NEW YEAR SOUTH ISLAND

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30.12.08

It’s sunny and warm. Absolutely lovely. Rare stains of white clouds give some joy to an otherwise blue dome. We’re driving north on a sole strip of tarmac that unwinds between yellow hills and dark green patches of conifers. Together with the electric line, the road is the only sign of man’s presence.
I’m thinking about the summers of my youth spent in the Alps with my family, the white river beds almost dry.
We stop for lunch in Kaikoura, a small town on the sea famous for whale watching. We buy some fish & chips, and sit on the almost deserted beach, under the bright sun. we eat while a circle of seagulls all around us, is waiting impatiently for a piece of fish. The little stones on the ground are burning under our feet and bums! Helicopters come and go to take people in search of whales out in the sea.
It’s time to get back on the road. Mountains are getting higher, thousands of sheep, deer and cattle graze on the slopes. At the foot of the hills, vineyards lay like carpets. By the time we’re approaching Blenheim, both sides of the road are lined with rows of vines.
When we arrive Phil is waiting for us outside. We sit in the veranda looking the backyard, drinking in the shade. Erika joins us later, when back from work. Their place is lovely, the house is very nice and the backyard so beautiful. We have a lovely time, a delicious dinner with veggies from the garden and good wine, and lots of fun with Mike and Phil playing backyard cricket.
At sunset we go for a walk down the road, where everything is quiet, and the few houses soon leave place to the vines.

31.12.08

It’s some time past eight in the morning when Phil starts yelling to wake us up. We’re soon up and running. We know that Phil and Erika have to go to work, and before leaving we have to find a camp site where to go. Apart from the fact that our tent is useless as we forgot the poles at home, or better we didn’t check if there was everything in the bag, everything is perfect. We borrow Phil’s tent, which is also bigger, we book two nights at the camp site in Tahunanui, just off Nelson, and we’re soon ready to go.
It’s another hot bright day. We thank Phil for their great hospitality and the lovely time and agree to come back in a couple of days. The way to Nelson is not long, so we take it easy and make a few stops. Half way we stop at a café by the Pelorus River for a snack. We walk on the small bridge 16m above the running water, from where Mike used to jump. Quite impressive. We go for a walk on the Totara path to a flat and then to the river. Few people are hanging around, sitting on the rocks or having a swim. The sky is getting cloudy and the rain doesn’t seem too far. We should get back on the way.
By the time we get to the camp site, it’s very windy and grey. We start immediately to set up the tent because it can rain any time soon.
Finally we can sit inside and relax. I sleep for two hours, when I wake up it’s mid afternoon. A wide opening in the sky let the sun shine through, but it’s still very windy and more clouds will come. It’s time for a long walk on the beach. The wind is very strong and there’s probably no more than 10 people on this huge beach. Few are kite surfing.
We go for a walk but soon it’s not too pleasant to go around. Before heading back to the camp we look for a supermarket without success. We have to take the car and go to Nelson, to buy all we need to celebrate tonight the New Year! On the way back we get some fish & chips for dinner to eat in the tent. At 8.30 it’s raining, but in the camp amphitheatre there’s apparently a band playing. The camp site is more than 50 acres and we have no clue where the place is. Even if under the rain, it’s a great chance to walk around and explore. We have a very nice walk but the gig is of no interest. The sun is still up and back to our tent we set everything outside in the veranda to wait for midnight.
We have some snack and delicatessen, and the bottle of wine that Kristie and Jonathan got us for Christmas. Michael takes the guitar to play a bit, and then we put some music on in the background.
Slowly the sun disappears and it gets dark. The sky now is clear and stars are lighting up one by one. We sit here and relax. It’s beautiful. We also see an UFO moving very quickly in the sky. This is a very popular thing with kiwis so we thought to join the trend and spot one as well.
At 11.30 the bottle of wine is gone and it’s time to get ready. We pack glasses and another bottle of wine, and take a rug with us. We go to the beach to celebrate and watch the fireworks.
While we walk there mum rings to wish us a happy new year and after few minutes, as soon as we sit on the sand, dad also rings. We’ve been very happy to hear from them just at the time of celebrating! On the beach is all dark but we can see few other people in the distance. The fireworks start and we celebrate finally the start of 2009! The fireworks are stunning and we watch hypnotized with the rug around our shoulders. We have a very beautiful time and I feel this year will be a good one!
When the celebration is over, and we think we’re tired enough, we get back.
In the tent Michael plays his guitar softly and I slowly fall asleep. We’re very happy.

