Marinas, Mail Boat and Mussels in the Marlborough Sounds

 Marinas, Mail Boat and Mussels in the Marlborough Sounds

One of the locals in Pelorus Sounds

TUESDAY 17 JUNE 2025 - WEDNESDAY 25 JUNE 2025

When we arrived in the South Island in February obviously we landed in Picton but we were so intent on starting our big trip that we stayed one night and bolted for the west coast without exploring what Picton had to offer. Leaving Blenheim it was time to put that to right. We booked into the Waikawa Marina campground which was nicely placed to allow us to get to the town, the marina and Queen Charlotte Sounds.

For our first afternoon in Picton we headed down to the Waikawa Marina and reminisced about owning Moonlight Lady as we walked around the moored boats. We were joined by two huge stingrays as we made our way to the end of the marina. They were just cruising the edges of the breakwater looking as majestic and graceful as ever. Before we headed back to The Beast it would have been rude not to have stopped for one bevy at the bar / restaurant at the marina aptly called “The Jolly Roger”

There had been a lot of rain in this area before we got here so the bike and walking tracks were pretty wet and muddy but this didn’t deter us from donning our tramping boots and heading off to explore. Behind the camp was a hilly headland that ventured out towards the sounds called “The Snout” It was named after the nose of the Sand worm, a large pink worm which sometimes grew to 30 cms in length and was relished as a food by the early Maori. It is said that at some time in the ancient past the worm became a Taniwha and was called upon to separate the headland from the mainland. It started burrowing through the sand of the tidal lagoon at Waitohi Pa but became trapped in mud. This is how the Waitohi Valley was formed between Picton and Waikawa Bay and why the headland remains joined to the mainland.

The terrain was steep and the track was muddy and slippery in places but the glimpses you got of the Sounds and the boat traffic was just enough of a distraction. Once we reached the tip of The Snout we were rewarded with magnificent views of Queen Charlotte Sounds. We even saw the Interislander ferry actually working! As we returned along the track we spotted what looked like a reject project from the maths table and had to ask Mr Google to identify it for us. Known as a Basket Fungus it is only seen in Australia and New Zealand. Apparently the fruit shell that it grows inside is edible - sadly we didn’t see any of that, just the weird shaped fungus.

The weather in Picton continued to be kind to us and with another clear sky day we headed toward the beach at Waikawa Bay. Just a short walk away, this sleepy little bay  looked so peaceful on the Friday of Matariki but I bet it is super busy in summer. 

The road we were walking on continues on for quite some distance becoming very twisty and turny and eventually gets to Port Underwood. Everything I had read about the road did not make it sound like something we would want to take The Beast on so I had to content myself with a photo taken with the road sign. I know Underwood was my maiden name but not even that was enough to convince me to take that road!!

To break up the trip back toward Nelson we decided to book four nights at Havelock. We had driven through this town on our way to Okiwi Bay back in February and it had proclaimed itself as the Green Shell Mussel capital of the world. That alone sounded like something we wanted to check out. The wee town was nowhere near as busy as it had been in summer and a few of the better looking eateries close over winter but with a few more days of sun promised we thought we would be able to keep ourselves busy.

As Havelock is the gateway to the Pelorus Sounds there is also a fairly large marina here that is not just for pleasure crafts but big companies like Talleys and Sanfords also have a large presence. On our first walk around the marina we noticed that there was a Mail Cruise you could go on to deliver mail and supplies to the remote residents of the Pelorus Sounds. During winter it only leaves on a Monday and a Friday. As we had arrived on Sunday and would be gone on Thursday we promptly booked for the full day cruise the next day. 

When we woke we knew we had ‘lucked in’ with the weather for our boat trip. It was still, the sun was out and the sky was blue, just perfect. The benefit of visiting in winter was there were only a few of us on the trip but Ross the Captain and his first mate, Mark still did a fabulous job of keeping up a running commentary of interesting facts about the area, the sealife and the mussel industry. As we were on the boat from 10:00 am until 3:30 pm Dave and I both felt like we came away from the trip with quite a few snippets of new, interesting information. Things like the difference between a Fiord and a Sound, the history of Pelorus Sounds and how Mussel farms work and boy do they work!!. In the Marlborough Sounds a minimum of 200 tons of mussels are processed per day!! Some are for the local market, some for export and some are freeze dried and made into capsules to make use of their anti-inflammatory properties for humans and animals. We even saw a veteran of the mussel industry adding the mussel spat to the special ‘Christmas Tree line’ that is used to set up a farm.

