Pullin' Out

Finally the time had come to say goodbye to the family and head back 'Out There'. We had planned to leave yesterday morning but the day dawned cold, grey and wet so we made an executive decision and decided to delay our departure until this morning. You can do that when you have no firm plans, part of the joy of living on the road. One more day is neither here nor there in the scheme of things.

With the van off the concrete pad, we helped Dad put his carport 'sail' back up; his car will be looking forward to being under cover again. And the neighbour will be pleased to not be looking at the back of a hulking great big brown wall out her kitchen window.

We said our farewells to Mum & Dad, not too sure when we'll be seeing them again- I think I'll have to keep an eye out for cheap flights to Napier. I said goodbye to Lily too (my gorgeous cat who has had a new Mum & Dad for the last 3 years), she's getting old now and we think her kidneys are failing but she still enjoys life and is great company for Mum & Dad. 

And then headed up to the newly revamped dump station at the Boundary on Marine Parade. This must be the best view of any dump station we've visited in New Zealand, right out across Hawke Bay to Cape Kidnappers. And it's a great station too, easy access with a dump station on both sides so it's no problem where your outlet pipe is situated.....except we came in the wrong way! Never mind, no one about and it was easier driving out with no sharp turn.

We'd originally thought we'd overnight somewhere on the way to Wellington but it was such a lovely day for driving and it is only 300km, and we were a day behind out initial plan, so in the end we drove all the way through. We stopped at Takapu for a late lunch and then Featherston for a walk around and a cup of tea before the big climb over the Rimutakas and straight into 5 o'clock rush hour!

It actually didn't take too long to drive through the city and back to our favourite overnight stop at Evans Bay. It was like coming home....except we had visitors. Plenty of them and they'd taken most of the good parks! 

So we had to back our tiny mobile home in beside these two ginormous buses. I still can't get used to preparing dinner while overlooking a busy arterial route with cars, bikes and people passing just a couple of feet from my back window. It's just weird.

We'll be up and gone early, we're booked on the 8am sailing to Picton. And this time I shall make sure I have taken my Sealegs before we leave. I don't want a repeat of the last sailing.

See you on the other side!

Back on the Mainland

Leaving Mangaweka we continued on heading south. We took SH54, the scenic route, turning off the main road at Vinegar Hill. At the bottom of Vinegar Hill is reserve beside the river where freedom camping is allowed. Luckily it wasn’t one I chose to stay at on our way through; it was a beautiful spot, a large grassy area under trees on the edge of the river sheltered by those ever present white cliffs. But the entrance was a narrow and low tunnel through thick bush, there would be no way anything larger than a small campervan would get through. More’s the pity, as I’m sure it would be a very popular spot- maybe that is why they keep the trees low!

The road's quite twisty with a lot of climbing as we wound our way up and over the many river plateaus that have formed over hundreds of thousands of years. The lookout at the top had 180 degree views looking west out over farmland. I should have done a panorama, this shot is looking north west, the direction we had come from.

Foxton Beach was our next stop, we’d decided on a camp ground as we needed to do some laundry, give the batteries a boost after being off the grid for over two weeks and have a decent long hot shower- even though there were signs everywhere stating “5 Minute Showers Only Please!”. We figured as we were the only ones in camp there’d be nobody lining up to use them.

Foxton Beach Campground is obviously a very busy camp in the height of the season, it’s large and sprawling. There are many semi permanent baches that looked to be owned (or leased) in the campground. Most have a caravan with a ‘lean to’ attached- I would say this must be part of the rules; able to be moved off the site and not leave a trace. Although looking at some of the more elaborate ones I guess that will never happen. Most have a quad bike garage attached too, the best mode of transport in beach communities. There are many batches for sale.

The camp is beside a river and on the edge of the beach but there is no easy access to the beach as there are a lot of high dunes between the sea and the camp. There’s also no access gates through the fence or tracks at the back of the camp. Instead a sandy vehicle track follows the river to it’s mouth and at low tide you can drive right around out onto the beach. We did.

