Its been a while so I will try and remember what has been going on since my last update. I ended up staying at Eketahuna for a week. Not the most exciting small town in New Zealand, but the weather turned very inclement so I didn’t see the point of packing up and moving on. The actual campsite was very peaceful with very friendly managers. The other reason I remained was that I booked my ferry crossing to the South Island for the 6th November so I was gearing up for just one overnighter on the way down to Wellington. The only exciting thing to happen while I was in Eketahuna was we had quite the shake on the 30th Oct at about 3pm it was measured at 6.2 and the epicentre was 285kms northwest of where I was. Just about the whole of the North Island felt it, but thankfully there were no injuries or damage caused. It certainly gave the caravan a good shake. As for this theory that animals can sense these things before they happen I am happy to say that both Whisper and Cody slept through the whole event.
On leaving Eketahuna I travelled South to a little place called Clareville which is between Masterton and Carterton. After parking up and sorting out the caravan I was enjoying a nice mid morning cup of Rosy Lee when I was rudely interrupted by a very loud noise like rolling thunder and the next minute a train went rumbling past the. Unbeknown to me when I backed up to the hedgerow just the other side of it was a train line. Thankfully the trains seemed to stop running at about 9pm and the first one in the morning was just after 6am so it was bearable for one night. I suppose I could have moved to the other side of the paddock but to be honest I just couldn’t work up the enthusiasm to do so.
Had a very quiet drive down to Wellington the next day, going up over and through the Rimutaka hills was certainly interesting with some very tight corners and steep hills, but the views were quite stunning. As per usual though stopping places were conspicuous by there absence. I pulled over for a cup of coffee and give the boys a leg stretch at Petone right on the seafront. Brought back some memories of stopping there with Stu and Vicky when we drove around to Eastbourne, when they were over in 2013 to watch the Footie (AFL) at the Cake Tin (Westpac stadium Wellington)
Got on the ferry just after 4pm ready for a 5pm sailing. I chose this time of sailing as it was a RO-RO ferry so it saved having to turn around before driving off. I was a little apprehensive as to how the dogs with cope with the crossing as they had to stay in the car, but it was a very smooth crossing and 3.5 hours later I had to wake them both up when I got back to the car.
On arrival at Picton I was first off the ferry and drove for about 30mins out of town to a freedom camping spot at Koromiko, so parked up there for the night. By now it was getting on for about 9:30pm so it was a quick down legs on the van and a brisk walk for the boys and then to bed.
Next morning was very windy and I left the delights of the Koromiko dried river bed and headed off towards Nelson. I was aiming to stop just before for the night but the site wasn’t ideal and a bit too near the road for my liking so I pulled in and pulled straight out again and carried on. I then was going to stop in Nelson but as I was heading along the seafront I drove past the Boat Shed Café which again brought back memories of 2015 when I stopped for a coffee and a bite with Stu and Vicky on a day trip from Blenheim. I was so busy reminiscing I took the wrong road and before I knew it I was heading South out of Nelson so I found myself a spot in a place called Wai-iti. I was going to stay for a couple of nights but on listening to the weather forecast I thought it prudent to move on the next day and find somewhere with a hard standing as I was currently parked on grass and didn’t fancy getting bogged in with the rain which was forecast. So this now being the Thursday morning I drove of to a small town called Murchison which had a Caravan Club site which was all on a hard surface. Well the storm hit Murchison on late Thursday night early Friday morning, the wind wasn’t too bad but boy did it rain. It wasn’t quite as bad as the West Coast had, where they had major flooding and a road bridge washed away, but it was a significant amount. Murchison is a funny little town, sort of built around a crossroads. Two hotels on adjacent corners a convenience store on another and a garage on the last. But added to this was a wonderful knick-knack shop called Rust to Dust which had a collection second to none. I think Vicky could have spent a good couple of hours in there at least. While in Murchison I managed to break one of the wheels on my roll away grey water tank, so had to empty it on a daily basis as it had to be carried, searched high and low to find a replacement or even a matching pair to put onto it without any luck. Maybe its just me but it seems a bit odd to make wheels for something that could weigh up to 45kilos out of plastic. Oh well these things are sent to try us.
So on Monday I moved on to Westport, a beautiful drive through the Buller Gorge again with the usual lack of stopping places, but at least it was dry if a little misty in places. So when I got to Westport I was officially on the West Coast. Not a huge amount in the town, its basically just one major road which is about 2kms long with shops both sides. A real mixture of architecture from the 1800 thru Art Deco to the modern. Most of the West Coast is coal mining areas well certainly down as far as Greymouth. Once you get South of there it turns very touristy as you are into the Southern Alps and the Glaciers. Anyway back to Westport, I managed to get two new wheels for my grey tank, they are a bit smaller than I would have liked but they will do until I find something more suitable. At least now I don’t have to empty it every day. I went out to a place called Cape Foulwind to have a look at the lighthouse, and thankfully it didn’t live up to its name there was just a gently breeze blowing. From there I went down to Tauranga Bay to go and have a look at the seal colony. Now I don’t know about you but when I hear or rather see the words seal colony it conjures up an image of seals on rocks basking in the sun, now Im no David Attenborough so I don’t know if it was the wrong time of day or the wrong week/month/year but there was the grand total of ONE seal, yes a tad disappointing to say the least, but there wee some nice views over Tauranga Bay.
Yesterday I managed to have a quick dip in the sea, it was a bit chilly but bearable, just. Luckily the sea was quite shallow with very small waves so it must have picked up a bit of heat. Luckily I had a big towel with me which truthfully was meant for the dogs but I commandeered it for my own use. Whisper was more interested in sniffing logs on the beach, so she didn’t need it and Cody was still bouncing around the waves.
Today Thursday, I drove down to Greymouth and will be staying for the weekend as rain is forecast for Saturday and Sunday. Not sure what there is to see here, but what I have found out is that the Montieths Brewery is here (Montieths Original Ale is my favourite tipple in the beer family) and also there is a Speights Ale House, which along with doing good beer (Speights is a South Island Brewery) the also do good wholesome pub grub. So no doubt sometime over the next few days I will be availing myself of both establishments to see what they have to offer.
Anyway I think we are all now caught up
Geoff1511 Travels 