We're Back in the South Island- Blenheim; Part 1

Real-time

Our first night in the South Island was spent parked beside a vineyard, on the side of a river and all by ourselves. It was good to back.

Damfam Vineyard

But first we had to cross Cook Strait. It rained for much of the night and with a 9am sailing and 13kms to travel from Petone in the morning rush hour, we were pleased when we were ready to leave ahead of schedule. There was a moment of panic though when we found the exit gate at the Workingmen's Club locked. Luckily we were able to squeeze the rig around the sharp corner of the building and exit through the entry gate which was open. In typical Evans style we were first in the queue at the closed gate just before 7am. And first in line to board (although they took the row beside us first).

With a winter storm behind us and another one forecast ahead of us, I had picked a small window of calm weather to cross and thankfully my careful scanning of wind warnings and wave height predictions proved correct and we had a very smooth crossing even though it rained all the way. The mist hung low over the hills as we cruised down Queen Charlotte Sound and when I did venture outside just to check I wasn't missing anything, a pod of dolphins surfaced nearby and rode the wake for a short time! Great timing.

We took the Interislander Lounge Plus option ($45pp) for the second time, which we're finding is a great way to travel. All food & drink is free (we had breakfast, morning tea & lunch), there's a comfy lounge, free wifi and no children. The cost is not much more than we'd spend anyway because we usually purchase breakfast and a coffee.

From Picton we drove the short distance to Damfam Vineyard (CAP #7011) on the banks of  Wairau River near Blenheim. 

We were the only ones staying and it was a lovely peaceful start to our South Island travels. The cooler morning temperatures also reminded us of the cold winter ahead.

 I was also pleased to be back 'Out There' in the open shooting magnificent sunsets again.

We were thrilled to see a bird feeding platform beside the vineyard & not too far from the van. Our hosts feed the local hawks regularly over winter and occasionally during summer to encourage them to stay and scare off the small birds that feed on the grapes during the season. 

Australasian Hawks/Kahu are notoriously shy and are often very hard to get close up photos of. I was able to sneak up on them a couple of times as they were otherwise occupied. They also didn't like eating off the high platform, in the wild it's safer for them to eat on the ground and they can also hide from other birds after their food. Occasionally they'd manage to pull pieces off the carcass and carry it off to the long grass or between the rows of vines to eat.

I followed the Wairau River down to the end of the road where it flows into a huge lagoon and crosses the Wairau Bar into Cloudy Bay. Alongside the track the rusting hull of the TSS Kennedy (1864-1929) provides a good lookout for the local flock of Pied Shags/Kawau. The Kennedy was scuttled to form part of the breakwater for what was once a wharf; rotting piles are now all that's left.

I walked to the end of the breakwater and onto the rocks and was amazed at the amount of water flowing out to sea. I'm not a fan of rushing water and here was no exception. It was very scary watching how fast it was travelling, swirling around in angry pools and catching on the rocks just below me before rushing out over the bar.

Next I went to check out the mouth of the Wairau Diversion which was completed in 1963 to help with Wairau River's flood control. The Diversion carries the water directly across country to the sea whereas the river meanders for several kilometres before it reaches the Bar. There's a large freedom camping site at the Diversion and during the whitebait season the area is full of seasoned campers.

As I was leaving the reserve I spotted alot of activity out in the middle of the river. A large flock of shags; I counted at least 30, were swimming downstream, ducking and diving, chasing & fighting their way very fast towards the outlet. 

They were chasing a school of fish (they look like yellow-eyed mullet) and nearly everytime a shag surfaced it had a large fish in it's bill. And if it didn't it chased its neighbour across the water for his. These are not good photos, I was quite a distance from the birds and they were moving very fast in the flow but look at the photo bottom left, 3 birds with a fish each and one shag behind chasing fast.

Back on the main road at Tuamarina is a memorial and information board in a road side reserve. In 1843 a nortorious & tragic incident occured here. Known as The Wairau Affray or The Wairau Incident it was the first significant armed conflict between Maori & British settlers after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. Twenty two Europeans (18 killed as utu after surrendering) and four Maori were killed in the conflict. Click on the photo to enlarge if you wish to read about the incident.