There are plenty of signs regarding driving on the beach- it’s to be treated as a legal road, all drivers must be licensed, helmets must be worn if on a bike and the speed limit is 30kp/h. You also must stick to the hard sand, definitely no dune driving. It reminds us of Oreti Beach near Invercargill in the deep south, we had a lovely day there with the family back at the beginning of our travels. It looks like it must stretch as far too, disappearing over the horizon. We drive up the beach until we reach the Foxton Beach Surf Club where there is another entrance/exit to the beach.

We think about coming back in the morning and maybe doing a bit of fishing but I’ve been watching the weather and Friday is the best window of opportunity to have a calm Strait crossing;  a fine day between rough seas and high winds. Foxton fishing will have to wait.

We leave Foxton Thursday morning, heading for Evans Bay in central Wellington where we’ll stay the night before catching the 8am sailing with Bluebridge on Friday morning. We pull into Queen Elizabeth Park near Paekakariki for lunch, driving through the park to the beach front but stopping on the way to view the US Marine Memorial.

It’s a very interesting and informative memorial, there are six ‘hut’ walls with information panels on them, at the rear of the walls is another memorial, part of a LCVP (landing craft, vehicle & personnel) with the names of ten men that lost their lives in rough seas while on an exercise off the beach nearby.

Over 15,000 US Marines camped in the area during WWII, this was the training base for infantry regiments preparing to fight the Japanese in the Pacific and help defend NZ if it had been attacked. NZ solders were away fighting in North Africa & Europe and couldn’t be spared. British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill asked the US President Roosevelt to send a division of US Marine troops to NZ. The first US Marines arrived in mid 1942 and the last left in late 1943. Troops returned to Paekakariki for R&R after battles in the Pacific and were not always welcomed by the locals & the missing NZ troops who called the Marines 'bedroom commandos'. Over 500 marines married Kiwi women.

We made it safely through the Wellington City traffic and pulled into Evans Bay mid afternoon. What a transformation this free camping area has gone through since our last stop there, on our way to the North Island last November. Then it had only just been given the green light as an parking spot and we were the only ones in overnight. Fast forward 3 months and it was like Piccadilly Station, at last count around 10pm there were 27 vans & sleeper cars parked up- it’s meant to be for CSS vehicles (certified self-contained) but at least half of the overnighters were in cars that would not have been self-contained. I can see that this will be another site we’ll lose because people don’t follow the rules.

We had to ask a couple of vans to move as they parked outside the marked parks & too close to the corner which we had to pull around at 6am in the morning. One of them, a large motorhome, pulled in at around 11:30pm and parked mostly in the drive right in front of us. I don’t think David got an hours sleep all night, every vehicle he heard he was sure it was going to park right in front of us- I told him not to worry, I'd be happy to knock on their window at 5:30am. And before anybody asks, yes we’re taking up more space than most- it was all mostly clear when we arrived. We pulled into a double park but were overhanging too much. It is actually a large carpark but most wanted to park down our end away from the corner traffic noise I think.

We were up and gone just after 6am and were lined up to board the ferry by 6:30am, missing all the morning traffic through the city. David had no problems driving on, we were squashed into place between two large trucks near the front. We found ourselves a comfy seat upstairs and settled in for a boring 3 hours. I always forget to bring something to read and the movie wasn’t that great. I did go outside a number of times but between the diesel and cow poop smell (a stock truck was directly below the back deck) it wasn’t a pleasant experience. Mind you the strong coffee smell inside wasn’t much better. As I had hoped & planned for, it was a smooth crossing and not before time we were pulling into Picton once again.

We were hoping to call in and see friends in Picton before heading off but they were out of town for a few days. Initially we had planned on leaving the van at Nelson Lakes & then driving the Rainbow Road & Molesworth Station over two days, staying in Hanmer overnight, before picking the van up again and heading west. These plans were thrown into disarray when the Molesworth Station road was closed a few weeks ago due to the high fire risk because of the extreme drought situation over much of the South Island.

We decided to head east to Ward Beach for a few days, then catch our friends next week before heading west to Murchison. Some of you will remember Ward Beach from when we stayed there last July, in the middle of winter!

