for the people accessing this fine campsite, sheep included. We arrived after a beautiful drive down to the bay to find that there were only about 12 other people at this site. Not surprising though considering how remote it is. The incredible thing is that the people who own the land have a sheep farm in this gorgeous land and so generously share it with travelers. Seriously amazing. It was a lovely couple of nights at this location. Definitely difficult to leave such a secluded and beautiful site.

       

Let me tell you, some of the best experiences in life are those that are most unexpected. On our way up Pelorus Sound we drove past multiple trail heads for the abundant hikes available to us in this area. Of.  course we had to attempt one and Mt. Stokes was the lucky winner. It turned out to be one of the most magical forests I have ever hiked through. The forest was so thick with trees you couldn't see too far a head of you, with so many that it was easy to lose the path. The trees were laden with thick moss of all shades of green. Unfortunately we were not rewarded with a beautiful view from the top due to thick fog and low clouds but that did not matter.

It was a stunning forest and a lovely way to end the trip to the sounds. 

 

Day 47: The Ferry and Beyond

Welcome to Picton

Due to the changing of seasons here in the southern hemisphere it was decided that it was a wise choice to head to the South Island before the winter weather really settled in. Our adventure to the south island started out on a very rainy and dreary day. After the 3 hour, 92 km voyage from Wellington to Picton on the ferry, which NZ claims is one of the most beautiful ferry rides in the world, we were on the road again on a mission to find our first camp site on the south island, Robin Hood Bay Site. Unfortunately it was cloudy and rainy for the whole ferry ride so I can not attest to the beauty of the ride between the islands. Robin Hood Bay campsite ended up being at the end of an unsealed road, through many bays, with many switch backs to navigate through the torrential downpour, along the Northeastern coast. It is truly amazing how incredibly slow time can go by when you are driving between 20 and 50 km, in the dark, on roads that are bad enough to write home about. As the sun sets and the beautiful scenery disappears, the one thing that begins to consume your mind is, "Are we there yet??". Once again we arrived in the dark to the site, set up camp in the pouring rain and we had no clue what the surrounding environment looked like. Waking up to a cloudy but beautiful sun rise, I discovered that we were in a lovely area right across from a rocky beach. The sound of waves crashing down on the rocks provided a rather unique and relaxing sound. Very different from a sandy beach. It was beautiful. Along with a beautiful view we also discovered that this was home to a sandfly colony. By this time we had figured out the best techniques to avoid the awful bites of the beastly sandflies. These techniques included bug repellent, covering as much skin as possible, and often seeking refuge indoors. Aside from the beastly sandflies, it was a lovely site. 

Off to Blenheim! Blenheim is a town in the heart of Marlborough wine country. It is supposedly one of the sunniest towns in all of New Zealand with an average of 2,438 hours of sunshine a year. Aside from it being one of the sunniest places in NZ, it is also an incredibly beautiful area. There is something just absolutely stunning about vineyards. We ventured to the Blairich Reserve Campsite, driving down roads surrounded by vineyards, spanning across beautiful valleys, tucked between fields of sheep. 

Being in wine country meant that a wine tour of sorts was absolutely in order. Due to the fact that we had a vehicle and both wanted to take advantage of the free wine tasting at the Wither Hills Winery, we parked our trusty wagon, enjoyed a wine tasting and then proceeded to take ourselves on a self guided tour of the vineyard. 

Wandering far enough, jumping fences along the way, we found a aviation museum behind the vineyard. 

Day 41 - Day Trip to the Wairapa

                                 

The Wairarapa is in the south-eastern corner of the North Island. To take advantage of being in Wellington at this time, a day trip was absolutely necessary. This day was filled with incredible beauty, and unexpected surprises. Venturing down winding, cliff side roads, through farmland, valleys and beautiful vineyards, we made our way to Ocean's Beach, a beautiful and rugged stretch of coastline. After relishing in the beauty of the beach we followed some sheep up a cliff and were rewarded with a gorgeous view of surrounding farmlands and of Lake Onoke, 

    

     

We had to steal ourselves away from this beautiful landscape to continue on our way up the coast to Cape Palliser. Cape Palliser a place of early Maori settlements and also home for the North Island's largest fur seal colony. 

As we climbed up on the rocks along the coast we began hearing some curious noises coming from further down the rocks. Upon further investigation, much to our pleasant surprise, we found adorable fur seals frolicking in and out of the water, some sunning themselves, taking advantage of the warm day. Awestruck by the amount of seals in the area, we sat for almost two hours, enjoying the views. 

               

 

After contemplating taking a cute little seal home, it was decided it would be best to leave the seals behind, and move on to the Cape Palliser lighthouse. It certainly did not disappoint and it provided an incredible view to watch the sun begin to set.