Afterwards I crossed the road and drove up to the cemetery on the hill above the memorial to find another memorial to some of those killed (I'm not sure if they are buried here). Be warned if you do visit, it's a tiny narrow road with a couple of  sharp corners & not suitable for anything other than a car. The multi layered cemetery itself must be one of the most well tended and tidy cemeteries I've visited, it also has a stunning outlook over the farmland and vineyards below and out to the coast.

I found another interesting memorial opposite the primary school at the bottom of the hill as I left the cemetery. Beside the memorial were a couple of bench seats where people could sit quietly or perhaps read a book, very fitting considering Eileen Duggan was a poet & writer. It's always interesting finding out where New Zealand's famous sons & daughters have come from. Not that I'd heard of Eileen before seeing the memorial, but then it's fun to learn of their history.

The Tides Run Up The Wairau – Eileen Duggan 

The tides run up the Wairau 

That fights against their flow. 

My heart and it together 

Are running salt and snow. 

For though I cannot love you, 

Yet, heavy, deep, and far, 

Your tide of love comes swinging, 

Too swift for me to bar. 

Some thought of you must linger, 

A salt of pain in me 

For oh what running river 

Can stand against the sea? 

After a pleasant few days at Damfam Vineyard we headed off towards Kaikoura, keen to drive SH1 for the first time since it had reopened after repairs following the devastating November 2016 Kaikoura earthquake. 

We did have to pull over for a photo stop just south of Blenheim though. The last few times we have passed by this historic Cob Cottage it has been surrounded by scaffolding as it was painted (it survived the earthquake undamaged). The cottage was built between 1854 & 1868 for the local Riverlands runholder and has been used as a farm cottage, shearers’ quarters, school, a store room and hay shed during its lifetime.

To be continued...

Farewell South, Hello North

Catch-up; Happy New Year and welcome to 2018 folks! 

After Marfells Beach we headed into Blenheim and spent a couple of nights back at the Racecourse while we did a few chores and checked the weather forecast. The time had come to say a reluctant farewell to our South Island travels (for the time being) and prepare to cross back to the North Island.

We had the pleasure of meeting John & Judy, who pulled in beside us in their Cougar 5th-wheeler

Marlborough sunsets are magnificent, and during our latest visit, Mother Nature once again didn't fail to impress.

Chores sorted, and in readiness for an early morning sailing, we moved 20kms up the road (and 8kms from Picton) to our favourite NZMCA CAP (cost apply parking) at Koromiko for the night.

For just the second time in 8 sailings we boarded the Interislander for our morning crossing. We usually sail with Bluebridge, they are slightly cheaper but they had no Saturday morning sailings. 

Goodbye Picton :( 

So while we were at it, we decided to sail in style and pay an extra $45 each for the Interislander Plus, a exclusive premium lounge with free food, drink, wifi, magazines etc (well, this was going to be our last crossing for awhile we told ourselves). We usually buy breakfast and a coffee so it wasn't going to be too much more expense. And I can report that it was well worth the extra dollars; breakfast, morning tea and lunch were served buffet style along with cold and hot drinks including alcoholic beverages. In fact there was so much lovely food we couldn't partake in it all.

I had to leave the lounge on a regular basis due to me being a fair weather sailor and needing regular and long doses of fresh air. For some unfathomable reason I forgot to take my Sealegs tablet. I never gave it a thought until we hit the open Strait. And it wasn't even that rough!

But the beauty of freezing your butt off outside is you get the opportunity of searching for sealife- click to enlarge and see if you can spot it.....tiny, caught mid-air, centre left (and if you still miss it, like Mum & Dad, there's a zoomed in shot at the bottom of the post).

The last drag before turning, to head into Wellington Harbour, always seems to take forever as they overshoot the entrance before lining it up to pass through. Once the turn happens I can rest easy and my tummy settles as we run with the swell (you wouldn't believe we once had a launch would you?). It's a blustery day and we leave a few dozen sailors in our wake.

Ahead of us Wellington city looks stunning on a beautiful blue sky day and suddenly my peaceful spot on the deck is overflowing with passengers checking out the sights.

We get the call to head to our vehicles and we make our way down 7 or 8 flights of steps, carefully checking for the deck number we need before exiting. It's very easy to get confused in the bowels of the ship and we meet a few people who have lost their way and are coming back up the narrow stairway. We find the rig where we left her, sandwiched between two big truck and trailer units.

