The South Island

Monday 8th August 2016 – We woke before dawn and had breakfast down by the seafront at Owhiro Bay. It was raining heavily and the sky was an iron grey all the way to the horizon so we decided to use the day to take the Ferry to the South Island. It was a rough 3 1/2 hour crossing from Wellington to Picton but we did find an unused power point to recharge our devices; cunningly located next to one of the doors onto deck so as to dispense regular icy blasts of wind at anyone desperate enough to use it. Driving off the ferry we made our way along Queen Charlotte Drive with its spectacular coastal views until we reached a lovely but deserted little campsite called Momorangi. Winter camping in New Zealand is not for the gregarious; we have been alone at about half the campsites we have stayed at so far. This is not without its advantages though as there was no one there to disapprove when we switched all twelve of the electric hobs in the kitchen to max in a bid to stave off hypothermia while we cooked dinner.

Tuesday 9th August 2016 – The early hours of the morning had been bitingly cold and it was an effort to haul our already chilled bodies out into the frosty air although the lakeside view and a hot cup of tea soon improved our mood. Today we drove to Elaine Bay. The sun shone bright, the sky was blue and the winter air was cold and clear. It was the perfect day to enjoy one of New Zealand’s most spectacular stretches of coastline. We drove on to the French Pass, a spit of land. In all our travels so far we agreed this was the most beautiful place we had seen. In the sunshine every detail was pin sharp from the shimmering of the turquoise blue ocean to the dark, manicured stands of conifers in the distance to the greener than green of the granite strewn hillsides that plunged steeply to the sea. At the end of the French Pass is a narrow strait where the tide rushes between Tasman Bay and the Cook Strait. It was impressive to hear the roar of the white water as it rushed through the shallow channel creating a run of rapids with whirlpools, back eddies and stopper waves. In the car park was a weka with an injured foot. Alysa fed it some muesli which it pecked up hungrily. After a late lunch we drove back along the pass and on to Nelson to meet an old school friend of Alysa’s who lives there. Unfortunately he wasn’t well so we shared a pepperoni pizza and drove towards Abel Tasman. It was late so we just pulled onto a side road at the top of a mountain for the night. The sky was clear so we opened the sunroof, poured a glass of wine and watched for shooting stars from the warmth of our cosy bed.

Wednesday 10th August 2016 – We started our drive to Abel Tasman pre-dawn and had breakfast at the DOC Totaranui campground while a striking pair of ducks waddled on the grass nearby. Our walk to Separation Point took us through dark, mossy forest, into sandy coves and along rocky shores. The wind blew and the sun shone. From the cliffs of Separation Point we spied a lone bull seal sharing the rocks with a colony of pied shags and we climbed down for a closer view where to our surprise we found dozens more pairs of flippers and doleful eyes sunbathing on rocks that had been hidden from view. I went to take a closer look and got quite a fright when a seal hidden behind a rock reared up in front of me, teeth bared and growling ferociously. Alysa was very amused. Back on the cliff top we watched a pair swimming through the clear blue water together, marvelling at their marine acrobatics as they turned and spun in unison. On our way back we saw another pinniped lying on the sand near the water. It seemed a strange place for it to hang out and its lack of interest in our presence made us wonder whether it was unwell. That evening we made the long drive to the town of Lyell where we slept at another deserted DOC campsite.

Thursday 11th August 2016 – Our first stop of the day was Charming Creek, the site of an old timber and coal mining operation. We walked along the old railway line that follows the river up the picturesque gorge and with hundreds of icicles hanging invitingly from the canyon walls we couldn’t resist wielding them as lightsabers in a Luke vs Vader showdown. Back at the car park a train collecting coal from the still working mine nearby had blocked our exit. Alysa had driven about a hundred yards down the train tracks before we realised what had happened and quickly went into reverse. New Zealand seems to have an unusually relaxed attitude to level crossings; usually a simple road sign is your only warning that several hundred tonnes of locomotive may be about to cross your path. There are roundabouts with train tracks going right through the middle but I think our favourite was the one lane bridge where we had to give way to oncoming cars and trains. After a few minutes the choo-choo had moved on and our way to Punakaiki rocks was clear. Punakaiki Rocks is one of the big attractions in New Zealand and we were excited to see it. At high tide, with a big sea it is spectacular; the blowhole showers spectators high above with spray and the ground vibrates as a deep bass resonates in the cavern below. Unfortunately the weather was fine and sunny again and the sea, only running at a gentle swell was in no state to make Punakaiki rock. Back at the car park Alysa fed muslei to the wekas who would gather as many bits as they could manage in their beaks before hurrying into the bushes to feed their hungry chicks. The campsite we were staying at had a good book on New Zealand birds from which we learned that the ducks we had seen the previous day were Paradise Shelducks. After cooking up a big batch of vegetable stew we played darts and downloaded our photos to Dropbox. Alysa always breathes a sigh of relief when our photos finally make it safely onto the cloud.