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The North of the South 2021

October 2021 - April 2024
An open-ended adventure by Amanda Read more
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  • Amanda CarnieThe North of the South 2021
    Day 1

    The Start of the Journey

    October 8, 2021 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    We put the first few kilometres of the trip behind us, and overnighted at Lake Opuha, behind Fairlie. It was a beautiful evening, and we had almost the whole campsite to ourselves.
    Heading to Christchurch for the weekend. Great to be away again...Read more

  • Amanda CarnieThe North of the South 2021
    Day 4

    A Weekend in Christchurch

    October 11, 2021 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 13 °C

    After a full weekend, celebrating Sarah's birthday, catching up with Mum/Rose, some serious retail therapy, and today getting the leisure batteries replaced in the motorhome, we are finally ready to hit the road Northwards.Read more

  • Amanda CarnieThe North of the South 2021
    Day 5

    Heading for Hanmer

    October 12, 2021 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 8 °C

    After a weekend of beautiful calm and sunny weather, it's all turned to custard today and we are back in the winter woollies!
    We've driven to Hanmer Springs, through a wet, wild and very windy storm, so unfortunately plans for a walk in the woods have had to be shelved. And we can't have a dip in the hot pools either, as they are only available if you have a booking (numbers reduced due to Covid) and being school holidays, they are booked out all week.
    We did however meet up with Justin and Lu plus Hank and Hana (who turned 10 on Sunday) and Joe, and spent a couple of very pleasant hours at Monteiths catching up on all the news.
    Charlie picked up fish and chips (they got a bit soggy when his umbrella blew inside out) and we headed to our overnight park at the NZMCA site next to the Hanmer river.
    The weather was so bad I didn't even take a photo, although we do have this lovely one that Lu sent us of some of our grandkids.    Read more

  • Amanda CarnieThe North of the South 2021
    Day 6

    Kai (food) Koura (crayfish)

    October 13, 2021 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 8 °C

    No improvement in the weather this morning, and the news headlines were forecasting gale force winds up the east coast of the South Island (just where we are headed!) "Oh well," we thought, "we'll give it a go!" So we did.
    We had intended to take the inland road from Hanmer via Waiau that comes out onto SH1 just south of Kaikoura, however we must have taken a wrong turn (or missed one) and instead found ourselves just north of Cheviot! It was a very interesting (narrow) and winding road, but very pretty scenery despite the rain.
    Once the Hundalee hills were behind us we caught our first glimpse of the sea, and stopped for lunch with the seals beside a particularly rocky patch.
    We carried on into Kaikoura and managed to get out of the very strong southerly wind on the northern side of the peninsula near the seal colony. The rock formations here are fascinating, as is the history of the area.
    We found a food cart selling barbecued seafood, and have just devoured 2 massive patties each - 1 crayfish and 1 paua - for happy hour. Not sure if we'll have any room for dinner!    Read more

  • Amanda CarnieThe North of the South 2021
    Day 7

    Up to Ward Beach

    October 14, 2021 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    The worst of the storm seemed to have blown itself northwards this morning and we set off in (mostly) blue skies and sunshine to explore the shops in Kaikoura. Didn’t take long! After coffee and a scone and a brisk walk along part of the beach we headed north again, this time bound for Ward Beach.
    A couple of funny things have happened… before we left home, we decided to lighten the load in the motorhome by decanting some of our spirits (not that we’ve taken a lot!) out of glass and into plastic bottles. Unfortunately, we also travel with a couple of (the same) plastic bottles full of water, which we use for making cups of tea, etc. So you can imagine how easy it was to get them mixed up! We did manage to work out that it was vodka we were pouring into the kettle BEFORE we turned it on, but sadly Charlie didn’t realise he was taking a big swig of neat vodka to wash down his pills last night until he was choking on it!
    The Kaikoura coast is a beautiful drive, and although we’ve traveled it several times before, we have never done it at such a relaxed pace. We stopped several times today to take in the dramatic coastal vista, pick up a crayfish from the iconic Nin’s Bin, and watch the young seal pups at play on the rocks around Ohau Point. The cliffs above the Point are the only place in the world where a particular species of rock daisy grows. The species was almost wiped out when 95% of the known plants were obliterated when the cliffs collapsed in the Kaikoura earthquake. Seeds from the remaining plants have been cultivated and replanted around the Point.
    Karen and John have been frequent visitors to Ward Beach, but this is the first time we have been here. It’s a stunning spot – we are overnighting at a ‘park-over property’ (or POP) which is privately owned land made available to NZMCA members in return for a donation. We are parked on a slightly elevated section overlooking the sea and have been for a walk up the beach to the Ward Beach Boulders – similar to those at Moeraki only a little smaller – which were raised out of the sea during the earthquake.
    Tonight for dinner we will enjoy our crayfish with garlic bread and salad – and a bottle of bubbly… Bliss!    Read more