On two separate occasions Ross spotted two HUGE pods of dolphins and slowed the boat so we could watch them play. The first pod were HUGE Bottlenose dolphins and one is pictured directly above. I had never been that close to one of these dolphins and they are a massive bundle of fun and muscles.

The second pod were Dusky dolphins that like to visit the Sounds in the cooler months. They are known for their acrobatic displays as you can see in these videos. They had babies with them but I didn’t manage to capture any footage of the babes.

As my friend Pauline said, “You can not help but smile when you see dolphins, they are such happy creatures!” We certainly ended this trip smiling and would heartily recommend doing a Mail Boat cruise if you get the chance.

Obviously after learning so much about the Mussel industry we NEEDED to sample some of the products which in winter is not as easy as it sounds. A lot of hospitality places, like the restaurant called The Mussel Pot, close down over winter and the ones that remain open only operate from Wednesday to Sunday. We did find one, though, Mills Bay Mussels that was opened on a Tuesday and we were not disappointed! You’ve gotta love a mussel pot and the Mussel Croquettes were delicious too.

The weather today is ‘Maaahhh’ and the forecast is for it to deteriorate further so I will finish this post with some more photos of the beautiful Pelorus Sounds.

Winter Bites

 Winter Bites!

Some overnight snow at Hanmer Springs

TUESDAY 3 JUNE 2025 - MONDAY 16 JUNE 2025

We are in Week 19 of our epic South Island adventure and I want to start by thanking all the people who are along for the ride with us by reading the blog and commenting. Primarily I am writing these posts so that Dave and I will have a really clear reminder of this year when we reach our dotage but when you are so far away from family and friends it is VERY heartwarming to know that you are with us in spirit. One question we get a lot is how many times have we weakened and booked into a Motel or Hotel? The simple answer is we have spent every single night since we left Auckland in The Beast and we are still loving the whole nomadic experience. Now on with the journey.

After 18 nights in Christchurch we headed north hoping for warmer weather. Our first destination was Hanmer Springs where we reasoned that if the weather wasn’t warmer, the hot pools would be. We hadn’t been in Hanmer for about 36 years and it has definitely grown some since then. We headed out for a walk and to familiarise ourselves with the area.

Although the hot springs were discovered by a stockman called William Jones the town was named after Thomas Hanmer who was the first European to survey the area in 1852 - even though he never settled there.

Our first visit to the hot pools was mid week, so it was not that busy and we were amazed at the size of the complex. With so many pools ranging in temperature from 32℃ to 42℃ to choose from we were spoiled for choice. We had heard a whisper that snow was imminent so we decided to delay our next visit and keep our fingers crossed that there would be snow poolside when we returned. Before heading back to the Beast, we headed into the town passing PJ Pies. We had tried one of his pies when we arrived and while it was very tempting to have another one we were heading to Fudgelato for an ice cream. It seemed a bit wrong after a core warming swim but oh they were worth it. Dave thought his dark chocolate sorbet was the best ice cream he had tasted and my Bailey’s Irish Cream was to die for.

Hanmer has a great network of walking and cycling tracks with many of them leaving from the park that was right beside the Top 10 campground we were staying in. One walk that peaked our interest though required us to walk right through the town and head for the lookout on Conical Hill. This walk reminded us both of the walk we did with Erron in Tekapo up Mt John. A lot of zig-zagging and quite a climb but the views were definitely worth it.

You could see the snow on the tips of the surrounding mountains but it hadn’t reached the town. This, however,was about to change. When we woke the next morning we saw grey shapes on the vent above our bed?? Clouds maybe?? But no, when we looked out the windows Hanmer had become a winter wonderland overnight. It looked so pretty and clean and as Aucklanders we were ‘oooo-ing and ahhh-ing’ until we went for a walk in it. It became wet and slushy and with each step you were a bit afraid of slipping. We decided that snow is definitely better seen on postcards.