It's not long before we're off-loaded and following a long line of random vehicles that are weaving their way through and around numerous port buildings until we finally exit onto the busy city waterfront road. We turn north and quickly settle into the new norm; fast and furious motorway traffic. "Welcome back to the North Island, there'll be no leisurely stroll along up here, thankyou very much!"

We head to the relatively new NZMCA Park at Plimmerton where we find ourselves a spot for the night. After a cup of tea and a brief discussion we decide we're out of there too. This was definitely the shortest stay ever at a park.

We were actually intending to head to Tauranga but we had a change of plan, the only problem being we were on the wrong side of the island, usually this wouldn't have been an issue (and it still wasn't really) but with the Manawatu Gorge closed indefinitely it meant we'd have to cross the Pahiatua Track; a winding, narrow, but perfectly adequate, road over the Tararua Range. Had we changed our plans earlier we would have left Wellington and headed into the Wairarapa over the Rimutakas.

Heading up the Kapiti Coast

And that was how, 4 hours later, we found ourselves parked at Napier's NZMCA Park. A park that we would never usually stay at because we have our very own private POP (park over property) in town.

We'd decided to surprise Mum & Dad and detour to Napier for a week. They had recently won a couple of places in the Napier Garden Competition and we wanted to attend the prizegiving with them when one prize winner won the Supreme Garden award.

They received a first place in the first time entry section and a second place in the vegetable garden section and while they didn't win the big one, we were thrilled and very proud of them that they'd been recognised (and especially Dad who is the prime gardener) for their efforts. Pretty good for a couple of octogenarians (Ok, well...one not quite octogenarian). 

The morning after arriving in Napier, and once we'd taken down Dad's carport sail and poles, we shifted from the NZMCA Park to our very familiar concrete pad in suburbia.

A week later and with just two and a bit weeks free before we needed to be back in Napier, we headed off to another very familiar campsite, our 'home base' at the Mt Maunganui Holiday Park.

We were a few weeks closer to Christmas on this visit than the last, and the campground was extremely busy, especially in the Oceanside sections. 

We settled into the Harbourside section of the campground overlooking Pilot Bay which is just as lovely and not quite so busy....

...if you don't count a couple of school camps that came and went while we were there. Actually it was really nice to be back in amongst people again, have a few laughs with other campers and generally feel the good vibes that are part of this crazy resort town.

The very first visitor to our door (within 5 minutes of setting up camp) was this super cute but cheeky thrush who invited itself inside at any opportunity or stood on the step silently staring us out if we didn't feed it. It had a shy fledgling hiding under the van that it took any titbits to. 

The Mount was looking at its best with shades of deep red splashed across its flanks as many of the large pohutukawa trees (NZ's very own christmas tree) that grow around Mt Maunganui/Mauao were blooming or just about to bloom. 

It felt good to be back on home soil (sand), it was just a pity I had to rest my foot as I couldn't make the most of  the walking tracks, although I did manage to limp two circuits of the Base Track before we left.

We had a very busy two weeks catching up with family and friends, dinners and BBqs to attend, Christmas shopping to take care of and ticking off annual appointments with Drs and dentists etc.

And it was a lovely surprise to have our good friends Amanda & Paul arrive for some fun and frivolities. They brought their 5th-wheeler down from Pyes Pa where they had been staying and parked beside us for a few days. We'd last seen them in Mapua, Nelson over a year ago, so we had a lot of catching up to do.

And it's definitely a small world when you own a fifth-wheeler, friends who came to see Amanda & Paul were also looking for us (not knowing that we were parked together). They are new owners of a 5th-wheeler and are good friends of our Southland family's parents (who live in the Bay).

Most afternoons and early evenings, we watched from our van, a number of para-gliders ride the thermals after launching themselves from the top of the Mount.

They rose and dropped, dipped and whirled on their way to their landing spot on the Main Beach. They'd then haul their gear back up the track to the top and do it all again. From our vantage point it often looked like they were about to land on the Oceanside Twin Tower apartment block.

More to come from the Mount soon...

And what did I see from the top deck of the Interislander- a Common Dolphin, in fact I saw half a dozen of his mates too but they disappeared very quickly, he rode the bow wave for a short time.