Following the sunshine with the traveling circus

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After our extended stay at Nikau Bay, and Andy hooked on a new obsession (fishing) the trip back from the Sounds was a bit of a somber one. This was short lived though as we stopped off in Havelock on the way for a warm power shower. Now for most people this is a daily ritual which they think nothing of, I mean who doesn't shower every day? Well when you live in a van and park in some of the most beautiful places nature has to offer, something has to give, and showering was it. The showers in Havelock marina are top notch and high on our list of recommendations for a weary traveling in this part of NZ. All squeaky clean, the 3some (we showered separately for those who were having unclean thoughts) were deciding where to head next over a pie, when a minor disaster struck, Andy lost a large filling into said pie. Now we always had suspicions about the dentist back home in Oakley and it seems rightly so. The filling was gone, and our journey was now to be guided by the search for a dentist to repair the damage. Bugger!

Off to Blenheim we went, as this was the closest place, and after trying every dentist in the town (5 or something) we managed to get the earliest appointment of the following Friday, which meant a 3 day wait 😞 We headed off for a campsite close by with this news, and found ourselves alone in a forest at yet another DOC campsite. The place had an air of the spooky about it, being far from civilization, and in a pitch black forest, but with 3 of us we conquered the fear and setup for a few days here. In the morning we were awoken by the sound of chainsaws off in the distance, it seemed the forest was being chopped down, a task we would later find out, would be a 7 year task! With little in the way to amuse us in the forest, we had to turn to novel ways of providing entertainment. As Kim (the loon) was now part of our traveling circus, this was no problemo. The morning started with a dancing meditation (which Andy refused to partake in), this was followed by a spot of Capoeira, and then lunch. After lunch we went walnut hunting in the

forest to provide Kim with a supply for her Wishing Walnuts. The exhausting day was topped off with a mammoth session of Gin Rummy which went on late into the night and bought out the competitive spirit in the party. Next day in the forest was a similar madness fest which included the delights of Andy donning a bin bag and getting dragged Jackass-style, behind Kim's van. Not sure how that all started but it was pretty funny, if nothing else but for the sight of a semi-naked Andy dressing in attractive black plastic, with a woven mat strapped to his ass for protection. The afternoon was spent throwing stones at other stones in a dry river bed. A childish sounding way to spend your time, but one of those moments where you realise just how lucky you are to be traveling. How often do you have the time to enjoy the simple things in life, like skimming a stone on a lake or just enjoying being out in the sun. We all felt the kid inside us come out that day, which we were all very chuffed about.

The next leg of our journey would see us having dentistry done and heading off for a pampering session at Hamner Springs. It being the weekend we decided not to take the sensible direct route to Hamner but go cross country, via. the West coast and then back again. A detour that was supposed to kill the weekend ended up taking us about 4 days in the end. First we headed over to Westport to do some much needed washing of clothes and other dull activities. Then we headed up the coast to Karamea to see some limestone arches and caves. This was all pretty cool, but I think probably not worth the whole day trip it took to get there and back. Our journey back took us via. Westport again, and across the Lewis Pass, to within touching distance of Hamner. We stopped at another DOC place where unusually the making of fire was allowed. Andy never needs asking twice to light a fire, and we got straight on with gathering wood and building a stack, for the night ahead. It was a great evening and we all sat around the blazing fire, having an occasional poke, as you do, and getting that lovely smell of burning well and truly embedded in all of our clothing. That night it lashed it down, and our campsite on bumpy, grassy muddy ground seemed somewhat unwise in the morning. In the end we got out with no problems and headed off to the warmth that awaited us at Hamner.

