Banks Peninsular, covering old ground

After a month and a half of exploring New Zealand's South Island, we'd made our way all the way round and returned to a place we'd been before, Timaru. I wasn't overly fussed about Timaru the first time around and absence in this instance, did not make the heart grow fonder. It was however, a useful place, a place where we could pick up groceries, a little portable burner and some much needed gas. After a full days shopping, we headed to Timaru's second and much quieter free camping spot Patiti point - a small cliff side carpark where we could stay the night and admire the views of the ocean beyond.

We headed off the next morning with a plan, we were going to find a quiet place by the sea where we could chill out, enjoy the scenery, and most importantly (for Ben at least) get some fishing in. Our first choice, Rangitata River mouth, was set a long way down a dead end country road, it also happened to be closed, a fact that would have been nice to know before we arrived. We did check on google beforehand, but as autumn slowly trundled into winter more and more campgrounds were closing down for the season - giving us fewer and fewer options. After a brief argument (while the van noisily idled) about where we'd head to next, we picked the next open campground we could find.

So back up the long boring country road, reaching the main road and traveling along it just for another half an hour before we headed down an equally long and boring dead end road towards the sea. Rakaia South Bank was a simple campsite, just a toilet, potable water tap and some grass to park on, but it was lovely. The sun was shining, the nights were clear and Ben managed to catch us dinner, two large red cod that added something special to our curry. During the day Dolphins would come and play in the surf, and we'd sit on the large sandy beach all alone, watching them swim into the distance. Unfortunately they had a two night maximum stay, so just as we'd got settled it was time to leave again.

Last time we visited Banks Peninsular we only stopped at Akaroa before heading off again - it was a stunning area but the free camping options were slim. This time however, having made the brave decision that enjoying ourselves and making the most of our trip was more important than our camping fees being zero, we had a few more options.

Duvauchelle was our first stop - after an obligatory visit to Christchurch's riverside market to pick up some pastries - a small bayside village with beautiful views and not much else going on. The scenery seemed ever changing, the sunlight breaking through the stormy sky, bouncing off the many layers of hillside creating innumerable shades of gold and green. The sea at low tide would pull right back, leaving behind the reflective mudflats for water birds to explore. The weather while we stayed, see-sawed from torrential rain to bright blue skies. Making the most of it, we'd dash out as soon as the weather cleared, marching to the far side of the bay for a spot of fishing. We were unsuccessful, but the locals swore salmon could be caught - maybe they were trying to inspire us to continue but it sadly didn't help.

Once our two nights in Duvauchelle were over, we headed up over the mountain to Okains Bay on the other side of the Peninsular. Okains hamlet lies at the bottom of a steep and windy road, and the population is far fewer in number than the amount sheep that call it home - as we found out when the local Shepard herded a large flock of them down the quiet lane that holds their tiny singular shop. This village shop, like many other rural village shops, seemed to keep alive the tradition of selling everyday basic goods for over inflated prices; so after a quick wander around it, we decided we could live without bread for a few days.

The campsite itself was massive, large patches of threadbare lawn bisected by bushes to provided private nooks. The campsite was separated from the beach by a small wood of karaka trees and for the first night, we had the whole place to ourselves. Sure, one of the camp amenities block was closed and the one we had access to was under-supplied but we were pretty self sufficient anyways. The one thing that did detract from our experience here was the showers, the ladies were pretty grotty and the mens failed to provide any hot water (even after paying the $2), sorry Ben!

We spent a happy few days relaxing here, the evenings filled with dusky walks along the beach to capture the beautiful sunsets, and the days with Ben clambering over precarious rocks to compete with sea lions for the best spots to fish, and me sitting quietly on the beach reading in the solitude - perfection.

Feeling like we'd done Banks Peninsular justice this time and in dire need of groceries that wouldn't break the bank, we decided to head to the larger town of Diamond Harbour. There was two main routes we could have travelled, the easy way that ran straight along the ridge line in the center of the peninsular or the fun way. It wasn't for the faint of heart, miles and miles of one lane gravel track that hugged the cliffside, dangerously free of safety barriers. The route would descend all the way to ground level to meet with tiny bays before climbing all the way back up to the mountain top. Luckily we only met one car coming the opposite way, a local farmer towing a trailer filled with non-plussed sheep - he was kind enough to hug the edge, but not before we'd payed the toll in the form of a chat about what we were up to.

The free camp we ended up at was rubbish, but the town had a supermarket and that's all we were really there for. After a rubbish nights sleep and with nothing else on our agenda we headed to another camp ground that we'd stayed at before, Amberley.

We were starting to feel antsy, we'd been applying for jobs on the South Island, knowing that we had quite a few months left before our ferry and we'd heard nothing back. We only had a few places more that we wanted to visit on the South Island too. It was time for a new plan, luckily, our ferry tickets were transferable, so we booked ourselves a sooner crossing and starting making our way back to Picton... with a few more stops along the way.

Trip date : May 2023