Time to Bust Out the Bikes

 Time to Bust out the Bikes

Rabbit Island Beach - Nelson

SUNDAY 16 FEBRUARY - FRIDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2025

I found that I enjoyed the trip to Nelson a lot more once we got back on State Highway 6. Although there were still mountains to drive over, the road was in excellent condition and the traffic going our way was pretty light. Dave is a very courteous motorhome driver so is always looking for places to pull over to allow any following vehicles the chance to pass us. We have come to love passing lanes as they make it even easier to ensure we are not causing frustration to anyone behind us.

We arrived in Nelson a good two hours before we could get onto our campsite so we found a spot to park The Beast and set about sorting out our shopping list. Okiwi Bay Campground was a lovely place to stay but oh my goodness was it dusty!! It seemed like everything we owned was now covered with a layer of fine dust which our wee handheld Shark vacuum cleaner was never going to cope with. We already have a Dyson at home - we just wanted something with a bit more grunt to sort the carpet out so headed to the big, red shed and got one of their home brand stick vacuum cleaners. We had a couple of other things on the list but we had arrived in Nelson on a Sunday so not all the stores we needed were open. Luckily though our meandering through the town brought us to the Nelson museum which had a piano outside that invited anyone who wanted to, to tickle the ivories. There was a young man seated at it that was belting out music from quite a few different genres. Even luckier was the fact that directly across the square from the museum was The Culture Burger Joint that had teamed up with the Culture Beer house and had Hop Federation beers on tap. What an introduction to Nelson - brilliant sunshine, a delicious lunch and amazing live music. 

As we got closer to the time we could get onto our campsite we called into Woolworths to restock the pantry - and saw a not so clever shoplifter being escorted, handcuffed, out of the store.

Part of the reason we had left Okiwi Bay was there was some very wet weather being forecasted for this area of NZ which we thought might cause more slips on the road out, trapping us at the bay. We wanted to find a campsite close to town where we could batten down the hatches and ride out the weather, while still having access to some decent facilities. Although price-y we booked into Nelson City Top 10 Holiday Park for three nights and actually, this campground is pretty much the platinum standard, so well thought out and flash, clean facilities. It is right beside a primary school, with its pupils playing outside on the field and the bells going at regular intervals. All sites and sounds that just make us look at each other and sort of smile a bit.

Knowing that Monday was going to be our window of opportunity to do the first part of the Great Taste Bike Trail before the weather hit we busted out the bikes and left early to do the Nelson to Mapua Ferry leg of the trail. This would take us out to Rabbit Island and would see us riding just under 50 kms return. The trail started out paved and moved to various degrees of rocks / gravel etc. There were brilliant boardwalks that took you over rejuvenated salt marshes. We were surrounded by captivating nature and, at this point, the sun was still shining. Sure, if you looked up you could see the smoke billowing from the log processing plant that belongs to Nelson Pine industries Ltd but with the ever changing various degrees of rocks / gravel you had to keep your eye on the track or risk coming off your bike. 

Arriving at the beautiful sandy beach (Pictured above) on Rabbit Island we went for a walk along the water's edge which was littered with huge Tuatuas. Yes, of course Dave gathered a couple to try later although - spoiler alert - they were way too sandy to eat. The water was unbelievably warm, much, much warmer than Milford and as we had come prepared for a swim we went in for a leisurely dip before lunch - oh and another leisurely dip after lunch. I found a wee toy helicopter in the sand and one of the nice things about being retired is you have the time to pfaff around with photos - even ones that don’t work - LOL!

To be fair I couldn’t see the settings on my phone because of the sun 

The cycle home was just as pretty and did serve to remind us how long it had been since the last time we had been on our bikes. We did stop at a structure called ‘The Radio Shack’ which was a radio beacon used by planes coming in to land at Nelson Airport. Sorry Justin Bragg, I totally forgot to record this bike trip on Strava so nothing to share - must do better next time. 

The Radio Shack

As we rode home we noticed that the Nelson Classic Car Museum was also on the bike trail so with the gloomy weather forecast for the next couple of days we thought we would check it out the next day.