With the arrival of the snow we headed back to the pools, this time on a Saturday so it was a lot more crowded. The experience of being in piping hot water with snow right beside you really played havoc with your senses but was so enjoyable. People had even built little tiny snowmen beside the pools. Sorry, there are no pool photos as juggling my phone, the water and the snow was a bit daunting. To keep up the tradition we headed back to Fudgelato for a treat for the walk home and if you can’t eat ice cream in the snow, when can you eat it??

The next day the road reports were more favourable for us to be able to head off to Kaikoura. This trip was a bit of an epic failure for me as the navigator. Mr Google wasn’t his usual helpful self or maybe it was operator error but we definitely took the “pretty" way to Kaikoura. Shortly after we finally made it back to Highway One a passing car sent up a nasty stone which chipped the top of the windscreen in front of Dave and then continued to steadily crack all the way to the bottom of the windscreen. As it was a Sunday we decided to continue on to Kaikaoura and deal with getting it fixed once we arrived there. 

Once we reached the east coast we were surprised to see MASSIVE waves battering the shore. Obviously others were surprised too as there were heaps of people stopping to take photos. I had just commented to Dave that I hadn’t seen any seals when one appeared right beside the road, totally undaunted by the traffic.

The first order of business in Kaikoura was to sort the windscreen. Our insurance company’s windscreen company of choice is Novus but the closest branch was in Rangiora and as it would have been illegal to drive the vehicle with a huge crack in front of the driver that wasn't an option. A mobile operator was not an option either as we knew we would need a replacement windscreen for an Isuzu truck so we started to look at what was available in Kaikoura. Literally a couple of hundred metres down the road from the Top 10 caravan park was a business called E.J Franicevic. No email, no website and the landline listed for them was disconnected so Dave wandered down there to see if the business still even existed. Luckily Ted, the owner, just happened to be there when Dave finally found the place. He had been in the windscreen business for 50 odd years but was winding it up as the technology needed was just getting too much for him. He HATED insurance companies and refused to work with them and as our insurance company would not accept us sending in his hand written quote, our only option was to pay him and then put in a claim. Ted ordered the windscreen and assured us it would be in Kaikoura on Wednesday so we had some time to do some exploring.

Our first choice was to follow the shoreline and we were very surprised to find the beach was pebbles - I guess as it is on the east coast I was just expecting sand. We walked all the way around to the new wharf where we found this exquisite pub called The Pier Hotel. Originally it had been near the old wharf but it shifted to the new wharf on huge rollers. It has been beautifully restored and obviously we had to stop and sample the fare….and the beer. The cool thing about this next photo is the coastal beach in the foreground and the snow capped mountains in the background.

Cheers from the Pier Hotel in Kaikoura.

As Ted predicted the windscreen did arrive on Wednesday and we booked The Beast in for 9:00 am on Thursday. Ted did a brilliant job of fitting the new windscreen which even has some sun tinting at the top - pure luxury. We paid his handwritten invoice and were relieved that he was happy for us to use internet banking to pay him as EFTPOS was not an option. Our Insurance company reimbursed us really quickly which meant we could head off to our next destination on Friday.

With our new windscreen and after topping up the groceries we continued along the coast to Blenheim. Just out of Kaikoura we spotted Nin’s Bin which is a roadside caravan that has been around for 50 years and sells fresh crayfish. We decided to treat ourselves because you can not come to Kaikoura and not eat crayfish!! As we got closer to Blenheim we started to see all the names we know and love from the wine aisles at the supermarkets Yealands, Cloudy Bay, Withers Hill etc etc.

Once we arrived in Blenheim and got set up we walked back into town to look for some more seafood delicacies to go with our crayfish and to be honest we were a little bit underwhelmed. We did find some Cloudy Bay Cockles, some Marlborough Mussels and of course some Bluff Oysters. It was at about this time I realised I had got us to leave Kaikoura one day early - we had actually paid to stay there until Saturday - doh!!

Sampling the local seafood

The weather while we were in Blenheim was not that spectacular but we did get out for a few decent walks. The first was along the Ōpaoa River that flows through Blenheim. Apparently early settlers referred to Blenheim as Beaver Town because of its tendency to flood which explained why we came across these little beauties beside the river.

We also followed the train tracks out of Blenheim toward Spring Creek walking beside acres and acres of grape vines. It was really sad to see dying grapes which had been left on the vines from last vintage due to the oversupply of wine last year.