  • Amanda CarnieThe North of the South 2021
    Day 8

    Marfells Beach

    October 15, 2021 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    Today we’ve had the weather we’ve been hoping for for the last week: cloudless and warm, with a light onshore breeze. Bring it on!
    We had a huge drive today to Seddon (NOT!) about 17km from Ward Beach. Found a very nice café for morning tea and the best cheese scones in a long while. You can tell we’ve hit wine country: the Awatere Valley is covered in vines as far as the eye can see and we passed many vineyards we’ve never heard of. We took a drive out to Yealands country and wondered how their business is doing since the scandal – they were convicted of adding sugar to millions of litres of wine that was to be exported to Europe.
    We backtracked a little to go round to the south of Lake Grassmere (where they produce salt) and back out to the coast and another DOC camp, at Marfells Beach. We are parked about 2 metres from the start of the beach and what a fabulous spot. The sea has calmed off since the storm but is still discoloured.
    We packed some sammies (and some of Mum’s fruit cake) into the backpack along with a flask of tea and took off on foot along the beach to the point at the Southern end. What an amazing walk! The shellfish are (or were) obviously abundant here as most of the way we were crunching through piles of shells. There is currently a rahui (or ban) on collecting shellfish (other than crayfish) all the way along the coast back to Kaikoura, so that the populations can re-establish themselves after the earthquake.
    From the point we could see all the way south to the lighthouse at East Cape (about 90mins walk each way apparently) but we decided 45 mins each way was enough for us today. And the incoming tide may have cut off our return trip! We sat on a rock at the edge of the water and were munching our lunch when all of a sudden, up popped a fully-grown seal in the water not 5 metres away. He (or she) looked at us for a few seconds, then did a leisurely full barrel-roll and with a flip of the flippers it glided away. How special was that!
    We also saw another seal frolicking in the waves on the way home. All along the beach there are clumps of colourful daisies and succulents growing, as well as wild silverbeet… of which we have picked a potful for dinner tonight. We’ve just come inside after our first full outdoor happy hour of the trip – the sun has only just dipped behind a tree and we are feeling very sun-kissed!    Read more

  • Amanda CarnieThe North of the South 2021
    Day 9

    Whatamango Bay

    October 16, 2021 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Another beautiful calm and warm day in paradise! On the way into (and out of) Marfells Beach we saw something neither of us had ever seen before: a grove of very short, almost stunted-looking round-headed pine trees. What was this we asked – a way of providing shelter for the cows that were grazing nearby? NO! It was a commercial pine nut orchard! Who knew?!
    We arrived in the Riviera of the South Island (i.e. Picton!) late morning and after a quick coffee we met up with a work colleague from Wellington and her partner, who are here for a weekend with family. Karen and I have previously worked together at ACC (back in 2017!) and at Inland Revenue (2019 / 20 / 21), and I first met her partner Greg MANY moons ago at Transpower. We had a lovely catchup over a pizza and a glass of wine and then did a quick mooch around the shops before hitting the road.
    We passed through Waikawa Bay and on to tonight’s stopover: another DOC camp – this one at Whatamango Bay. We have found that the DOC camping grounds are in some of the most picturesque places in the country, and they are very reasonably priced – and relatively underutilized at this time of year – compared to commercial camping grounds. Many of them also have good access to walking tracks.
    Once again we are right on the waterfront – we picked this site among some trees as we are expecting the weather to take a turn for the worst overnight and were looking for some shelter from the strong NW winds that are forecast to start tonight and last for the next couple of days.    Read more