The rain did come through the late afternoon and into the night and the wee stream that we were parked next to became quite a river, but not dangerously so. The next day we thought it might be a 'hunker down and read and knit' type of day but the weather surprised us so we set off for the car Museum. We were not prepared for what a fantastic collection of cars and memorabilia we were about to see. If you are in Nelson this place is so worth a visit even if you are not that into cars. It is full of some amazingly rare vehicles, lots of super interesting facts but best of all it is a walk down memory lane. You get to see that first car you owned, or the one that your Grandad used to drive or even the car you coveted in your teens - although you can’t for the life of you think why you thought that?? Cars from yester-year and sleek, fast, luxurious, pricey, impractical, famous cars - this place had the lot. A wee gem in Nelson’s crown.

After another night of wind and rain, and having spent two days on our bikes we thought a walk around Nelson might be in order and luckily, once again, the weather came right for us. Knowing that the Nelson Provincial Museum was in town we headed that way first. We had a bit of a mission. The area we were staying in is known as Victory. We were right beside the Victory Primary School and down the road from Victory Square….but what victory?? What kind of Victory happened in Nelson for there to be a suburb named after it?? If you have any guesses, leave them in the comments with your name and I will put the answer that the historian from the museum gave us at the end of this post - no cheating!

There is actually quite a lot of history in Nelson and while we were only able to see part of the museum as they were setting up a new display, I still managed to learn quite a bit about the area from some pretty interesting displays. I didn't know that Ernest Rutherford came from Nelson - he won a £40 scholarship to attend Nelson Collegiate to cover boarding - well that was £40 well spent!

The town centre covers a large area. It reminded me of what it was like to go to town to shop before shopping malls invaded our lives. We wandered around the shops, the parks, the waterfront for about four hours. Nelson is a pretty city and it is very user friendly for cyclists and pedestrians.

Trying to get a little more of the Great Taste Bike Trail done for our last day in Nelson we headed out to Richmond via the old rail route. That trip was pretty easy and rather fast so we continued on the trail heading to Brightwater. This part of the trail took us through working vineyards (with no cellar sales!!) and farms and over some suspension bridges crossing the Waimea River.

On our return trip we headed to Stoke as we had booked a factory tour at Pic’s Peanut Butter. Not only do they do tours, there is also a gift shop and a cafe which we went to for lunch. Unfortunately the two meals and two beverages we selected off the menu had all run out but our second choices were pretty darn good. The tour was very interesting and you have to take your hat off to Pic Picot who only started the company as he had to take early retirement because of a health issue and because he noticed that sugar was being added to most peanut butters available in New Zealand!! He started off making the Peanut Butter in a concrete mixer and using the hot plate in his caravan to roast the peanuts. At the tasting we got to sample some Salt and Pepper Peanut Butter that has only been in production for 3 weeks and is not available in the shops yet. Why has no one ever thought of adding pepper to Peanut Butter before?? - it is YUM! 

So we bought some Salt and Pepper Peanut Butter and I got the first lapel pin of the trip. I had something on my knitting bag I needed to cover up and I had decided that collecting lapel pins on this trip would do the job. I got the idea because Bec’s Mum, Carol, sent me an Australian Magpie Lapel Pin as part of my Christmas present and I thought these are small, light, they will cover what I need them to and each one will remind me of part of our trip. So the first one is a teeny jar of Pic’s Chunky Peanut Butter - it looks great with the Magpie.

Obviously NOT my lapel pin

With the promise of at least a week of settled weather we headed out of Nelson for our next stop. It is only a short drive but it positions us well to do the next stage of the the Great Taste Bike Trail because, although we do love the taste of Peanut Butter we had expected to taste something a bit more hop-y or grape-y on this bike ride.

NB - Apparently the city of Nelson was mapped out and named before the first settlers arrived which makes sense when you see street names like Trafalgar and Hardy. So how did our suburb, Victory, get it's name?? - The HMS Victory was Nelson’s flag ship in the Battle of Trafalgar and it was captained by Thomas Masterman Hardy -  and there is your answer!

Finding our Lower Gear - take two!

 

Okiwi Bay, Marlborough Sounds

I didn't know you can lose everything you have typed in a post even if you have saved it on Blogger so here goes my second attempt at writing this blog.

