Day 60 - Marlborough Sound, Nelson, Abel Tasman, Blenheim and Kaikoura
Left Picton, stocked up on food and Gas then drove to Kenapuru Head, a fairly remote place in the Marlborough Sound. Found a DOC campsite – a bit different from what we were used to, it just had cold tap and a composting toilet. Lovely.
Didn’t do much during the day, some reading, writing, cooking and sunbathing. Went for a run later on which was cool as it was so remote, think I saw one car on the road. We had bought solar showers back when we first got the van – basically a big plastic bag you fill up with water and leave in the sun to heat up, then hang up in a tree or whatever. Had set them up in the morning so got a half decent shower when I came back from the run. Something fun about having a shower naked on a beach in the complete middle of nowhere. Early night as there wasn’t much to do besides sleep.
Drove along the northern coast to Nelson, back to a normal campsite and the luxury of hot showers than came with it! This campsite was massive though, so much bigger than anything else we had been in. It had loads of caravans that looked like they’d become permanent homes for people. We took a drive around the site and found a teenage guy outside one practising using nunchucks. I’m not one to judge, but he wouldn’t have looked out of place in deliverance and stared at us the whole time we drove past. Decided to stick to our side of the campsite.
Had a wander and Nelson and got yet more books, then had a walk along Tahuna beach. Not much sun so we didn’t stay long. Got some food for dinner and stopped by the local ‘Warehouse’ for a browse (standard). Grant bought a rugby ball and I eventually found a straw trilby that fitted my massive head. On the way back to the campsite Grant said I look like I should be going to T in the Park, getting drunk and living in a campsite, then he realised that’s what we’ve been doing for the last few weeks. Had dinner and watched TV at the campsite. Grant decide to shape his beard (this will never last) and I’m still persevering with mine, it looks questionable at best.
The next day we drove North to Kaiteriteri, and an even bigger campsite right in front of the beach there. Booked a sea kayaking trip for the next day and went and did some shopping. Spent some time on the beach then went for a run over the cliffs – hip was killing me so it turned it to a bit more of a walk. On the way back I noticed the campsite manager/owners house had their Christmas decorations up, it’s only the end of November! Only other person in the world who might have them up by now is my Auntie Irene. Had dinner then some beers at the bar next to the campsite then got an early night before the kayaking trip.
Up early and drove to Marahau for the sea kayaking along the coast of the Abel Tasman national park. Got to the place in good time and were good to go until I managed to lock the keys to the van, and my bag for the day inside the van. Oops. Luckily the guys at the kayak place were all as dodgy as can be and popped the door open for us with a bent bit of wire in about 2 minutes. Makes we wonder how secure the van really is! Whole thing reminded me of that time Grant managed to lock his keys in the car on the way to Oban last year…
The day wasn’t great weather wise, pretty cloudy and windy which made for huge waves on the boat journey out to start paddling, which was a bit hairy! The trip was really good, we paddled from Tonga Island where a seal colony live, south to a big sheltered bay called the Anchorage, and took in a couple of lagoons along the way. It was just Grant and I along with the guide which was good. Saw some really nice coast line along the way, especially in the afternoon when the weather brightened up a bit. When we got back to base in the afternoon we found out a lot of people had refused to go out in the morning because of the weather, and one guy with his own kayak ended up washed onto rocks and smashed his boat in half! We just thought the big waves made the paddling more fun! Another night in Kaiteriteri, we were knackered. Grant shaved off his beard, knew he had no commitment.
Up the next day and back on the road. Had planned to drive from Kaiteriteri to Kaikoura on the east coast on much of the same road we had driven up there on, but as we were leaving we spoke to the eccentric lady who was in the caravan next to us who told us to take a different, more inland, route that she described as “mmmmm, sugar!”. We weren’t sure what this meant but took her advice and drove via St. Arnaud’s and lake Rotoiti, really scenic. On to Renwick, where we stopped to do some wine tasting (very civilised!) - loads on vineyards in the area, but we picked ‘Cloudy Bay’ as I remembered it being a really expensive wine when I worked in 29. The woman at the tasting told us there was a spittoon if we didn’t want to swallow the wine, we tried not to laugh at her. Tried 6 wines and really liked 1 so bought a bottle – the same stuff the was really expensive when I worked on that bar. Only cost us about ₤12 though, in saying that, probably the most expensive bottle of wine I’ve ever bought. Drove through Blenheim and on to Kaikoura, where we booked a dolphin swimming trip for the morning.
Up early for swimming, got given wetsuits, snorkels and flippers then got taken to the boats, travelled about half an hour down the coast where they had found a pod of about 200-300 Dusky Dolphins. We were in and out of the water about 5 times swimming around with them, amazing! You snorkelled along the surface while they swam underneath you and sometimes around you if they got a bit interested. We were told to make noises through our snorkels to get the dolphins interested – Grant and I went for a Rolling Stones medley and the dolphins went mad for it. Awesome experience though. Between swims an American woman asked me if my camera was waterproof (we’ve just come out the water, it’s tied round my wrist and soaking wet) Grant replied “no, but he’s just taking a chance with it…”
Afterwards we drove down the coast to Christchurch and had a lazy afternoon and night, swimming with dolphins is hard work!
By the way, my camera is waterproof, obviously…
