Saturday - the loan of a car

Today we did a run out in the TRs to Pelorus Bridge for a picnic. Robert and Stella generously, possibly foolishly, lent us their TR5 and we had a wonderful day driving through the magnificent NZ scenery with the top down. We had been given the route and a quiz first thing in the morning, and we started with a drive through some of the many vineyards around Blenheim.

One stop in the morning was at a parts restoration shop, where a number of TRs were for sale or being restored. We then carried on to Havelock, using the inland route this time. Strange revisiting a place, we could actually recommend the best restaurant in town should anyone have wanted to know.

Lunch was a picnic eaten at the DOC campsite at Pelorus Bridge. TRs as far as the eyes could see.

The return route took us along the Queen Charlotte Drive. We had done this before, but it was so nice to do it in a TR rather than in a campervan with all the crockery and cutlery sliding from side to side at every bend.

Back at the hotel we prepared for the evenings meal to be held at the Vintners Hotel. The theme was espionage, and Stella, Morag and I had done some shopping at the $3 store the day before in preparation. We seemed to have ended up more like the Mafia than a bunch of spies, but we must have got something right as I won the best dressed lady award!

'Spy' is a tricky subject for fancy dress, after all the best spies are totally invisible. There were, however, many Renes and Michelle's from 'Ello, 'ello.

One table had surgical gloves with one gold finger on each!

I particularly liked these two, who had come from behind the Iron Curtain! One of them won the best dressed male.

During the meal the many concours cups were presented, and a few other certificates for less serious reasons. A very pleasant evening, with music provided by the Nelson Jazz Big Band (Dave, one of the TR group, was a saxophonist in the band), which finished with dancing!

Tomorrow is the last day of the main National Weekend, a drive somewhere for lunch, then we start on the tour!

Friday - TR NZ National weekend

Today started with a briefing about the day's activities, then Mick and I split up for the day. Mick went off with Robert to the Sir Peter Jackson Heritage aircraft and car museum in Robert's TR5, whilst I, Stella and Morag went wandering around Blenheim shops. Not many purchases, just a few things for the themed dinner on Saturday night, then lunch and back to the motel for a leisurely afternoon.

Meanwhile the group at the museum had a concours competition, and looked around the two museums. The airplanes were often shown as part of detailed dioramas with very realistic mannequins, and Mick thoroughly enjoyed himself. 

We all met up later at the motel, then I quickly visited a local quilt shop (The Quilting Barn) before we got ready for the evening dinner.

Dinner was held at the Marlborough Clubs, and was a buffet for about 130 people. We were greeted by the local mayor, and then had many interesting chats with several of the group. Tomorrow we are going on a tour up to Nelson, with a picnic lunch, and it looks very likely that Mick and I will both be able to travel with other people in their TRs, rather than having to take the hire car.

Thursday - whales, wrecks and friends

We were up early this morning, and had a delicious breakfast cooked by our lovely B&B host Margaret. We also learnt a lot about her early life on the original farm on that spot, and her 81 years living there.

After the winds of the previous night we had our doubts if our whale watching trip would go ahead, but we reported to the port at 7.45 am to be asked if we were good sailors, and to be told there was an acute sea sickness alert on the trip, but it would go ahead. We went for it, and discovered two other boats had already gone out that morning. At least it gave us a chance to photograph a sister boat.

After about half an hour we sighted a sperm whale! We actually ended up seeing the same whale on three separate occasions; on the second sighting he stayed on the surface for a long time so everyone got a chance to get good photos. The best photo, as always, is when he goes to dive, and his tail comes out of the water.

 

After time spent watching the whale (he is resident in the bay and is called Tiaka) we moved away from the deep trench close to Kiakoura, and motored to a shallower area where we could see Dusky Dolphins. They played alongside the boat and in the bow wave until we had to return to the harbour. The sea had quietened down a lot of then and all in all we had a great morning.

 

After a wander round in Kiakoura we drove north and stopped for lunch at Nin's Bin, the other crayfish cafe. We felt we had a duty to compare the two crayfish vendors! This one sold chips as well!

 

As we got closer to Blenheim, and particularly as we drove through the Awatere Valley, we started to see more and more vines. Some plantations were small, some were huge.