The day we spent at the Hamner Springs was totally awesome, and can only be describes as pure indulgence. The naturally hot pools they have there are really nice to just soak in, and the closest thing was have come to a hot bath since NZ. We also treated ourselves to our very own private sauna and steam room which was also top notch. Surprisingly they have no such thing as a public sauna or steam there, you pay your money and get the whole place to yourself which we all though was brilliant. It wasn't even that expensive so if you are in this part of the world, take advantage and go for the sauna/ steam room combo, it is worth every cent. The town of Hamner Springs has an alpine feel to it, which is totally engineered by the planners, but it isn't that horrible. In fact the place was actually quite nice and relaxing to spend some time, but the restaurants there seem somewhat undercatered for considering what the place is trying to be. There is the usual fish and chips, Chinese, and curry type takeaways, but they are all quite expensive and the ones we tried were quite disappointing. We did stay in a nice campsite there though, by the forest, which had a nice kitchen to chill out in. This was just as well as the weather was starting to get really cold and we saw pretty much our first frost since Patagonia. This wasn't what we had come half way around the world for, and told us it was time to move to warmer climes, which is just was well as we were to fly to OZ in a few weeks. We stayed for a few days in Hamner cooking and sorting ourselves out. Kim introduced us to one of her family secrets, the carrot and oat balls. This less than delicious sounding creation was in fact a taste revelation, and we have vowed to spread its popularity and steal the family secret for our Ginger and Slim food company. The production line went slightly crackers and we loved them so much, Andy was mixing the ingredients in 2 buckets. The result was more balls than any reasonable woman could handle, and more than the 3 of us could gobble in several weeks.

The time came for us to break the 3some and for Kim to follow her heart to the Catlins and sort it out with her artist. We sadly parted ways at Hamner, Kim going south and Ginger and Slim heading North in the search of sunshine and warmth. The circus was closed down for another year, but Josie had a feeling in her waters we would be reunited at some point in the future. We headed for Kaikoura to possibly see some whales, but instead just stopped for a spot of lunch and then headed to our camp for the night at Marfells Beach. Once again NZ had thrown up a natural gem here as the spot is truly awesome, and one of those views which is priceless. You can park right next to the beach and hear the waves lapping the shore, spectacular. Once again, Andy did his bit for conservation here, dipping his rod into the water to feed the fish, failing to pull out even the smallest catch. If it wasn't for fishermen like him, there would be no fish left in the sea, my hero! The place was so beautiful we stayed for 2 nights, Andy conserving NZ fishing stocks and Josie baking cakes to prevent us starving from lack of food. The trip from here on turned into a bit of a roadtrip with not to many stops and tons of KM covered. We went to Nelson for the Saturday marked and got some lovely veggies and fruit and had a totally awesome kebab. We then went to Kina Bay and stayed at a place recommenced by our Nikau Bay chums. The place was lovely with another park-on-the-beach view, and filtered water to boot. Yet more conservation from Andy here, and puddings from Josie. The road trip continued from here with a mammoth one day drive. We drove up to Collingwood, played a game of cards at the beach over lunch, bought some tasty homemade chocolates, went to Able Tasman then promptly left in disgrace as they wanted $12 a person for a campsite (after sneaking a very cold shower), drove back to Kina before nightfall and slept there as it was so nice. The next day was a similarly long drive taking us first to Motueka to pickup art supplies for Josie and then on to French Pass to try and address Andy's conservation obsession. The road to French Pass is a long and windy one, but well worth it as it has a real feel about the place.

Now we had been told that fishing French Pass was a sure fire hit, and after seeing the frightening currents off shore, it was looking good. This time Andy did manage to catch, but nothing much bigger than a tadpole and certainly nothing of legal size, balls. Josie discovered artistic side and did some very accomplished painting here, seems she is a natural and has been hiding the talent all along. The next days were spent catching endless spotties and undersized fish, once again failing to catch a feed but keeping Andy entertained none the less. We also had a bit of a run-in with the local weka population. This flightless bird is a bit like a magpie and just loves to go on the rob. We were constantly on the defense as it tried to steal everything ranging from Joise's flipflops (which it stole right off her foot) to food out the back of the van. The battle ended 1-0 to the weka as it scored a victory one day by stealing our bright orange dish washing sponge. Andy gave chase but it gave him the slip in the bushes, cheeky little bastard.

Once again, Andys teeth rebelled and the recently fixed tooth, unfixed itself cutting our trip short. Back to Blenheim we went to get the tooth fixed again and to give the dentist some abuse. Now in this part of the world, they LOVE their skiving off work on a Bank Holiday, and it so happened the dentist was shut due to Anzac Day, yet another Bank Holiday. We headed off to our favorite spot at Marfells Beach to return the next day and get the tooth fixed free of charge this time, quite rightly too!