The transformation of the surrounding hills, since we last passed through this area, is amazing. It’s bone dry everywhere you look except, of course, for the bright green of the many vineyards.

There’s not much stock in the paddocks although I do see a few lonely (and hungry, no doubt) sheep & cattle here and there.

Near Dashwood Pass we can see where a grass fire has burnt out a large area. I recall when this happened back in January and the main highway was closed for a few hours as they fought the fire. Toady we’re stopped for a short time at road works.

Finally we pull into the camp site at Ward Beach, once again we’re surprised, it’s looking much more inviting than it was when we were here in winter- last time the sun (when it made an appearance) disappeared behind the hill before 3pm, now it's about 5:30pm.  It’s also amazing how a fine day can change your outlook. This time we’re not the only van in camp, there are 6 or 7 parked up and they come and go all weekend.

The land belongs to a local farmer and is right beside the beach reserve. All he asks for is a donation and you can stay for as long as you like. It’s strictly for CSS vehicles only and there is no fresh water available. It’s a beautiful spot and if you’re a keen diver, paua & crayfish can be found just off shore. This morning a pod of dolphins frolicked around the rocks offshore, we think they may have been the tiny and rare Hectors dolphins.

Here's the camp today and below it, the camp last July. The river on the right has now dried up and there's just a large stagnant pool near the rocky bank.

Next - Unfinished Business.
I wonder how many might know what we do next….

Camping in Wellington

As predicted we were first in line at Picton’s Bluebridge ferry terminal, which actually wasn’t hard as there were 8 lines. We arrived there just after 6am, & in fact were the 4th in line at the drive through check in booth, on a what looked to be, a perfect day for sailing!

The lady with the hi-vis jacket is from bio-security, checking all vehicles for items- fishing, boating & tramping gear- that may have had contact with water from the lakes & rivers around the South Island. Checking for didymo, commonly known as ‘rock snot’, the introduced, very evasive aquatic algae pest that is choking the pristine waters of the South Island. It has not been transferred to the North Island. Yet. Unfortunately I think it’s only a matter of time though. All gear must be cleaned with detergent or a bleach solution to kill the spores. Our boots & fishing gear had been cleaned in soapy water thanks to David’s meticulous ways but we must wash the boat down again, and the outboard, when we next inflate it.

The warm sun finally reached us as we waited in line, David enjoying a chat with an American guy & his daughter in the motorhome next door. They were keen to talk about the 5th-wheeler and their time in NZ. Before long and without any fuss we were loaded and ready to roll, it was a quiet day compared with our crossing 13 months ago when one of the opposition's ships had been out of service for weeks putting pressure on all Cook Strait crossings.

We pulled out of Picton, feeling a little sad that we were leaving the South Island behind but looking forward to catching up with family & friends in the North Island after 13 months away. And at least we know we will be back to finish exploring in the new year.

Queen Charlotte Sound looked picture perfect on this early morning spring day. I was just happy the ferocious winds of yesterday had gone. Up on the top deck this whanau (family) were having a feast, a large pile of crayfish bodies wrapped in newspaper- their version of fish ‘n chips, without the fish or the chips! Overseas tourists looked on with mouths dropped in amazement- one lady told another that she’d bought a crayfish half the size for $80 in Kaikoura and here these people were feasting on at least 8 crayfish. I didn’t like to tell them that the tails, where all the meat is, were gone, they just had the bodies & legs where arguably the tastier meat is, but it does involve a little more work in getting to it.

Now that we’ve travelled around the Sounds, viewing where we’ve been from the water takes on a whole new meaning. We pass Waikawa Bay Marina, just around the point from Picton and where we stayed in the holiday park for the last two nights.

Whatamango Bay certainly looks a lot more appealing from this distance and with fine weather. We were tucked into the DOC camp around the point on the right for two nights.

And the ridge the Queen Charlotte Track runs along, looks nowhere near as high as it does from the road.

