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!