We had an incredibly lazy beginning to our time on New Zealands South Island. First was Whatamango Bay Campsite where we paddled in the crystal clear sea and swam in the refreshingly cold river nearby; we hid from the sun, shade bathing during the hottest part of the day and played bat and ball as the evening drew colder. It was pretty sweet but the toilet situation wasn’t that great and it was pretty busy… so we soon decided to head off to our next destination, Rarangi Campsite. This campsite wasn’t as good, the weather had turned and as the beach was open to the sea the waves were too rough to swim in. To top things off I wasn’t feeling too well, so we ended staying here for a couple of days, despite our dwindling food supplies and lack of anything to do. It wasn’t ideal but there are far worse places to be.
Most people who head to Marlborough find themselves on a wine tour, tasting their way around the vineyards of Blenheim. Somehow we found ourselves ignoring this option and going on a walk to find a shipwreck instead. The battered and crumbling remains of the T.S.S Waverley can be found half way around the three hour long Wairau Lagoons walkway loop. A walk that trailed forever along a flat pathway carved into the wetlands, bordered on all sides by wild samphire and small frogs that would quickly hop away as we approached. The wreck wasn’t quite what I had envisioned, my head conjured up images of an impressive wooden galleon courtesy of pirates of the Caribbean, perfectly preserved despite the test of time. It is in fact a steel ship, rust slowly corroding away what structure is left to it, interesting but no where near as romantic as the picture in my head.
I’ll skip quickly past Elterwater Reserve, our next Free Camping spot. We arrived too early, there was nothing to do and the road noise kept us up all night - would really not recommend.
I’m also hesitant to recommend the next spot on our travels, at least not for the reason we visited. Ward Boulders is quite far away from anywhere, down long and winding roads through farmland that eventually end in a dirt track leading to the beach. The boulders part of Ward boulders beach was far from impressive, we couldn’t really find more than one or two of these famous balls that gives the place its name. If this had been our whole reason for visiting, I’d have been disappointed that we’d battled the fierce freezing wind for a few broken rocks… however, I had heard something interesting about this beach. Tucked far away in a random comment section online was a single mention that a seal colony that could be found on this beach, fortunately for us they were right. Seeing the fur-seals dotted around the beach was one of my highlights of the country so far, they were truly incredible and it was so nice to see them unbothered in the wild.
Once we’d had our fill with watching the seals, it was time to head back into the wind and slowly fight our way back to the van. The drive wasn’t that much better either, I had to pull over several times during the drive down to Kaikoura needing a break from holding the van onto the road, it felt that if I lost concentration for just a split second the wind would easily push us off the road. It was easily one of the worst driving experiences I’d ever had but with no choice we continued on till we reached our destination.
There are many activities we could had done in Kaikoura, swimming with wild dolphins, albatross spotting, whale watching boat tours, but due to the rubbish weather we did none of these. Instead we snagged a spot at one of the very few FreeCamping spots in the town and we waited things out. When the skies cleared a little we wandered down the beach to the Point Kean Viewpoint to see the seal colony that lives there, despite the drizzle there were quite a few people wandering about the seals and feeling like they already had enough visitors we decided to leave them alone, happy with our less touristic experience we’d had earlier in the day. We may have stayed in Kaikoura longer if the Free-Camping restrictions been less severe, it seemed unwelcoming having to vacate a spot by 8am and only being able to stay the one night.
We found out the next day when our car wouldn’t start that the 8am kick out time wasn’t the most strictly enforced when no one came to tell us off as we waited for the AA to arrive. For some reason when our neighbour for the night offered to give us a jumpstart, we refused thinking it couldn’t have anything to do with the battery… shortly after the Mechanic arrived (thank past us for thinking to get breakdown cover) we found out it - thankfully - had everything to do with having a flat battery that was completely my fault for forgetting to turn the lights off. Having outstayed our welcome - the camp we were on had a one night limit and the other free spots in town were toiletless -we decided to head inland hoping that the brisk winds wouldn’t follow us.
Hamner Springs is an incredibly touristy town situated nestled in a valley before the mountainous Lewis Pass. We visited for two main reasons, firstly to escape the rubbish coastal weather and secondly it seemed like there was lots of jobs going there. Once we arrived it was clear to see this alpine village wasn’t the place for us, even for a couple of months rest. It just didn’t feel real, the whole place felt like a holiday park and an overpriced one at that. I’m not saying it was all bad, the scenery was beautiful and just outside of town we enjoyed a sunny walk along the rocky river bed before carefully lowering ourselves into the river for a cool down along the edge of the rapids. It was here that Ben enjoyed a very tame 30th birthday. It was also here that we decided to get our car looked over again, this time to a better mechanic who immediately saw that it was an easy and fairly cheap fix and managed to give the car a full oil change and service along the way. We ended up staying on the outskirts of Hamner Springs for a couple of days, the weather had finally cleared and we wanted to enjoy it while we could, nevertheless it was soon time to head on the road again, leaving Marlborough far behind and exploring further into Canterbury.
Marlborough, for some reason, just wasn't my favourite. Maybe it was the weather, and maybe we didn't give it a full chance as we skipped by some of the most popular of it's attractions, all I know it just wasn't quite what I expected. When people talk of the South Island it's always mentioned that the landscape is just more than the north, more dramatic, more mountainous, more beautiful, more captivating... and I just didn't get this from this region. It was different that the north, less emerald covered valleys and more elephant skinned hills, but the difference wasn't better in my eyes and maybe it was because of the expectations that it didn't wow me as much as it could. A lesson could be taken here, that places should be taken as they are and that comparing doesn't do them justice... whether this lesson will stick is another matter entirely.
Trip date : Jan 2023
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