 

Just south of Blenheim we did a 7 km walk round a lagoon and marshy area. It was the flattest walk we had done anyway in the South Island! At the midpoint we saw the wreck of the Waverley, an 1883 steamer which had grounded in the lagoon in 1928 and had been left there to rust away. It was actually on its way to be scuttled by the bar into the river mouth at Blenheim when it ran into problems.

 

Mick had a look inside but all that was left of the interior was a pile of rust.

We saw masses of tiny crabs round the lagoon, plus grey herons and black swans, so a very pleasant walk.

Then we hurried into Blenheim where we met up with Robert and Stella at the motor lodge we are all staying in. After unpacking the car we walked over to the main hotel for the NZ TR Register National weekend, registered, then went to the bar for a beer. Then it was time for a buffet meal, and lots of talking. We met many members of the group, and I'm sure by the end of the weekend we will have got to know many more!

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Wednesday - farewell to the campervan

We were up fairly early this morning as we needed to prepare the van for returning it to Wilderness. First job was to have Spainish omelette sandwiches to use up the fridge contents, then, with all relevant tanks refilled or emptied, we set off back to Christchurch. Once there we finished up our ice creams then unloaded everything!

As Wilderness had no one available to drive us to Apex to get our hire car, we drove there in the van, completed the paperwork and then Mick returned the van while I waited, and waited, for our car to be ready. Eventually I was given our new chariot for the next stage of our adventure, and we packed it with all our luggage. Lucky it's got a huge boot!

The very friendly host on our last campsite had recommended a good stop for lunch, the Pukeko Junction. We duly found it, just south of Amberley, and had a delicious meal.

 

This church was in Amberley, and we had a good view of it as we were stopped at the roadworks for some time!

We carried on driving north to Kaikoura, through a couple of interesting areas, but the sky got darker and darker. By the time we arrived the wind was howling a gale, and the waves were getting bigger and bigger. We're due to go whale watching tomorrow morning at 7.45, but won't be too surprised if it is cancelled.

Finally got to our B&B at about 5 pm, and have a lovely room, with an attached lounge. We would be sharing this with other guests, but we appear to be the only ones here. A welcome cup of tea and a muffin on arrival, and we are now pursuing all the available books and leaflets prior to going out to eat.

 

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Tuesday - back to Christchurch

Today is our last full day in the camper van. We started with a walk in the Hamner Forest. This was a pine forest, on the flat, so very different from all the other walks we had done.

Then we went to visit the springs baths that have made Hanmer famous. No photos, but we spent a very pleasant two hours moving from sulphur pools (42 deg C) to cooler pools, and using the water slides. I'm not sure if they have sold a senior rate entry with access to the slides before!

 

After an ice cream for lunch we drove out of town, starting the drive back towards Christchurch. This was the Hamner River Bridge where they do bungy jumping and rafting. Not much activity there, but it looked nice.

 

We've been past a lot of wine growing areas in the last few days. Unlike France they seem to put nets over their vines. Not sure if they are protecting them from birds or the wind.

 

We stopped at Waikari, and took an energetic walk up the hill to see some Maori cave art. Sadly a professor decided that they should be over painted to preserve them back in the early 1900s, but they were still interesting.

 

On our way back we discovered that one of the fields we had to cross was now full of cattle, but Mick practised his herding skills again and moved them all out of the way. He had to do a similar job with a few sheep as well before we got back to the van.

Time for another ice cream (we still have a few to finish before we hand the van back), then just across the road was the final stop on the historic Weka Pass Railway, so we went across and had a nosy around at the station building.

Now we are sitting in a lovely campsite, washing machine is on and it's time for our last evening meal in the van. Tomorrow it's ice cream for breakfast, then we'll return the van before getting a hire car for the rest of the trip.

 

 

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Monday - Marfells Beach to Hanmer Springs

For the first time for a long while our sleep last night was disturbed by the sound of rain. We woke this morning to low cloud and a light drizzle. A very slow start to the day, and a very short walk on the beach.

You can see a pinkish tinge to the beach, and this is what causes it - lots of pink seaweed. I've never seen seaweed quite this shade before, and there were several varieties of this colour!

