Image: Mirror Lakes, on road to Milford Sound
5 February 2023
Post 2 of 4
We did well ticking off the Tourist To Do list on the South Island.
Christchurch was lively and happy playing host to an International Busking Festival, a city-wide Alice in Wonderland treasure hunt and roaming silent disco walking tours. The streets were filled with great costumes, creative energy and fun vibes. Christchurch itself felt creative despite being a big flat giant grid because of its abundance of funky and beautiful street art, fabulous cafes and colourful gardens.
Check out the website – www.yourecooked.nz
We spent our first night in the motorhome out the back of an Irish Pub near Kaikoura. Yes, it felt as random as it sounds but was delightful setting with a gorgeous sunset over the mountains. We did a wonderful walk along the cliff coast of Kaikoura, with oodles of seals enjoying the rocks below and fat healthy cows enjoying the green grass of the farms bordering the walk. We learnt a new term for seals – furry rock sausages – and also learnt that they can dive down to 230m looking for food. Impressive!
Next stop was the Marlborough wine region, a few hours north. I highly recommend getting yourself on a bicycle to explore the Marlborough, and one with a basket for your shopping. There are ZERO hills to contend with and food, wine and toilets are all within a 10mins ride. We really liked Allan Scott Winery as it was self-serve tastings with some funky pouring machines and a delicious range of wine.
Picton was unexpectedly (for me) picturesque with big lush green tree covered hills reaching right to the bright blue water of the Marlborough Sounds. A boat tour around the Marlborough Sounds taught us a lot about the wildlife and history of the area, and we enjoyed swims in the sounds and the fresh creeks and rivers feeding into the sea. On our day hikes, we met people doing Te Araroa – the 3000km hike covering the length of New Zealand. We were at the top of the South Island so these hikers were at the half-way point with leathery tans, worn clothes and varying tales of sun, sand, mud, wind, rain and stars. I was not tempted to join them, being very content with the motorhome and the gin in the fridge.
Near Nelson we were graciously hosted by Emma’s lovely friend Chloe and her dear family Paul, Holly and Beatrix for 3 nights, with Chloe acting as our official tour guide as we explored Abel Tasman National Park and the area around Nelson. We enjoyed the awesome view across the Tasman Bay from their big deck, partook in mussels, wine, boardgames, Chloe’s honey and produce from her fabulous veggie garden.
From Nelson we arrived in Murchison to experience all the glory of the high notes coming from the Buller Country Music Club. Fortunately the sound of the river drowned out the noise, sorry music, as we got wild white water rafting for a few hours. Pro tip: go rafting after winter when the snow is melting to maximise the experience.
We then ventured to the West Coast where we were welcomed with intense rain and fat heavy rain drops meaning when the ferocious and threatening clouds erupted, we were wet through in seconds. The abundance of easy access laundromats really helped us counter these deluges with our shoes dry in less than 10 mins. The rain was good in that it gave us some respite from the nasty sand flies, and an excuse to rest our feet after clocking up 125kms walking in the first week.
Heading south, I was busy reminiscing about a cycling trip I had done in 2002 from Queenstown to Greymouth (~550km) with 6 friends, a Lonely Planet and a hire bicycle. We had carried everything we needed on our bikes, finishing each day sharing a silver pillow of port and a block of chocolate around a fire by a lake, river or the coast in a makeshift camping spot. Driving the enormous hills, narrow roads and unforgiving terrain 20 years later, I was totally in awe of what we had achieved and was left wondering why we had thought that was a good idea!! But we had fun and we did it.
