Franz Josef to Wellington

We left Franz Josef the next morning with fairly substantial headaches (it must have been dehydration from the Helihike trip) and headed north to nowhere in particular.  We now have just over 7 days to get back to the ferry in Picton and only 2 weeks left in the van.  Time is certainly flying!  The road continued to follow the coast and with the weather now affording us bright blue skies, we were able to enjoy the scenery.  We made good progress only stopping at Hokitika for a much needed pie and soft drink to ease our “dehydration” (we now know the answer to the question who ate all the pies!)  Feeling a lot better after some stodge we continued up the coast to the Pancake Rocks at Punakiki, another NZ only geological formation.  The Pancake Rocks are a section of sea cliffs that have eroded displaying the very distinct layers running through them, looking not unlike a pile of pancakes.  It’s amazing just how imaginative the names are here!

Once back on the road we headed to Westport and then turned the van once again inland to Inangahua.  The scenery instantly changed from the coastal views and high mountains to much smaller wooded hills with tight winding valleys which the road now followed.  We found another free campsite high in the hills at the place of an old gold mining town that had been demolished when the road was built.  In the end we had done nearly 500km today, not bad considering we had no plans and did not feel at our best.

The next day we got up late and meandered 100km up the road to Murchison.  Whilst stopping for a loo break I picked up a leaflet telling us all about the town and what to see.  On the leaflet was a picture of a waterfall that had been created during a earthquake in 1923.  The picture so impressed us that we even went back 20km the way we had come to find it.  The waterfall fell into a large crack in the ground where the river now ran, clearly marking the fault line.  It was only about 10m high but wide and at its base was a whirlpool that had caught up in it logs that had washed down the river making an interesting visual sight. 

After our mini detour we continued our journey to another free campsite, this time at the site of an old railway station and platform just outside Kawatiri Junction. 

Next morning, we again woke late as both of us were feeling rather lazy.  Maybe we are starting to run out of steam which wouldn’t be surprising after 7 months on the road.  Once we were back on the road again we headed 200km north to a small seaside town just outside of Motueka called Kaiteriteri to do some jobs.  We arrived at the campsite and washed everything (including ourselves), filled the van with food and published three blogs which included the big news.  The campsite was privately owned and was right on the beach, another beautiful location made better by more clear blue skies.  After looking at the bible and working out what was worth seeing en route to the Ferry, we realised that we had a new problem….too much time to fill, so with a working internet connection for a change we brought forward our Ferry booking by two days.  After all the hard work of the day we did not fancy cooking so went to find a pub.  Five minutes later we returned to the van having found the pub but it closed at 18:30!  It’s still not high season and these places are ghost towns the rest of the year, how they make money is anyone’s guess.

The next day we headed for the most northerly point on the South Island, Farewell Spit.  Farewell Spit is basically a strip of sand that has formed off the rocky point of the South Island.  It runs for 27km and is made up of large sand dunes providing unique animal habitats.  Due to its size and isolation you can only walk so far, otherwise you have to take an organised 4x4 tour.  We parked the van as close as we could and walked up the beach looking out to the mud flats that seemed to be never ending.  Before we even reached the sand dunes, we came across a path that headed inland but took us to the outer beach of the spit.  The outer beach was wide and the wind had created mini sand dunes only a metre high making the landscape look very unusual.

The place was almost deserted and so we just sat for a while on a dune, in the glorious sunshine, looking at this stunningly beautiful and isolated place.  However, we soon had to bring ourselves back to reality and head for our planned night stop, another DOC campsite at Totaranui.  The site was situated in a very isolated bay within the Abel Tasman National Park and it was a 11km van breaking journey on gravel roads, up and over the mountain to get to it, however it was definitely worth it.  Abel Tasman National Park is a large wilderness area with a legendary coastal walk which is reputed to be one of the great long distance walks in the world.  We weren’t going to get chance to test this assertion but from the little we saw it did indeed look great. 

The rest of the journey along the northern coast took us through Nelson where we stopped briefly to wander the town centre and get on the internet read the Engagement abuse!  Now experts at sight seeing, the towns that the bible had dedicated several pages to we managed to despatch in a few hours moving on to the next “must see” sight. 

With only one more night left in the South Island we headed for the Queen Charlotte Drive, a road that literally took you along the edge of the Charlotte Sound.  After the extreme roads we have traversed thus far it was a fitting drive for our journey back to Picton.  Another plus was that there was a DOC campsite half way long.  It was very small with only space for a few vans but again we were wowed with amazing views, being only a few metres from a large fiord which also was home to a large family of ducks whom became rather attached to our van after I fed them with bread (bribery with food works every time).

The next day was the ferry to Wellington.  Our journey through the Cook Straits last time was marred by cloud and drizzly rain, so after having a couple of beautiful sunny days we hoped for better this time around.  We awoke to guess what, rain and low cloud.  The ferry was half empty so allowing us a front row seat.  Luckily the weather lifted as we crossed the Straits and we arrived to a sunny Wellington.  After bypassing Wellington on the way down we planned to have a look around for a day and then continue north.  However with the campsite costing $50 per night (new record) we decided to do a free stop first and then pay tomorrow.  So, we headed for the site we had used on the way in and had an interesting evening watching the plethora of cars coming in that were waiting for their clandestine meetings.  Most would wait in the car, others would wait in the male toilets to wait for their friends, using the back entrance as there was a surveillance cameras on the front.  I decided not to use the back entrance preferring to stay in full view of the surveillance camera.  It was not the greatest place to stop for the night and we weren’t quite sure how we had missed all this the first time round but at least it was free and it was a “camp” site after all.

The next morning we headed for the centre of Wellington and the paid campsite.  The site was new and opened by the council in preparation for the 2011 World Rugby.  It occupied a small lot on Wellington waterfront less than 5 minutes from the centre of town and the parliament buildings!  The site looked like a car park (well, was a car park really!) and they had constructed toilet and shower block with a very fancy touch screen IT system to control entry.

This has to be the oddest place we have stayed but you could not get a hotel room anywhere this close to the city centre at this cost.

We parked the van, showered and spent the day wandering around the “World’s coolest little capital” (as described by Lonely Planet).  First we wandered up to the Parliament buildings and after saying hello to the solitary security person we walked right up to the front door.  No where else in the world could you imagine doing that. 

Next we took a look around the shops taking the opportunity to look for ideas for an engagement ring and buying a bridal magazine (oh how I have changed).  After an afternoon of sightseeing, we ended up at a cool little Italian restaurant on the waterfront to celebrate our 1 week anniversary of being engaged and to watch the fireworks as it was Bonfire night. 

After a lovely evening out, we went back to the van, closed the curtains and listened to the sirens of the police cars, the incoming ferries and the hundreds of people walking back from town to the railway station and quietly fell to sleep!  Wellington is not a big place and you would struggle to spend any significant time here, but its got a really nice feel about it, friendly, relaxed and even at lunch time when all the offices empty out for lunch its not very busy.  Its reputation as the coolest capital is definitely well earned.

Next:  The journey back to Auckland