After our busy schedule of events in Nelson, we decided it was time to take a week off and explore the remaining northern parts of the South Island that we had yet to visit. It is hard to believe that we have already spent three months travelling New Zealand and our week off was planned to give us a chance to have some fun and reflect on all that we have done so far.
Our week began in Blenheim, where we spent a day exploring the local wine estates of the area. As we have lived in South Africa in a wine growing region, we were both really keen to see the similarities and differences in the estates here. Plus wine tasting are free here…I won’t lie, that was a draw as we have zero budget for such treats! We had a great day and visited three small estates. The first was Spy Valley and Nicholas fell head over heels for their Envoy Sauvignon Blanc. The second estate is called Seresin and this is a biodynamic, family-run estate that focuses on organic land management. I was delighted to find they produce sulphur-free wines, as I am unable to tolerate preservatives/sugar and find that quite limiting at times! The sulphur-free wines taste quite different to their mainstream equivalents, it was a joy to taste them and the lovely lady hosting us gifted me a bottle of wine after hearing about our Friends for Sharks work. I couldn’t believe it and have tucked that treat away for a special occasion. The final wine estate we visited was Giesen and we didn’t rate it much, as the hostess was a little dismissive when she realised we didn’t have the funds to purchase anything. We had been spoilt by Spy and Seresin’s attentiveness!

 


We continued our adventure by camping at Momorangi Bay, Marlborough Sounds with our ever faithful Wendekreisen Travel Ltd Shark Mobile. The camp was nestled by the water’s edge and we really enjoyed two nights of peace and quiet under the stars. We made some lovely new Kiwi friends, shared a lot of laughter and also ventured out to walk part of the Queen Charlotte Track one day. The beech forest was beautiful in the sunlight; I really enjoyed seeing the tiny beech tree leaves, their dark bark and masses of roots clinging to available rocks. We also saw many tree ferns (some with smiling faces…) and spotted a New Zealand Fur Seal basking in the sunshine on the rocks below us. There is always something new to be seen when walking with nature and the view from The Lookout was spectacular. I found it hard to remember that the Sounds are seawater and not a collection of lakes, as the water is very flat and the area quite sheltered.

 


Onwards we went to Kaikoura via Oahu stream, where we visited a seal pup over-wintering area. The fur seal pups spend their winter at the top of Oahu stream, which is very sheltered, and they are known to be tolerant of the presence of humans. It was incredible spending time right next to the seals and we watched them playing in the pools of water and drying themselves on the rocks. They were not at all bothered by our presence and I could have stayed for a long time had it not been so freezing cold. The winter weather had a real bite to it! We stopped overnight at Kaikoura, which had spectacular mountain views, and then drove onwards to Hanmer.

 


We had decided to treat ourselves during the week off as it marked the mid-way point of our tour of New Zealand. Our ‘treat’ was to be two nights of electricity for the campervan at Hanmer (we usually make do without electricity/heat) and a day at the thermal pools of Hanmer Springs. It was a well-chosen treat given the temperature in the mountains plummeted to -8C during our first night there and we woke up with ice on the INSIDE of our campervan windows, despite our heater being on all night. It was quite funny peeling the curtains off the iced windows and visiting the bathroom with its frozen pipes. Brrr! A warming day at the springs was highly anticipated and we walked there in high spirits as we clutched our towels to ourselves and chatted about how exciting a day of relaxation would be. It wasn’t meant to be though, as we arrived to a notice stating the springs were closed for the day. We have since learned that the springs only close approximately one day in every two years. We didn’t have time to linger for another day to visit the pools and so onwards we went to Christchurch to visit our dear friend and their adorable puppy Buddy.

 


We also returned the Shark Mobile and collected our new Wendekreisen campervan. It was with sadness that we said goodbye to our faithful Shark Mobile and outright excitement when we met the new, upgraded version. You can see why we are so thrilled with the upgrade in our latest blog. Our first journey in this fantastic van took us across Lewis Pass to Nelson and then onto the ferry at Wellington.
Our time in the south had come to an end and it was time for us to travel the North Island.