Leaving Wellington and the North Island behind, crossing the Cook Strait by ferry took just over three hours. The last hour of the journey was meandering through the picturesque Marlborough Sounds to make landfall at Picton.
Keen to continue our exploration, after one overnight stop at Waikawa Bay Holiday Park, we headed to Renwick in the Marlborough Wine region. We found a freedom site at the Domain Sports Field and parked up for two nights.
The itinerary here was, obviously, wine tasting. We chose ‘Wine Tours by Bike’. This turned out to be a brilliant idea. The surrounding area was flat with well maintained cycle paths linking the numerous wineries. The hardest part was deciding which ones to visit.
We managed four (Frome, Huia, Bladen and Gibson Bridge) and all were very different. Our favourites were the small family run places – Gibson Bridge and Bladen. At these, we were greeted by the owners themselves. It was so interesting to hear the stories behind the wines.
Back to the Sounds again, we went to Havelock to tackle Mad Camper Challenge 5: Climb a mountain over 500m. We chose Mount Takorika which we knew would give us stunning views over Pelorus Sound. Walking through the bush, it wasn’t long before we were joined by Biscuit, who had obviously decided that our walk was far more interesting than the one he was doing with his owner. He was determined to stay with us and, after a call to his owner (luckily he had the phone number on his name tag), he accompanied us right to the top and back down again.
Next stop was Abel Tasman National Park; a park where the sea meets the rainforest, giving views of golden sandy beaches and rugged granite cliffs. The best way to see the beauties of the park is to walk the Abel Tasman Coastal Track. At 60km long, we did not have enough time to do the whole walk and had to be satisfied with a day taster.
Heading towards the west coast, we drove through the Buller Gorge and had a stop for a photo opportunity at the T-Rex tree! Yes, it is really called that on Google maps.
We arrived at Kawatiri Beach Reserve, just outside Westport; another freedom site. This time, next to a wild and windswept beach. We enjoyed a lovely evening walk amongst the drift wood, before the weather turned very, very wet. By morning, the site was a little water logged. Feeling cold and damp, we decided it was a good time to pack everything into the roof box and head to town for a large coffee and a hearty breakfast.
The journey down the west coast afforded us amazing views over the sea. This coast is very different from the Malborough Sounds with long straight shorelines being pounded by breaking waves.
A must stop along the west coast is Punakaiki Pancake Rocks. These unusual rock formations do actually look like stacks of giant pancakes. It is a well visited tourist location, but it is definitely worth a walk along to the boardwalk to see the amazing limestone landscape of fascinating rock formations, blow holes and surge pools. Visiting here, really helps you understand the power of the sea with crashing waves sending plumes of spray meters into the air.
The journey south was broken by a night at another freedom site – Treetops Cafe, Hokitika. Whilst here, we completed Mad Camper Challenge 6: Catch a fish. As you can see, we used our initiatives to achieve this one!
During the 1860s, New Zealand’s South Island was hit by gold fever and many new settlements grew up to house the visiting prospectors. Our first gold town was Ross. First settled in 1865, the now small town is rich in gold mining history. We visited the Goldfields Visitor Information and Heritage Centre. Here there are reconstructed buildings including a miner’s cottage. The museum itself houses a replica of New Zealand’s largest gold nugget: The Hon Roddy. It was uncovered in 1909, weighing in at 3.09kg (99.63oz) and was named after the Minister of Mines, Roderick Mckenzie. The nugget was initially sold £400 to a local shop keeper and his associate. Then, in 1911, it was bought by the New Zealand government. Eventually, It was given to King George V as a coronation gift. Forty years later, enquiries found it had been melted down to guild a royal tea service!
Continuing south, our next major stop was Orange Sheep Campervan Park at Franz Josef, a site with a mountainous backdrop.
The next morning, we had a major treat in store; we joined the Helicopter Line for a heli-hike on Franz Josef Glacier. We couldn’t have chosen a better day – the skies were clear and the warm sunshine made the ice sparkle. After a short flight, we landed and had two hours getting a taste of walking on glacier, complete with ice steps and tunnels. The trip was amazing, but also tinged with sadness as glacier is currently retreating. It shrunk 1.5km between 2008 and 2017 and it now 3km shorter than it was 100 years ago. Predictions are that it will retreat another 8km by 2100. We were pleased we managed to see it in all its glory.
Wow, I loved your glacier hiking 🤩. And the MC 6 – 👍😂😂.
Hi,
The glacier hiking was amazing and we were lucky that we had such good weather for it.
X
What a great trip! You are getting to so many places. Love the dog story. Pretty funny that he wanted to go up and back with you. Had to laugh at the ‘big’ nugget. Biggest Australian nugget was 285kg with 93kg of that being gold. Another factoid in our ongoing Aus-NZ one upmanship. 🤣 What a great weather day you had at the glacier!
Hi,
It was a superb trip….so many interesting things to see and do. Would definitely recommend a 5/6 week trip.