South Island – Cook Strait to Blenheim

LWe are catching the Interislander ferry at 1030am so we are travelling to Wellington a day early for a relaxed start.  We are overnighting at the Wellington Waterfront Motorpark on Aotea Quay, what a fabulous central location right across the road from the railway station, metres from the shopping on Lambton Quay and a mere backward sidestep to the bars and restaurants on the Queens Wharf.  We even had a view of the harbour from our lounge window.

BUT…for all this there is always a sacrifice….the parking is pretty close together, the nose of the camper is right on the footpaths edge, as cars hurtle past into town you get the full force noise.  Rosie and The Operator were lucky we rolled into Wellington when we did at 5pm, we were the very last van to be casually admitted into the park.  Definitely book ahead if you are staying here, as the night wore on there were plenty of people being turned away.   The site has new showers and toilets and is fully computerised, plug in your personals and a credit card and for $50 you have power, a toilet and shower  accessed by a pin number door code.  There is no cooking facilities, but hey you are in a hundred metre zone of a hundred bars, restaurants and take away joints, live a little in the big smoke.

Rosie awoke early and wandered to the showers under an over bright blue sky, it is disconcerting to just be awake and blinking the sleep out of your eyes whilst clutching a towel and toilet bag when at 6.45am you already have hoards of joggers, cyclists and those already in suits dressed for work marching past….

This park isnt private, it is really a rest stop in the middle of a public walkway, so many people cut through the area on the way to work, the station or the waterfront.  Its like living in a box on the street….teehee, I guess we were, a tin box.  Oh and The Operator would like to say Haha to the smart arse who during the night pulled out our power plug…..the jokes on you, Rosie will still drink warm wine!  As you can see by the location of our plug in the picture, the location of the footpath and the resting location for those wanting cross the road is asking for trouble…..Rosie and The Operator are sure they heard giggling at around 3am so could have apprehended the culprit…..we were awake anyway, the constant warbling of the pedestrian crossing made for a broken sleep.

Waiting in the morning sun in the ques of traveller’s awaiting the ferry was quite exciting, all the cars were lined up and a feeling of anticipation was building, and there she sailed into the harbour, The Arahura, fresh from her first crossing of the day ready to unload and  transport Rosie and The Operator off on holiday! 

 The day was magic, Cook Strait was like a millpond, we were very lucky considering the horror crossing stories every second person I have ever spoken too seems keen on relaying.  The 3 hour 92 km journey seemed to go by in a flash.  

The hour chugging through Queen Charlotte Sound was beautiful, a million diamonds twinkled on the surface of the aqua water, remote Bach’s clung to the native bush clad hillsides or nestled in the golden sands on their own private beaches.  Most had little jetties jutting out into the water as their only point of access.  They are truly in the middle of nowhere….well almost, there was still internet connection and cell coverage on Rosies smartphone….The Operator didnt think they would get a pizza delivery tho…..

Picton, the end of the line came into view, a tiny enclave with houses stretching up the hillside and jurrassic park like wooded mountains towering over the town.  Our transition off the ferry was just as smooth as boarding, off we went…with just a small stop at the exit of the terminal where police were breathtesting passengers, Happy Holidays everyone!  The Operator was clean cause our first stop was to a winery, then we would do some drinking and driving….sensibly of course.

We will tour Picton on our way back home, our GPS was programmed for Blenheim only 26 km up the road where Rosie had a date with a cold Sav.  Straight away the lauded vistas of the South Island opened up, the landscape became bigger but the ranges still surrounded everything.  The landscape is scarred with the felling of large forestry blocks, straight edged patchworks of brown looking ugly next to the lush green planted hills.  Small green dots indicate the next cycle of life but it will take many years to cover the holes again.

Wither Hills is impressive… The winery is named after the imposing Wither Hills ranges, which form a dramatic backdrop to the vineyards which enjoy long sunlight hours, cool nights and are nourished by the waters of the Wairau River.  Being one of the most sunniest and driest regions in New Zealand Rosie and The Operator were parched and went in for a drink and some lunch.  Rosie was a little perturbed about our casual dress…didnt need to worry, dudes on bicycle wine tours were turning up pretty munted in shorts and singlets and were treated like royalty.

Dosnt the camper look mighty?  The Operator had to park out on the road as the carpark couldnt accommodate the the camper and jetski.  We sat under the veranda next to the beanbag lawn and tippled and ate a wonderful lunch of chicken salad with an Asian twist and lamb shank croquettes which were just to die for.  It was a nice afternoon, then we got THE CALL.  A dude from Timaru was interested in buying the jetski, we took it to the South Island and were going to meet him in Blenheim for the exchange….he was a half hour out of Blenheim – we sculled back, jumped into the camper and took off for the Blenheim Top 10 Holiday Park….our rendezvous zone.  We checked into the park with Murray, a recent South Island dweller who couldnt stand the rain in Waihi…..a lovely guy who let us conduct business underneath his cherry tree.  Rosie skulked off to a park bench in the shade, the dude and a chick turned up.  The Operator is laughing away in a loud false way putting on his best greasy used car salesman act. Nex Minut he is saying to the lady ‘step into my office’….and the biartch is in Rosies camper with her husband….Rosies neck was on a googly bobble stick alright….come on Operator do the biz, the dude is looking close and rubbing the scratches….deal done, all sorted, bye bye and hope you have fun!  yahoo, looking like a good holiday for us after all!

This motor camp is huge and comprises of about three different areas and amenity blocks, we asked for a nice spot with abit of shade and it was beautiful!  Every one else opted for full sun and frizzled.  The area we were in was quite large and there were only three shower and toilets and a small kitchen with two sinks servicing a camping area equipped for about 30 tent site and equal amount of powered sites.  It was clean though and relatively new.

We were parked about 20 metres from the river bank and there were Mumma and baby ducks aplenty chancing the daily scrounge with the campers.  The bridge crossed the river and was the entry way into Blenheim for all cars and trucks.  The rail bridge was behind that and it is good to see a thriving rail industry in the South Island as was the testament to at least 8 trains that roared through.  A really nice camp for a really nice town of which we were going to explore more of tomorrow before moving onto Kaikoura.  Wheeling and dealing done, time to crack open a Wither Hills take out!