Marlborough Sounds to Westport

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We drove onto the ferry and scampered up on deck to get a good seat for the two hour journey (our training from all the times we use the jam packed Indonesian ferries!) and were partly taken back by the relative emptiness and availability comfortable seating. Not bad, we though and, although it was costing about 50 times as much as the other ferries we had taken, at least we could relax with a view of the scenery. It was of course spectacular and towards the end of the journey we went out on deck at the front of the ship and faced the biting wind to see the beauty of the Marlborough sounds as we cruised into Picton.

On arrival, we jumped in the van and drove off for a quick explore of Picton but it turned out to be a pretty small place with not a lot to see. We found a BP garage and filled up our empty gas bottle with LPG (only $6, finally something in NZ is cheap!) and headed out to the 'Queen Charlotte Drive' which runs between Picton and Nelson. This road winds its way along cliffside, skirting the beautiful Marlborough Sound and Queen Charlotte sounds (and later, Perlorous sound) and is the easiest way to get a glimpse at the sheer mountains and sea lochs without owning a boat or hiking for several days.

It was starting to get dark and we decided to pull over and camp on one of the bigger lay-bys overlooking the bay to hopefully make the most of the fantastic views in the morning. We fired up the now full gas bottle and were amazed at how powerful the flame was which made cooking our stir fried chicken and rice an absolute treat. Later that evening we heard a lot of rustling in the surrounding bushes and then shortly after something banging the side of our van. We were a little worried (camping by the side of the road afterall) but I went out to explore with a flashlight. I caught a glimpse of something running back into the bushes and went back into the van only to hear the same thing a few minutes later. Going out again, I saw it a bit better this time- it was a bird of some kind with the fat body of a duck and a pointed beak. It really wasn't very timid, only scampering away a few paces as I approached it before coming right on back and pecking the wheel rims as I went back in the van. We didn't have a clue what it was but decided to name it 'bush duck' and put up with its incessant pecking at the van for a few hours before disappearing.

The next day we awoke to some beautiful views of the sound and set off on the windy drive towards Havelock. Havelock is another tiny place that has two claims to fame. The first is that Ernest Rutherford, the discoverer of the structure of the Atom went to school here for a while and the second I that the town is one of the biggest producers of green shelled mussels. We set off in search of a fishmonger or something to buy said mussels but were quite disappointed to find nothing so headed along the road towards Nelson, watching more beautiful scenery on the way.

At Nelson the first thing we did was head to the supermarket and buy some of the mussels that we couldn't get in Havelock and cooked them up in some wine and ate them with fresh bread whilst looking out over the harbour. Afterwards we headed out to explore Nelson with our first stop being the famous jewellers where “The one Ring” from 'Lord of the Rings' was made (they say the one ring, although about a dozen or so were made in different sizes and used at different points in the film). The small, rather unassuming little place had a collection of contemporary jewellery and nothing remotely elvish :-) so was a bit disappointing. Nelson also has a cathedral sitting on top of a small hill and for some reason was built to look half finished. We had a quick look around and it was a bit better on the inside, with some pretty stained glass windows and a rear side that looked slightly more antiquated and attractive.

After wandering the streets of Nelson for a bit, we set off inland towards St Arnaud which is a small town next to another stunning national park. After stopping at Richmond for supplies from the shopping mall, we drove for an hour or so and as light was starting to fade, we camped in another big lay-by on top of a hill to avoid forking out for a campsite. The evening was fairly uneventful with the exception of another bushduck stalking us throughout the night, scratching around and pecking the van. I did, however, manage to get a better look at one. The best description is the body of a duck, with brown/golden feathers like a grouse and a sort pointed beak for scavenging around and pecking at parked camper vans.

The next day we got up early and drove down into the national park and had breakfast overlooking beautiful lake Rotoiti set amongst the mountains. It was really pretty and would have been the perfect campsite but, alas, it was in a national park and camping in national parks is a Kiwi no-no. When we opened the door, we were bombarded with the infamous south island sand flies that were first recorded by Captain Cook for their persistence and the itchy lump that is left by a single bite. I think sandflies must be the curse of the kiwis as they really restrict you being outside since if you have any exposed flesh, they'll bite it.