While we were in Blenheim our gorgeous little Granddaughter, Millie, turned 3.Laura sent us lots of photos of Millie opening her presents and we had a very lively video call with the birthday girl and her family. Missing these family milestones is definitely the hardest part of the adventure we are on.

Gee!! Free, Choice-er “Canterbury Tales”

 Gee!! Free, Choice-er “Canterbury Tales” (See what I did there??)

FRIDAY 16 MAY 2025 - MONDAY 2 JUNE 2025

Okay so these Canterbury Tales may not be a framing device for the collection of stories that is a pilgrimage to the shrine of Thomas Becket but they still have plenty to share like romance, adventure, missed opportunities, ill health, travel, reunions and family and all of that in just the 18 nights we spent in Christchurch…and they ARE free!

We had planned our drive into Christchurch very carefully as we had a list of specialty places we needed to go to collect things we needed to get sorted while we were in a big city. When we had our COF (Certificate of Fitness) done in Greymouth they pointed out a couple of things we would need to get fixed before our next COF was due and Dave was keen to get these out of the way. This involved a stop at Blackwell's Isuzu for some suspension components called  ‘Bump stops’ , a stop at Bunnings for some plywood and Burnsco for toilet chemicals. We were actually super surprised at how easily we achieved all of this before heading to our very central campground at Papanui. Our original plan was to stay in Papanui for seven days and sort the motorhome and medications for Dave, then stay four nights with Robyn and Derek at their place in West Melton and then shift to a campground closer to the airport for the week leading up to “The Wedding”.  A very good plan but one that got thwarted fairly early on in the piece.

This campground was slightly more expensive but it had sealed spaces for motorhomes and as Dave was going to be spending some time scrabbling under the motorhome this was a definite bonus. It was super close to bus routes, bike trails and shops - like real shops, even a Pak n Save!! (Spot the Aucklander who has not been in a big city for four months!!). It also had a Chemist Warehouse so we could organise a script for Dave to be sent there from our Doctor, for collection.

Christchurch is very bike friendly so we got the bikes down and sussed out a way to cycle into the central city and Hagley Park. Wow, what an amazing asset Christchurch has in Hagley Park. We followed the Avon River and meandered through leaf strewn walking paths and found ourselves exploring the botanical gardens which included a Rose Garden and a New Zealand native garden (amongst many others).

Cycling the River Avon - Hagley Park

Massive Eucalyptus Tree - Hagley Park

The entrance to The Rose Garden - Hagley Park

From Hagley Park we made our way into the central city, ditched our bikes and went for a wander, ending up at a pub called The Little Fiddle for lunch before cycling back to Papanui. 

While Dave was sorting the motorhome, one of the things I wanted to sort was my hair. I had toyed with the idea of letting it grow and letting the curls come back but as we got closer to the wedding my resolve was weakening. Papanui allowed me to check out several salons. I was very nervous as Karina had looked after my hair for more than 20 years!! I eventually settled on Divine Hair and Beauty Salon. This had been recently taken over by a young Indian couple and I liked what I heard as Kumar explained what process he was going to use. If I am back in Christchurch when I need to redo a keratin treatment I will definitely be going back to Divine!! By the time I got back to The Beast Dave had sorted the first of the two things we needed for our next COF. Replacing the Bump Stops proved to be a little more challenging but Dave’s cunning and ingenuity eventually won so both things were placed on the ‘Ta Done’ list.

When James was still living at home he asked if one of his mates could come and stay for a fortnight and Codey ended up living with us for about three years. Codey shifted to Christchurch not long after the earthquake and we had not caught up with him since then. We had got his cellphone number off James and were determined to make contact with him while we were here so we were delighted when he called us back and arranged to call in and visit one night after work. 

It was so so cool to see him and to see how happy he is, he is doing well, in a good job, with a lovely partner AND he had just found out he is going to be a Dad. We asked about how the rest of his family is doing and generally just caught up on ten years of busy-ness.

Codey Dickinson - you haven’t changed a bit!!

A couple of days later and still high from catching up with Codey, Dave noticed that he was not actually feeling that great and when he tested for COVID got a very strong positive result. We didn’t want to share this with anyone we knew, so we contacted Robyn and let her know that we needed to act like lepers and so we would not be heading to West Melton as planned. Instead we booked into the campground by the airport four days earlier and I was trying to remind myself that we were in a motorhome not an incubator.