01.01.09

The sun is climbing up the sky and in the tent is getting terribly hot. We wake up and start our day. Toilets are closed for cleaning and we have to wait an hour to take a shower. We have some breakfast and decide to drive to Nelson to have a look at the city. It is indeed a very small town.
Some shops are open and start the seasonal sales. We walk up to the gothic-industrial cathedral, from where we can catch a full view of the city up to the sea.
There’s a lot of people around, and the day is lovely. We have a walk and then stop for a coffee. There’s really not much to do here, so back to the car we decide to go to Rabbit Island, about 20km from Nelson.
We ask for directions at the camp site and go. Once we reach Richmond the directions become a bit uncertain, so we ask again to a patrol station and soon get there. Rabbit Island is a natural reserve with a vast conifer plantation, numerous picnic areas, and a long wide beach. The day is lovely, so the whole place is quite populated.
We walk along the beach dotted with shells of every shape. We collect some and make stories about them. We sit on a tree trunk in a small bit of shade at the edge of the beach. There Michael sets up an incredible piece of art with branches and shells. We have a great time.
Before heading back we drive around the reserve to have a look, and then drive around the surrounding hills to explore the area.
In the evening we lay in the veranda drinking wine and eating. Later we listen to the music laying under a rug and looking at the stars. We spot again the same UFO, funny eh?!

02.01.09

It’s very windy and the clouds moved away from the beach. The sun is already hot. We relax in the shade. We have to take down the tent and pack everything, but before that we need to relax a bit more.
We will head back to Blenheim to spend the night again at Phil and Erika’s. we take the long way; once we’re here why not exploring a bit more. First we go back to Nelson to have some breakfast, and we eat it in the sun, sitting on the grass by the church.
The road towards Blenheim has plenty of deviations and we take the first one to Cable Bay. It is a lovely place. A narrow strip of land, just wide enough for cars to pass or park on one side, divides a wet basin from the sea. We walk on top of the hill to contemplate the place. The name comes from the first cable set up to connect New Zealand with Australia in 1876, giving the opportunity to communicate with overseas by telegraph. It sounds amazing. The cable started from here, so the bay took the name.
The weather is not amazing but the atmosphere is great. Back on the main road we don’t go too far before getting off again, this time towards Okiwi Bay, about 20km from the HS. The road to the bay is very winding and goes up and down. By the time we get there my motion sickness is at its top!
It’s rainy. Many people are going out with their boats. We sit there for a while and then have a look around, but there’s not much.
In the early afternoon we get to Havelock. We decide to have a look because we remember we’ve seen posters of a “mussel festival” taking place here.
Of mussels there’s no trace, but we discover the lovely harbour hidden between the mountains. A big number of small boats and some yachts are standing silent in rows.
The sun has found a stretch in the clouds. We would love to buy some mussels for tonight but we can’t find any.
As soon as we get to Blenheim we try to ring Phil but without success. We find both him and Erika at home, but he was busy sanding a chest of drawers and didn’t hear the phone. Their hospitality is always great. We sit outside in the veranda with the wind blowing all around.
Before dinner they take us to a guided tour around Blenheim! We walk along the river to the centre of town, with the small railway tracks following beside us. Blenheim is a very small town, and almost deserted on this windy day. We walk past the convention centre, one of the few modern buildings in town, and the only one to have an escalator!
As you can imagine there’s not much more to see here. On the way back we stop at the video shop to rent a movie for tonight. We eat a pasta salad in the garden. We realize that since we left Phil’s pumpkin plant has grown almost 2 feet! I’m really impressed, and we’re thinking about coming up again for the pumpkin competition! We eat the lovely dessert that Erika cooked for us, playing cards inside, and then I fall asleep watching “Tropical Thunder” that obviously wasn’t worth watching.

03.01.09

It’s pitch dark when Phil yells at us to get up. Michael opens the thick curtains to see a grey low sky.
As soon as we’re ready Phil takes us for a drive through the vineyards. We drive for miles and miles surrounded by rows of vines. At Highfields we stop to climb the tower that overlooks all the vineyards around. The view is incredible. On the way out we stop for a taste. We try three wines, but honestly the only one I remember, is the one I liked the most, a Sauvignon Blanc 2007.
After a quick lunch of sandwiches we get back on the way. To get back to Christchurch we decide to drive inland. We take the way along the Richmond Range to get to Lake Rotoiti. The clouds are coming down and by the time we get there, it’s raining.
We get off the car to have a look around and visit some very beautifully designed toilets, but when the rain gets hard we sit in the car and look at the lake.
Just the time to get to Lake Rotoroa and the sun is shining above our heads. Nevertheless a big number of flies is very soon all over us, leaving me with lots of bites. Some people is going out with their boats, but we can hardly see the end of the lake wrapped in the clouds. The flies don’t make the visit very pleasant unfortunately, and we decide to leave.
We make a brief stop at the Maruia waterfalls and finally enter the beautiful native forest. We drive along the HS65 surrounded by thick green. We spot a sign by the road indicating a pathway to a waterfall. We’re not looking for anything more! We step our feet in the mud for half an hour before reaching the incredible waterfall, so high it seems to come from the sky. We’re really enjoying it, and Michael is incredibly happy. That’s all he loves about his country.
We make a last stop at Hanmer just before the sun goes down, and have some fish& chips in the park.
We try to finish our trip in style running out of patrol in the middle of nowhere but the 4th patrol station we pass by is actually open, so we can get back to Christchurch tired enough to go soon to sleep.

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