We are both "let's just get this done" kind of people. We have both worked all our lives, we are used to being busy. The lead up to this adventure was fantastically frantic there was always one more room to pack up, one more wall to clean, one more utility company to contact or one more dinner out. We have owned the Beast for six years but we have only used it in school holidays. For these trips we would rock up to our chosen destination for at least a week. We would take with us a shed load of food and alcohol, unpack all the toys and settle down to enjoy whatever the environs had to offer. Once we left Auckland we knew we had five days to get to Wellington for our ferry crossing so we put our heads down and just focussed on getting to the next destination. We didn't stop at interesting sites, we just hoofed it to Wellington. Even on these five days, though, I kept slipping into "Organised PA' mode having to know where we would be staying next, creating a schedule and making sure we stuck to it.

We realised a 'reset' was needed and with this in mind we decided we would book into a campground for a week so we would have to just stop and smell the coffee.

We chose Okiwi Bay in the Marlborough Sounds.

During this  trip we were still pretty focussed on just getting to the camp - we really needed this reset! The journey took us about 1 hour and 40 minutes but the last 40 minutes was on your classic coastal road. The sort that goes straight up and then straight down and has more twists and turns than an Agatha Christie novel - not to mention the one lane bits where the road was still being repaired from the floods from two years ago. But oh this bay is so worth it - although I am trying VERY hard not to think about the trip out!!

TUESDAY 11 FEBRUARY TO SUNDAY 16 FEBRUARY 2025

Okiwi Bay is just one of the little pieces of paradise that New Zealand has to offer. A real blend of classic kiwi baches and well designed retirement houses. Crystal clear water but surprisingly a pebble-y beach. On our first day here we just went for a walk to check out this place.

One thing we did come across had me messaging Adele Tunnicliff in Scotland. When you come across a reserve that has her last name spelled the same way you have to check out if there is a connection and lo and behold Adele's family were some of the first settlers in Marlborough and the reserve is named after her family!! I have spelled Adele's last name incorrectly on programmes so when I saw this reserve I just knew there had to be a connection!!!

We also came across a delightful 'Treasured Pathway'. Some of the locals had put in a lot of effort to carve out a wee bush walk with an easy to navigate pathway that is lined with all sorts of treasures - unicorns, fairies, garden ornaments, shells, etc. 

As we travelled along the well defined path we came across a snake that had been started made of painted rocks from the beach. The sign encouraged people to add a painted rock to see how long the snake could get. Obviously we were up for this challenge even though we didn't have any paint with us but we did have some $2 Shop nail polish that Dave had bought to use when making trout flies. Finding the perfect rock on the beach took longer than we thought but not as long as it took to become adept at painting with nail polish! This incredible fairy walk was started in April 2023 and already the snake is 48 metres long.

We started most days with a walk along the beach and on one of these walks we came across a couple who were surf casting. To be honest we had not thought that this beach looked like a it was worth busting out our rods but this couple had a decent sized gurnard and the bloke claimed he had pulled in a pretty good snapper but it spat the hook right at the waters edge. Calling in at the little shop attached to the camp we promptly bought some bait and decided to try our luck on the last of the incoming tide the next morning. Very optimistically we didn't take anything out of the freezer for dinner and as always Dave came through with a rather large kahawai. He also caught a couple of baby snappers and then promptly lost some of his tackle to a marauding Eagle Ray that had been gliding up and down the bay.

Dave with his first South Island fish

On our walks around the camp and through the Treasured Pathway we had spotted some very large, very black eels who seemed to be saying, "Feed me, feed me!". We kept some scraps from the lamb we were going to have for dinner and wandered down to the stream in the camp because who can ignore a plea like that?? Not only was the big eel hungry but there was a whole harem of much smaller eels that enjoyed the lamb as well. No photos, sorry but they were very gorgeous - although the lady that owned the camp did advise people with little dogs not to let them paddle in the stream!!

Evenings were another great time to go for a walk and on one of these walks we noticed that it was a VERY low tide. We walked right down to the far end of the beach and found green lipped mussels on the rocks. As usual I had a plastic zippy bag with me so we collected a half a dozen and sampled them back at the motorhome. Apparently Havelock, which we drove through to get to Okiwi Bay is the Green Lipped mussel capital of the world!! Well the six we tried probably wouldn't have gained a place at the Mussel Festival but they were still pretty yummy.