We checked the forecast at the DOC centre and since it was looking clear until early afternoon, decided to do a trek up mount Robert. You could drive part pay up and then follow a monotonous zig zagging track up along the edge of a forest until you get near the summit where the trees don't grow. Then there is a fantastic view of the surrounding lakes and hills that make it all worthwhile. Since we'd got up there much quicker than the DOC leaflets suggest, we decided to do a loop walk and head along the top of the mountain for a while for some fantastic views before heading back down the other side and walking along the side back to the car park. The whole thing was really enjoyable and we did it it 3 hours instead of the suggested 5 so rewarded ourselves with a cup of coffee and some chocolate.

After a brief stop in St Arnaud to pick up some ice (the curse of using a cool box as a fridge as we have to buy ice every few days) we headed down to the DOC campsite back near the lake to use their coin operated showers. Unfortunately, since it was approaching winter they'd turned off the water to stop the pipes freezing and destroyed our hopes of a hot shower. Stacey did the sensible thing and washed using the sink in the toilet block but I had the grander idea of doing it in the lake so stripped own to my boxers and went for a swim. Needless to say it was bloody freezing and I wasn't in there any longer than needed to wash my hair and have a scrub down before jumping out and running back to the van to avoid the sandflies and to warm up! It was nice to be clean though so was worth the temporary discomfort and risk of frostbite.

We made our way to a basic DOC campsite called 'Kawatiri Junction' an hour up the road sited at an old railway station where there was a small platform left remaining. These basic DOC campsites that provided us with much free accommodation on the north island were much fewer and in more remote places on the south island much to our annoyance. It was decent enough but unfortunately at the T junction of two main roads (I say that, but there are so few roads on the south island that any road around is usually a state highway) so was a bit noisy.

The following day we drove in the direction of Westport via Buller gorge. The gorge is yet another example of NZ's outstanding natural beauty with high mountains and valleys with fast flowing rivers. In fact, almost all of the south island we'd seen so far is stunning enough to be one big national park. We were also going to stop in a small town along the way called Murchison where Stacey had her eye on doing some gold panning but unfortunately the place that rented out the gold pans was closed at the weekends so her hopes were dashed (which may have been as well as I'm not sure she realised it would involve walking out into the freezing water!)

Reaching Westport, we'd expected something a little bigger since it is probably the biggest town on the west coast which is otherwise devoid of settlements most of the way down to the fiordlands. The sleepy town had an i-site complete with a snooty woman who didn't appreciate me commenting on the price of postcard stamps ($2!) but more importantly had a small brewery that produced fresh beer without preservatives. Venturing inside, we met a guy about our age who had come over from Scotland for a few months to work and he gave us samples of all the different beers. They don't sell bottles either - you are given a 2l plastic bottle for the very reasonable sum of $10 (£5). We then headed out to find fish & chips, stopping briefly at a small table sale which was outside the town hall and bought some home made plum chutney. We ate our fish & chips in the van with a glass of beer which was the perfect way to spend Saturday lunch time.

Departing Westport, we noted that the petrol station was boasting last fuel for120km but with a quarter of a tank left, we calculated we'd probably have enough fuel to get us to the next pumps further south and failing that, we had roadside assistance (although realising later on that we had no way of calling them if it came to it).

On our way out of town we stopped for a quick walk along the coast to a lighthouse at Cape Foul-wind along some stunning cliffs. Also nearby was another seal colony so we took a walk along to watch the blubbery little critters lounge on the rocks in the sun or frolic in the water, pretty amazed at the sheer number of them that were calling the place home. We took a shortcut back to the main road heading south down the west coast, driving slightly slower than usual to try and preserve our dwindling supply of petrol.

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Comments

[Lesley Dennis]

Andrea says you have far too much time on your hands! It is a shame it is looking a bit grey and gloomy down under! Sunshine here and 19C! We got your postcard today - thank you