After an hour or so we turn right out of Queen Charlotte Sound through the Tory Channel and head out into a calm Cook Strait with the North Island clearly in view. Yes! Another smooth crossing ahead of us, which is pretty lucky (for me) given that there have been some big seas lately. David gets lost in conversation with the American guy again. What’s with David, boats and Americans? I wander about in the fresh air, up to the top deck and down again, from one side to the other and back inside for a short time; diesel fumes and gentle rocking are not my friends. Finally we turn into Wellington Harbour and hit a stiff wind head on. No waves though.

In no time at all we are offloaded and on the road heading through the middle of Wellington city on a busy Sunday morning; there’s a market on in the carpark near Te Papa museum and every car in creation is picking up or dropping off people in the slow lane and then pulling out into the middle lane without looking; our lane as it happens.

Finally we weave through them all and head off up the hill and around the corner, and without any warning (that we saw), straight into Victoria Tunnel which was not what we were expecting. I had visions of the Homer Tunnel and the stories of motorhomes that have clipped the sides or got stuck inside but this is a much larger tunnel and used to having larger vehicles passing through it. Of course we were fine but it still gave me a bit of a fright to have it suddenly appear in front of us.

We were staying in Wellington overnight so we could catch up with David’s youngest daughter Liz who we haven’t seen in 15 months and who usually lives in Melbourne. She is heading back there in the new year so we were thrilled to be able to stop off and and have some time with her before heading north. And where to stay in Wellington? Well Evans Bay of course!

The large carpark at the end of Evans Bay Marina is now a designated freedom camping area, it was only confirmed a week or so ago through the NZMCA- although when I googled it today, I found an article saying that a final decision would be made in December. Hmm…perhaps we jumped the gun a little.

This is an ideal area for camping as it’s very handy to the ferries and downtown. There were no signs stating the new designation and in fact a sign on the boat shed wall still said ‘No Camping’, but we re-checked the notification and we were in the right area so we pulled in. At first we lined up alongside the water with a great view over the marina but then realised that, that section was shaded red on the freedom camping notification. There was also a constant stream of people walking and cycling past our front door and up the path on the bank.  We had to wait for some cars to move before we could shift, they were parked along the wall beside the grass bank.

The carpark looks to be used by the locals to teach kids to ride their bikes, two or three families arrived during the afternoon with pushbikes, kids and dogs. And then two different lots of people on motorbikes learning to ride them as well. Finally they all left and we pulled in along the wall, the container behind us has something about selling Xmas trees on it. It was with a bit of consternation we learn from Liz that the ‘wind wand’ sculpture used to be behind the blue cloth & scaffolding. It got blown to smithereens by lightening during a wild storm back in August. Now that would have been interesting if we'd been parked up when that happened.

We had a lovely afternoon and evening with Liz, it was good to catch up and have a few laughs. It was also a bit surreal sitting in our home having dinner near a busy Wellington intersection and with the airport close by, planes taking off and landing, along with dozens of passing Wellingtonians out walking or cycling enjoying a warm spring evening. Oh to be back in the wops….

I thought the traffic noise might have been an issue but we both had a reasonably good night’s sleep. We waited for rush hour to pass before we pulled out, we had a clear run through the city and on up the coast, the weather overcast & showery and a little windy.

We stopped for lunch at the Quarter Acre Cafe in Manakau and I thought I’d give it a plug here. What a great spot to stop for a break; morning or afternoon tea, breakfast, lunch or dinner. It’s quite a large place with an outdoor garden area for sunny days or warm rooms inside. The staff extremely friendly & cheerful, the food superb and very reasonably priced too. Well worth a visit if you need a break on your travels.

Tonight we are parked up at the NZMCA Park in Marton along with quite a number of others. Initially we backed in near the large green tree at the back of the site but quickly moved when I discovered we couldn't get TV because the satellite dish was blocked by the tree. Luckily I’ve learnt to check before we set up. Most of the time.

This is obviously a popular park and well positioned for members who are moving up and down the North Island. The old Marton camping ground was purchased by NZMCA who have, with the help of local members, re-fenced, landscaped, renovated some buildings and removed others from the property. It now provides a safe and secure space for members to stay on their travels and all for the princely sum of $3 pp per night. It’s also located beside a large park and gardens and just a short distance from town.