  • Amanda CarnieThe North of the South 2021
    Day 10

    Memorable Momorangi Bay

    October 17, 2021 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 12 °C

    Happy Birthday Barbara!
    As we went to bed last night we remarked on how dark and how peaceful and quiet the camp was. Sadly that was short-lived. We were rudely awoken some time after 10.30 by a brilliant light shining through the trees next to us, a constant thrumming noise and loud voices. After lying there for a while getting more and more annoyed, Charlie got up and – rather bravely, I thought – went to investigate. He found a young couple sitting in an SUV watching a massive flat screen TV that they had set up on a picnic table along with a spotlight, all being powered by a very loud generator parked in the bushes nearby!
    “What are you doing?” asked Charlie. “This is a campsite - we’re camping” was the reply! After he told them “You can’t do that here” they were good enough to apologise and turn it off, but by then we were wide awake, and remained so for several hours.
    It poured with rain ALL day today. As we drove back through Picton and on to Momorangi Bay around the coastline, we should have been able to see stunning vistas of the Queen Charlotte Sound and lots of little bays, but all we could see was grey cloud and the occasional glimpse of grey water... “Bet it’s beautiful on a good day!” we thought. (Note these photos were taken the following day).    Read more

  • Amanda CarnieThe North of the South 2021
    Day 11

    Day 2 in Momorangi Bay

    October 18, 2021 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    The camp at Momorangi is a lot bigger than we had expected. I bet it hums at Christmas time, but there are very few of us here at the moment. We have booked in for 2 nights and are plugged into a powered site right on the foreshore, where we have recharged all our devices and appliances, and have used the laundry facilities and hot showers. We’ve also been able to refill our ice supplies courtesy of the freezer in the camp kitchen. So we’re all set for the next leg of the journey.
    Charlie has been out fishing off the jetty this morning and came back with a lovely barracuda, which will provide the bait for his next expeditions. I made cheese scones to celebrate! The weather has improved slightly: we are now getting intermittent sunny spells between the showers and we are hopeful that the rest of the week is looking brighter.
    We went for a lovely walk around several bays to another DOC parking spot at Aussie Bay. The track took us through native bush to the sound of bellbirds… we had forgotten how lush it is up here and how awesome it is to see punga, totara, flaxes and native broadleaf species all growing wild.
    And I got my first sandfly bite today!    Read more

  • Amanda CarnieThe North of the South 2021
    1
    Day 12

    Through Havelock to Pelorus Bridge

    October 19, 2021 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    The bay was flat as a millpond when we woke, but a breeze arrived soon after to spoil the perfect calm. We packed up and headed West, and had reached Havelock before we realised that we’d left our last tray of ice in the camp freezer! Oh well…
    The road to Havelock is reasonably winding and narrow at the best of times, but with the recent floods there are heaps of places where the road has been washed out or slips have covered the road. We were down to one lane and 30kph in about a dozen places – most of them with traffic lights – and we only traveled about 20km!
    After coffee and another bush walk, this time up to a waterfall and a lookout over Havelock and the start of the Pelorus Sound, we had lunch at the Mussel Pot, in their garden restaurant. We wanted to try the local delicacy cooked several different ways so we chose the platter, which according to the menu included steamed, grilled, battered, smoked, marinated and mussel croquettes. We thought there could be a couple of each type, but found there was a dozen steamed (in a white wine and cream broth) and 6 of each of the others! Plus bread! Delicious with a glass of rosé!
    We are now at the campground at Pelorus Bridge, parked right beside the river, and there is a big fat wood pigeon sitting in the tree beside us. It’s been really warm today – in the early 20s – and the cheeks are feeling a bit pink. We’ve had another bush walk along to a suspension bridge high over the confluence of the Rai and Pelorus rivers, and are now feeling pleasantly tired. This is another camping area managed by DOC, and the facilities here are great – complete with kitchens, showers and a laundry.
    It seems everyone we’ve talked to on this trip is from either Wanaka or Christchurch. Callum McLeod (Deputy Mayor of QLDC and Wanaka celebrity) just popped out of the bush right next to where we are parked!    Read more

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