28th December 2024 at 17:57 - Damian

We're finally back home in Auckland. The garden has been taken over by weeds and will need a bit of love and attention over the next couple of weeks.

It's been a fantastic three-and-a-half month road trip and we've seen a lot more of the South Island than we'd hoped to.

Here's our GPX tracks of the last four years of poking around NZ. It's starting to look like the shape of the country.

In the next day or so I'll crunch all the numbers for the trip.

https://travel.peterson.nz/nz.html

27th December 2024 at 06:29 - Damian

Preparing to cross on the ferry to Wellington we stayed nearby to Picton at the Whatamango DOC campsite 20 minutes further into the Sounds past Waikawa.

We were buffeted by strong winds all night and had no internet so didn't get the alerts from Bluebridge that the sailing was cancelled. We've since visited the terminal and rebooked for a 0230 sailing tomorrow morning.

Looks like a day in Picton and perhaps a bit of planning for when we return in mid-February with the kayak.

22nd December 2024 at 13:35 - Damian

Winding down for Christmas in Rangiora hanging with family and friends, eating and drinking too much as expected.

Today we walked from Waikuku Beach down to Pegasus for lunch and back. 11km. In the futile hope that some of the calories will be cancelled out.

19th December 2024 at 18:50 - Damian

Today's excursion was a short bike ride (16km return) down the water race section of the Wilderness Trail from Lake Kaniere. It's a nice gentle ride mostly through bush.

After that, lunch in Hokitika (if you're passing through check out the Hokitika Sandwich Company - very tasty), a bit of admin and a drive up to Arthur's Pass Village.

Tomorrow we're back on North Canterbury in the run up to Christmas before skedaddling back to Auckland.

18th December 2024 at 12:53 - Damian

Last night we parked up at Lake Brunner and this morning cycled a section of the Wilderness Trail from Kumara toward Milltown (40km return). The trail was one of the nicer ones we've cycled and we're considering doing another section of it tomorrow before heading to Arthur's Pass.

17th December 2024 at 20:18 - Damian

We've left the region now but while in the Motueka area we cycled out to Kaiteriteri and drove to the Riuwaka Resurgence which is where the Riuwaka River appears out from beneath the mountain.

It's a nice region. Plenty to see and do, plenty of great beer and it's nice and warm.

We're going to come back in February/March with the kayak this time and thoroughly explore Nelson/Marlborough.

17th December 2024 at 12:06 - Damian

Also in the shop their PO boxes have all the keys left in them because why would anyone want to steal someone else's mail?

17th December 2024 at 12:03 - Damian

The biggest and cheapest ice creams we've ever had are from the On The Spot at Ikamatua on the West Coast near Greymouth. $4 for two giant scoops.

I ended up decanting mine into a dessert bowl when we got back to the van.

14th December 2024 at 08:47 - Damian

We joined the NZMCA in 2020. As members, you get exclusive access to something like 2000 properties around the country, 60 of which are NZMCA-owned, the rest member-owned Park Over Properties. You also get discounts from various companies.

NZMCA properties cost $5pp/night and tend not to have facilities. POPs range from free to $5.

Your vehicle gets a sticker (red wings) with your member ID which keeps everyone accountable because you can be reported for bad behaviour.

https://www.nzmca.org.nz/

12th December 2024 at 17:38 - Damian

Yesterday we made our way from Murchison to Motueka/Riwaka stopping on the way at Spooners Tunnel for a walk in the dark (1.3km long) and at Wakefield for yet another pie.

In the afternoon we caught up with old brewing buddy Barb who's only a 5 minute cycle ride up the road from where we're staying. And later had dinner with her at the Sprig and Fern.

Today we cycled 42km from just south of Motueka to Mapua and back on the Nelson Great Taste Trail.

Tomorrow we catch up with 3 x aunties.

10th December 2024 at 19:15 - Damian

Speaking of pies. Some days our diets consist solely of coffee, pies, cheap Tip Top ice creams and beer. We try to make up for it by walking a lot and being cheerful (which the aforementioned help with).

Our number one tip for beer when touring the South Island is this tasty Behemoth hazy that's only available in Four Squares at the incredibly low price (by Four Square standards) of $19.90 per 6 pack. We've gone through a ridiculous amount of these.

10th December 2024 at 19:09 - Damian

This morning we walked the first bit of the Heaphy Track and back. This is perhaps my favourite place in the entire world. There's something about the Kahurangi National Park.

From there we drove south again to Westport stopping at a couple of pie places (yes, two pies each in one day). I didn't rate them as highly as others. IMO you can't just use flakey pastry top and bottom.

From Westport up to Murchison driving the splendid Buller Gorge.

10th December 2024 at 07:01 - Damian

Yesterday we drove as far north on the West Coast as you can go to Kohaihai which is at one end of the Heaphy Track and further north than Wellington.

There was a motorcycle fatality on the road ahead of us just south of Karamea which involved a four hour wait for the accident investigator to arrive and clear the scene. Quite a sobering experience.

9th December 2024 at 14:20 - Damian

8th December 2024 at 13:04 - Damian

Over the last four days we've made our way to Westland and are heading up the coast exploring as we go.

It was well worth waiting for a break in the weather as there's nothing better than the West Coast on a good day.

We've made it as far north as Hokitika and today the weather has packed it in so we're going to wait it out before continuing north again.

Oh, also. SANDFLIES! 🤬

5th December 2024 at 22:04 - Damian

Some numbers for November's South Island leg of the campervan trip for posterity:

1821km total averaging 9.1L diesel / 100km = $406 = $13.53/day (incl RUCs).

Accommodation = $654 = $21.80/day.

LPG = 260g/day = $1/day.

Food = $2771 = $92.37/day.

Total = $128.70/day.

We traveled less, used less LPG with the warmer weather and ate about the same. Tramping accommodation dramatically increased our nightly cost.

https://travel.peterson.nz/nz.html

4th December 2024 at 14:13 - Damian

Tonight we will eat like kings!*

*pending verification it's safe to eat, of course

edit: have checked and, as suspected, it's a horse mushroom. Sally's going to incorporate it into pasta along with wild thyme we picked down in the Roxburgh Gorge.

4th December 2024 at 11:35 - Damian

The weather in Westland is bad at the moment so we've paused a day or two waiting for things to clear before heading over the Haast Pass.

We had a lazy day yesterday in Albert Town and today we've walked up Grandview Mountain overlooking Wanaka and Lake Hawea. 1398m high and a 948m climb for us over 9km. 18km return. A perfect day with high cloud and warm(ish) wind.

3rd December 2024 at 18:10 - Damian

The last four days:

After the Catlins we went through to Riverton where we stayed in the carpark of the Carrier's Arms after having dinner there. We were underwhelmed by the town at first but the following day was sunny and we came around.

From there we went to Bluff (up the steep hill featured in the Tour of Southland) then to Invercargill where we caught up with Nick and Trina for lunch.

On to Gibbston Valley for a cycle ride then returned to our favourite campsite in Albert Town.

29th November 2024 at 15:37 - Damian

Blustery wind today which suited the terrain around the southernmost part of the South Island. We drove to Curio Bay (petrified forest on the beach), Slope Point (South Island's southernmost point) and Waipapa Point (a lighthouse and snoozing sea lions).

We skedaddled west to Riverton afterwards and will make our way back to Invercargill tomorrow before heading north back to Wanaka and then on to the West Coast and Nelson in the coming week or two.