We know we have some colder weather to look forward to so I have been using my time on the road to make sure we would have toasty toes. My knitting needles have been a blur!

And finally it had to happen - we had to have our first swim in the South Island and Okiwi Bay was the perfect spot. To be honest it was warmer than our last swim at Milford Beach - and there were no bite-y things in the water. We didn't do the dive in, get completely wet and race for our towels we were actually able to stay in and just float around for ages.

After five days at the Okiwi Bay Holiday Park and Convenience Store it was time to move on. We had decided to head to Nelson, bust out our bikes and get some of the Great Taste Bike Trail ride action.

As we left Okiwi Bay I noticed that the road out is called 'Hope Road' and I know I had everything crossed as we took the Beast on the 22 km gnarly, twisty road that would go straight up and then straight down as we made our way back to highway 6. Dave reckoned that the climb hardly stressed the Beast or the driver at all - but the navigator was still a little twitchy.

So, Nelson - here we come!

Ready, Steady....Go

WEDNESDAY 5 FEBRUARY 2025

We did it! After six years of owning The Beast (my name for our motorhome) and rabbiting on about taking a year to explore New Zealand we have become the grey nomads we claimed to be. 

To get to this point where we are freedom camping at Lake Whakamaru near Kinleith, on the first day of our adventure has seemed quite a journey already starting with Dave retiring at the end of 2023. Well, I say retiring but he spent 2024 working his butt off, getting our home bulletproof for renting out and The Beast gussied up for our year long trip - oh and working two days a week at Albany Senior High School. (ASHS)

Early in 2024 we made contact with Elevate Property Group and started the ball rolling for renting out the house, they had been recommended to us and then we discovered that our Property Manager, Georgia Johnson, was an alumni from ASHS so we were very comfortable with our choice. Things started to feel real when the rental listing went up on Trade Me and even though the rental landscape had changed heaps since the beginning of the year Georgia found us our ideal tenants who were looking for a home, not a house and definitely not one of the terraced houses that have flooded the market.

That is when the work really started. Once James and Bec headed back to Perth we started packing up nearly 30 years of living in the same house, deciding what to keep, what to bin, what to give away and what was coming with us - it made my head hurt! After a brief hiatus of looking after Vincey before he went back to school we launched back into cleaning only just getting it finished in time to leave Auckland on 5 February 2025.

So, so much cleaning to do before we left

Thank you to all the friends and family who made time to catch up before we left Auckland.

Time for the adventure to start!

Our first stop was Kati Kati so we could catch up with Dave's folks and his brother's family. On arrival we discovered that we had lost the fridge vent somewhere on the way down the island so Dave made like MacGuyver and created one from a vent, a safety sign and some silicone.

Even without his workshop, Dave can still fix things.

Matt, Sandi and Alison were the consummate hosts and spoilt us with delicious food, an invigorating swim and a lovely coastal walk before we headed off with Dave doing the driving and navigation my responsibility.

THURSDAY 6 FEBRUARY 2025

The trip over the Kaimais was not a problem for The Beast, even though it is very chocca and apart from me missing the entrance to the Lake Whakamaru Reserve, it was uneventful. 

This freedom camping area is HUGE with room for hundreds of campers, motorhomes, caravans etc. and right on the shores of Lake Whakamaru. As we arrived on Waitangi Day it was fairly busy (an estimate of well over 100 campers) and there was still plenty of room for more. We had no difficulty finding a relatively flat site. It was pretty cool to see so many families taking advantage of the opportunity to camp for free and making good use of their water toys and the magnificent weather. There were not enough vault toilets for the amount of campers but they were well maintained and even had hot, free showers and campers are supposed to be self contained!! Well done to South Waikato District Council for providing this facility. 

We had decided we would stay two nights here just to unwind a little so we had a fairly relaxed afternoon which included a very refreshing swim. After our first dinner of the trip we went for an evening walk around the camp and settled in for an early night.