As usual though we had some time to kill from when we had to be out of the Papanui campground and when we could get into the one by the airport. We decided that we would keep our bugs to ourselves and headed to New Brighton so we could blow some cobwebs by walking along the beach and checking out the pier. We actually discovered we could have been freedom camping right beside the beach and maybe that is something we will consider in the warmer weather??? It was lovely to be on an East Coast beach again, see white sand and shells. The new pier is quite an edifice with little plaques lining both sides with the names of the families, companies, individuals etc that had donated towards having it built. It was really cool to see that it had fishing stations built into it and that there were people there using them.

New Brighton Beach

Meeting the locals at the New Brighton Pier

A special Grandad photo for Vincey - It’s their ‘thing’ at Playgrounds.

While the new campground was a little cheaper it was a little bit further away from shops so we busted out our Gold Cards and got to grips with the buses. Trying to keep our distance from other passengers this did allow us to stock up on food and - very naughtily - we also went to the Motorhome Show, crossing our fingers that we didn’t spread COVID. The ‘Rule’ for using your Gold Card on the Christchurch buses is that you have to physically have the card with you. Dave had his card but my physical card was not going to be in my hot little hand until Laura arrived for the wedding. I do have a photo of it stored with all my other cards on my phone and interestingly the younger bus drivers were more than happy to accept that - the older bus drivers wouldn’t budge so I ended up buying a Metrocard so I wouldn’t have to walk!

The next day saw me test positive - after managing to avoid catching it for five years it had finally got me. The timing wasn’t great but it did mean that neither of us would be infectious by the day of the wedding or by the day that Laura would arrive in Christchurch. We hunkered down and just focussed on getting better for the wedding. 

My Great Niece, Sophie Kemp, was marrying Jamie Sherriff and we were delighted to be able to share their special day. Sophie is my eldest sister, Pam’s, Granddaughter and I was determined to be there to channel my sister for Sophie as Pam had passed away unexpectedly last year.

We were both safe to emerge from isolation on the Thursday before the wedding which meant I could still go to the High Tea for the bridal shower on the Friday. It was great to meet the wedding party, Jamie’s Mum, Sophie’s friends from school and her workmates.

The day of the wedding dawned with blue skies and not too chilly. Laura arrived from Auckland and it was so good to catch up with her. Four months is the longest time we have gone without seeing our gorgeous daughter! My lovely niece, Sandi, had loaned us her car so we were able to get Laurie from the airport and do a bit of retail therapy. 

Last year Sophie attended a bride show in Christchurch and her name was selected as the winner of the door prize which was a $32,000.00 wedding. Part of the prize was the reception would be at The Tannery which is a boutique shopping area that has restaurants and bars and was the perfect place for this wedding as Sophie is ‘into’ antiques. It did mean that the wedding didn’t start until 6:00 pm but at least we had tons of time to get ready and find our way there. The service was beautiful, it was super to catch up with relatives and it all went without a hitch. Sophie and Jamie have a VERY old Burmese cat called Brynn and he sponsored the cocktails while the formal photos were being taken. Clever cat, he really knows his cocktails!

I wrote a wee poem for the couple trying to focus on what I thought Pam would want to say to her precious Granddaughter and her new husband, Sophie and Jamie have asked that they be the first ones to put any photos on line so no photos yet and to be honest I forgot to take any photos on the day anyway. Luckily Laura took a few!!

Laura, Kim, Vicki and Shannon hit the dance floor!

Waiting for the bride to arrive - she was fashionable late.

The rest of the weekend just flew past and all too soon it was time to take Laura back to the airport. Have I mentioned how much I hate saying goodbye to people at the airport?? November will be the next time we see Laura and her family - it seems ages away!

I hate farewells at the airport!

Our time in Christchurch hadn’t exactly gone to plan and the COVID brain had certainly affected the amount of photos taken for this blog but at least we caught up with friends and family, found our way around the city, sorted out the COF requirements for The Beast, got to hug our daughter and we made it to the wedding. We have to come back through this city when we head to Otago a bit closer to spring so we can tick off some of the things we didn’t manage to do during this visit. For now we are heading up the Island to spend the worst of winter at the warmer end of the South Island.