New Zealand

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Over morning coffee, Clive went through some ideas of routes we could take and offered some useful advice about how to try to fit the whole south island into 17 days of travel.

We hit the road feeling refreshed after what felt like a really lovely break - even though it was only one night, it felt good to have stopped for long enough to see a bit of normality.

At Clive’s suggestion, we took a leisurely drive up to Kaiteriteri beach. The sand was a yellowy orange colour, with water that was bright green in places; very different from any of the other beaches we’ve seen so far. There were lots of houses clinging to the hills around the bay which must have had spectacular sea views.

We headed up to the entrance to the Abel Tasman National Park. If it had been better weather we’d have done a trip there which would have at some point involved getting out onto the water in kayaks. As it was still Spring, going out in the cold didn’t appeal to us so we drove back down towards the West coast.

By early evening we were in Westport at a lovely campground which was right next to the beach. It was cold and rainy so we didn’t dare brave the weather to check it out. Instead we got set up on the internet and spent our evening trying to find a cheap camper van for our Oz trip, while making a start on the tasty oaked chardonnay we’d bought from Hawkes Bay. We enjoyed a feast of olives, hummus, pesto, ham and all kinds of deli goodies which complimented it perfectly. I can see we’re really starting to get used to the NZ way of life!

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Photos

Clive and Abigail
Unfortunately when we left Lynette and Isabel were out so they escaped having their photo taken.

Kaiteriteri Beach
The sand was a vibrant yellow/orange and the water a deep green