Lake Whakamaru Reserve

FRIDAY 7 FEBRUARY 2025

After a relatively peaceful night we decided to explore a little, starting with a walk along a Waikato Bike Trail which followed the lake edge. What a well maintained track. If we had been staying longer we definitely would have busted the bikes out but for today it was just pleasant enjoying the scenery and meandering amongst the pines. 

Exploring the Waikato Bike Trail on foot.

We met a lady on the track who explained that the track continued on the other side of the campground toward the Whakamaru Dam. As we had not realised that this lake was formed when they built this hydro electric dam in the 50s we set off to check it out. The track we were following had heaps of blackberry bushes on either side of it and while they were only tiny berries boy were they sweet. Needless to say, this walk took slightly longer with constant stops to gather the fruit.

Whakamaru Dam - more hydro-electricity from the Waikato River

The dam was pretty impressive and made me wonder where you would even begin to dam such a huge river, let alone do it back in the 50s!

Met Service had put out a thunderstorm warning for our area so after another swim and dinner we battened down the hatches to await this deluge. Although some places did get swamped, we did not get even one drop of rain which made for another restful night.

SATURDAY 8 FEBRUARY 2025

Still aiming to be in Wellington for our ferry crossing on Feb 10 we said goodbye to this little piece of freedom camping at its best and headed to our next stop. As the Desert Road is closed for maintenance we needed to go on a smorgasbord of highways to reach Taihape, staying at the Gumtree Motorhome Park. At this stage we are not doing many 'tourist' stops as we will save them until we return to the North Island but we will need to make sure we remember to stop and smell the coffee as we travel from one town to the next in the South Island. Hmmm, Taihape - the town with the big gumboot and that's all I have to say about that. The motorhome park we stayed in was small but the facilities were spotless., the showers were hot and there was even a hedgehog to keep us company. The owner had to go to Wellington to pick her husband up so we had the entire place completely to ourselves!! We ventured out to downtown Taihape to the Gretna Pub for dinner AAAAAAND really wish we had gone to the Chinese place if you ziggy, ziggy get my drift.

A very empty Gumtree Motorhome Park - Taihape

SUNDAY 9 FEBRUARY 2025

The road trip yesterday was quite relaxing on secondary roads with lots of passing lanes. In comparison todays trip was busy, busy, busy as we connected with Highway One again but we arrived at the Plimmerton NZMCA Park without any hitches. This is the very first time we have stayed at one of the NZMCA parks and what fantastic facilities they are. This particular NZMCA Park is only 20 minutes from the Picton ferries so is ideal if you are heading either way across the strait. It has 70 sites and is within walking distance of Plimmerton Beach. Best of all though it has an AMAZING German bakery right next door that does amazing gourmet pies and a German Fitness loaf that is a bit like Vogels on steroids!! We explored the beach and the restaurants and decided to go to the Plimmerton Taj for dinner. Honestly we are so bad at picking eating spots as this Indian Restaurant is completely worth avoiding. So after refusing to pay for the warm, oxidised wine we headed back to The Beast for a good nights sleep before heading to the ferry.

Plimmerton Beach, Wellington

MONDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2025

We knew we weren't in any great hurry to get to the ferry but when I checked our bookings I realised that I had read the boarding time as the departing time so we had an extra hour before we needed to head to the port. This slight miscalculation meant that we would be arriving in Picton an hour later than we thought so we decided to book a night in Picton before heading off on our South Island adventure. On the way to Wellington I read on the Bluebridge Ferry website that vehicles over a certain weight MAY be required to have tie downs to anchor the vehicle in rough weather. We didn't have any tie downs so we were both a bit twitchy that this might prevent us from sailing today but luckily the weather Gods were with us and we had no problems. After feeling a bit stressed about the crossing, it all went absolutely to plan. A smooth crossing with no hiccups. So now we have finally brought The Beast to the mainland and tomorrow we can change down a gear or two as we meander down the West Coast. 

Land ahoy - oh, it is just Picton.

At Lake Whakamaru we saw a motorhome with a name that we could totally relate to - in fact we are adopting it for our trip this year. So henceforth our trip this year is to be known as:

Adventure before Dementia!!

The First Leg