With tooth fixed and van stocked up with fishing gear we made our way to Christchurch on the last leg of our NZ adventure to give back the van. At this point spirits were a little low all around with Andy failing to catch fish just about everywhere and Josie getting fed up with the burgeoning fishing mentalist. We drove direct to Chirstchurch where Andy very nearly purchased himself a very sexy iBook, before sense set in (and Josie pointed out the impracticalities of it all). This was another obsession that would haunt us for a while. We decided we had to stick around the area as the van drop off was only days away so we headed off into the sun to the Banks Penisula. BIG MISTAKE it turned out to be, as the places turned into a miserable grey rainfest. We had been told of the beauty of the place but as soon as we rocked up, the sky opened and the clouds rolled in giving us a soaking which didn't go away for the whole time we where there. It was pure 100% English weather, grey, rainy and positively damp-misery. This wasn't what we had signed up for and the spirits of both became extremely dampened. We managed to soldier on anyhow, and visited Akaroa, which is about the only town on the whole peninsular. Quite a nice place to spend an afternoon, but nothing special. Josie got a minor obsession of her own here after we spent half an hour taking to a very friend jewelry maker. The Paua Perl Necklace became Joises iMac, a too expensive thing of beauty that we simply could not justify 😞 The whole wet rainyness and lack of fishing (yet again) made us make a slightly crazy decision that would see us leave Banks Peninsular and head off to rejoin the circus. Kim had sent us an email to say she had been to the Catlins and sorted it all out with Blair (finally) and she had a new decision to make. She was off to Hamner and unknown to her, we were now too. We decided to take a mad drive over there to cheer her up and help her make a life decision.

So we went off to Hamner hoping to meet Kim and if not, have another sauna, steam and hot bath. Unfortunately, the night we arrived Kim was nowhere to be seen, and we figured we had probably missed her. In the morning we drove down to the springs, still hoping we would see her and bugger me if she wasn't there waiting. This was a surprise to all, as Kim hadn't got the message we were coming and we had given up hope. The girls had a scream and a girly hug and the circus reformed for a 1 day special reunion! Now Kim's dilemma was more complicated that we first thought, as she now had to make a massive life changing decision. Should she not go home and joining the gypsy circus instead? I kid you not, she is going to be the resident silversmith at the traveling gypsy circus, and live in a house truck, and we both think it suits her perfectly. The day was spent in the Hamner mulling over the decision, and having an all around good time. Evening came and we headed off to camp together for the last time, as we would give the van back the next day and leave for OZ. We said our goodbyes once again and went our own ways knowing that one day the circus will reform.

Our final day in NZ was spent sorting our stuff out, posting items back home, washing and general housekeeping stuff. Nothing very exciting. Christchurch was quite a nice place but nothing too special, so we won't bother with a lengthy description. Our very final night in NZ saw us eating one of the best and unique pizzas we ever had. The place was called the Menphis Belle and the pizza was a half German, half spicy pork and apple. All home made and delicious, we would totally recommend you go there if you can find it.

So that is it, the NZ leg of the trip came to an end. The whole experience was a slightly strange one. On one hand, we needed the rest after the hustle and stress of South America which the laid back pace of NZ gave us, but on the other hand, at times it felt like a retirement home. We left NZ with mixed feelings as to whether we liked it or not. Now with a bit of perspective on it, we did like it because of the emptiness of the place, the natural beauty and the friendliness of the people. We probably won't be back there anytime soon, but we will never say never, perhaps when we are a bit older (or a lot older 😊 ). Nice place but it didn't knock our socks off, it isn't that kinda place, and that is the beauty of it. Laid back, relaxed, free and easy.

Anyhow, now New Zealand has a new must see, Kim the Gypsy at the GYPSY FAIR. If you happen to be near by, go and say hello to Kim and see if she has some of her magical wishing walnuts for you. You will not regret it, she is an amazing person and a true inspiration with loads of stories and good words to make your day a special one.

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Photos

Rock on!
Hichhiking like this would get us to places in no time ;)

Somewhere over the rainbow
... the way to French Pass

Picture Perfect
I believe this is some of the artists finest work