 

 

 

We drove down the coast towards Kaikoura until we came to a small shack selling cooked crayfish (rock lobster) and couldn't resist trying some. It was delicious and contained masses of meat. A perfect lunch on a dreary day. We latter spotted another seller closer to Kaikoura, and intend to stop there on Thursday as we are driving back to Blenheim.

 

Next stop was the Ohau seal colony. There is a waterfall and pool, 300m from the sea up a small creek, where seal pups have been seen playing in the past, but there were none there today. However there were a hundred plus seals on the rocks at the side of the road, most lying drying but lots of pups playing in the rock pools.

We watched this young seal pup playing on his own for a long while, then later on saw a wonderful group of about 6 pups behaving just like teenagers, following each other around and generally creating mayhem.

Leaving the seals we drove into Kaikoura and booked a whale watching trip for next Thursday morning. I also spotted a quilt shop there and bought a few fat quarters of NZ themed fabric.

The coastal road north of Kaikoura is beautiful, as all the guide books say!

We then turned inland for the drive towards Hanmer Springs. A road not mentioned in any guide books, but also wonderful for the scenery. It was very much sheep raising land, brown rounded hills interspersed with gravel bed rivers and the occasional dramatic gorge. We are now camped at a small DOC freedom site in Hanmer Springs, all ready for a trip to the spa baths tomorrow.

 

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Sunday - paddle, walk and Paua

Today's objective was to paddle to Misletoe Bay, then walk back to Anakiwa, along the Queen Charlotte Sound at the very north of the South Island. The sky was overcast, for the first time for ages, and there was the threat of rain in the air. Sea Kayaking Adventures was a very professional organisation, who gave us a good briefing, and very good kayaks and equipment.

We set off, and soon encountered masses of jelly fish in the shallow bays. They were on both sides of us, and gently rose to the surface, then dropped down again.

 

We also saw quite a few sea birds along the way, including this magnificent fellow. A type of shag I think, but I'm not sure exactly which. A number of them, including piebald shags, were nesting in the trees or on the rocks by the side of the sound.

 

 

 

 

It was quite a long paddle, about 2 1/2 hours, but the water was like a mill pond for the entire time, and there were virtually no other boats out in the Sound. The only sounds were the calls of bell birds and Tui while we were close to shore, and the ever present sound of the cicadas in the trees.

 

We paddled, in overcast weather or drizzle, for about 14 kilometres until we reached Mistletoe Bay. By this point we were beginning to get cold, and it was a relief to get out of the boat and get into dry shoes. Unfortunately this was the day our lightweight waterproof jackets would have been invaluable, but it was also the day we had left them behind in the campervan.

 

 

 

After leaving the boats in the agreed location, and eating our lunch, we set off on the 13 km walk back to Anakiwa. The rain got heavier at times, but there was often shelter under the trees. We walked through bush, farm land and beech forests, occasionally being rewarded with views of the sound, for about 3 1/2 hours.

 

 

When we finally finished our walk it was very pleasant to get back to our van, and to change into more dry clothes. We reported back to our outfitters that we had finished the walk, then set off on the final section of the Queen Charlotte Drive to Picton.

Picton is where we will be catching the ferry to the North Island, but we were more interested in seeing this freighter moored up waiting to be loaded with the produce of so many of the foresting activities we had previously seen.

 

After picking up some supplies in Picton we drove on , through Blenheim, to our stop for the night at Marfells Beach, a DOC site on the east coast. It is a lovely spot, though fairly full of vans, right by the side of the ocean.

 

Whilst we were paying for our night's stay Mick got chatting to the camp host who asked if we had ever tried eating paua. By this time we were used to seeing the brightly coloured paua shells decorating so many NZ souvenirs, or being sold as complete shells, but we had never even realised the contents were edible.

 

Our host took us back to his van and shucked a paua for us. They look quite horrible, being very black and hard looking.

After removing certain portions of the paua, namely the green section seen here, we were told to slice the remaining meat very thinly, then to lightly fry the slices in butter. The green part was thrown to the beach, where a black backed gull immediately ate it whole!

 

And here is the resulting dish. The meat was delicious, and the edge portions, to our complete surprise, were the most tender. And the nicest thing is that I now have a complete paua shell to bring home!

We followed our unusual starter with steak and fresh corn cob, while watching a rainbow over the ocean. Off to bed now, tomorrow is our penultimate day in the van.

 

 

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