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Published: January 29th 2013
We left Kaikoura on Thursday 17th Jan and headed North towards Blenheim which is at the top of the South Island. We decided to change our accomodation style and moved away from the motor home / motels that we had been staying in and instead chose a private homestead with small a camping ground with a 'bach' (like a small cabin or cottage) These are normally in grounds with shared kitchen facilities so we could also cook our own meals as eating out in NZ has been a disappointment.... either expensive or rubbish or usually both!
After all the travelling and a pretty intense itinery to date we were ready to just rest! So, we stocked up on provisions and drove the relatively short distance along the coast to Blenheim. We had already covered 2,000km since picking up the hire car so it would be nice to leave it parked up for a few days.
The Bach near Blenheim was excellent - self contained with en-suite and only $75 per night and the camping site had nice grounds, great views over the mountains and a pool. Unfortunately the rain had followed us again so we wouldn't be
using it just yet.
We spent the next couple of days walking along the Wairai River and the hills around the area. The scenery had changed again to a long valley, big hills covered in pine trees and nothing like the mountains we had seen further south.
It was still dreary weather but we met some lovely Kiwi's who were also staying at the site. The hardest job was keeping madam away from the many wineries in the region - Brancott Estate, Oyster Bay etc all had tasting houses nearby! (Although we did buy a nice bottle of red called 'Pete's Shed' from a friendly farmer!!!)
On our last day the sun was out - 31 degrees! Absolutely glorious day. We sat by the pool and got ready to catch the ferry later that night from Picton to Wellington (South Island to North Island)
We chose the last ferry of the day as it meant we could travel at night and see the fantastic stars as we crossed the Cook Straits to the North Island.
As the sun was setting we headed up the short distance to Picton and the ferry and had
View from the 'Bach'
Great view from our little 'Bach' or cabin as we know it!something to eat and a beer in a bar with the worst kareoke singers in the world. Picton was a lovely little place... very quaint. The ferry was similiar to the channel ferries in the UK and crossing would take about 4 hours... hopefully there would be no sea sickness this time!
As we said goodbye to the South Island and set off we headed up to the deck to see the stars...Unfortunately this wasn't the case and it was cloudy and raining again. So, we missed the stars and also the scenery around Marlborough Sound as we left the 'Mainland' and headed North.
The last few days had been really relaxing and much different to what we had been doing but it was time to move on... Goodbye South Island, it was a fantastic experience and we hope one day to go back.
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