As promised the story continues…
Leaving the North Island was hard, as I wouldn’t know if I will be back one day, but I was excited about the South Island and was ready for the big adventure with Sullivan.
On the ferry I saw dolphins swimming next to the boat and had the perfect weather to explore all the small islands and peninsulas in Marlborough Region.
I had no plans, no accommodation booked, just CamperMate and AllTrails on my phone and some marked places I wanted to visit.
My very first camping experience was in Richmond. I had the feeling I would handle the camping and van life easy. As a first night I stayed at a Motel parking place. I wanted to start slowly and not jump into the deep water with freecamping. So my very first night in the car was weird, but in the good way. I still remember walking to the shower in my pink slippers than having a glass of wine on the bench next to the car. Oh yes, it was still nice weather so I was not worried about sleeping in the car. I put up the curtains and was ready to sleep. I remember, that I had one of the best sleeps ever in my life there. I have to say, I made a very cosy and comfy bed.
Next day I visited Nelson lakes and went to Golden Bay. I spent every night in a different camping site. I stayed in Abel Tasman, Golden Bay, then in the other side of Abel Tasman. I visited Wharariki Beach, which has become one of my favorite. I was very lucky there were a couple of baby seals playing in the water. I waited there for the sunset and I fell in love with the beach straight away.
As we know when you travel and drive a lot with all good things come some bad things as well. I had a small accident unfortunately in Golden Bay, but luckily nobody injured, except Sullivan, who lost one mirror. All was fixed in a day, but it was a big shock for me. I cancelled all my plans for the rest of the day and was heading to the camping site which I choose earlier that day. It is a hidden camping site in Golden Bay and so far the best experience. It is a very small camping site, with only 5 parking/ tent places, but with the best atmosphere. I felt like home. The owners are amazing, they even gave me a wool jumper for the colder nights – thank you again I’ve used it a lot. And the shower… The shower is in the forest. When I say in the forest, I mean it. Next to a small stream between the trees, without any curtain or anything. I loved it! Well for sure I won’t use it now, as it would be freezing cold, but as it was early autumn it was still okay to have a shower in the middle of the forest. I was actually waiting for Adam to show up walking by the stream only covered with a leaf. 😀
I met some amazing people here, we made dinner together, drunk, made bonfire and one girl had her guitar so she played some music. It felt much better surrounded with these nice people – and it was the day of my accident so I have to say this was all I needed that day. Also there were glowworms next to the stream, so me and the English couple went down to see them. Nature is amazing here, you can find glowworms in a lot of places, and they are like stars on the sky.
Next morning the other guys from the camping went to rock climbing and invited me. I always wanted to try as I’ve done it indoor but never went out and climb on actual rocks. It was time to do it! If you read the first part you know, I am afraid of heights… Yes, rock climbing and acrophobia is not the best put together, but well, I tried to face my fears again, and made it!
In the meantime I was looking for some house sitting or wwoofing (working for accommodation) to have my laundry sorted and settle a bit down. At Golden Bay I found a week gardening for accommodation so I could save and see as much of Golden Bay as I can. The family I stayed with were amazing – I know I’ve said a couple of times how amazing the people are here, but they so are!!! And I have more proof. 🙂
From Golden Bay I was heading to Christchurch with a couple of stops on the way. I found a girl who came with me, so at least I didn’t have to drive alone. The first stop was next to Blenheim, but literally just spent the night there and headed south. If I will be in the area, I’ll definitely will go on a wine tasting tour. All the wineries looked sooo nice and you can rent a bike and make the tour with a bike.
The next stop was Kaikoura, which actually become one of my favorite town. The scenery is unbelievable. One side of the road is the ocean the other side is mountains with snow on the top. It is simply amazing and beautiful. We had to stop every 2km to take some photos.
I found a camping ground with hot tubs outside and decided I deserve a spa day, so I checked the availability an booked a spot for Sullivan. Actually we were the only one in that camping area so had a full garden 😀 And the hot tubs with the view… I loved this camping site. I met 2 English girl here, who were travelling around the south island and we decided we will go to the Peninsula next day and free-camp.
Before I tell you about my very first free-camp experience, I will tell you how I fell totally in love with Kaikoura. First of all there are seals everywhere. I have to say after a couple of days it was normal to chill on the beach with seals. If you go for a walk on the peninsula you will see seals everywhere. I was lucky to see a lot babies as well, playing in the water, running around and just enjoying the water. From the peninsula you have the best view to the ocean and the mountains, so don’t skip the lookout.
Kaikoura also famous of the whale watching experiences and swimming with dolphins. I knew I will go on a whale watching tour, but I was not sure which way I will choose. There is 2 options, go on a boat or with a small plane. Well, I did a whale watching tour on boat in Auckland and we did not see any 😦 I checked bookme.co.nz (I used this site more than I should and bought all the tickets from here) and the plane was cheaper than the boat! So there was no question, I booked the whale watching with the small plane. The weather was perfect, no rain, no wind and I was ready for the whales. When I arrived to the airport the pilot said, there is a blue whale around so we have to be hurry and catch it. First we had a sightseeing experience above the city and the mountains. It is just soooooo beautiful. Than we headed to see the whale. We did! So I saw a blue whale – from distance, but still. However if we make 2 more rounds above the water I would get sick, but I have to say it worth it – I had to wait 20 mins in the car to be able to drive 😀
I was going to meet the girls, have a walk on the peninsula and plan the night. We parked by the sea, made dinner and slept. I was ready to my very first freecamp experience. It was nice and felt safe as the girls parked next to me. Not sure if I would dare to do that alone by that time. But it happened, I had a long journey from all the Airbnbs I stayed to the free camping.
Next morning I continued my journey to Christchurch. Funny story, as I had a Hungarian guy waiting for me here. Long story short, his brother mother in law is a family friend. I know, small world…
Christchurch at first sight didn’t impress me, so I decided to go on a small trip after 2 days. It was still far from the visa application day, which was on the 26th April. Oh yes, so I forgot to say, for us Hungarians it’s not really easy to get a working holiday visa. We can only apply on one day and only 100 visas going out, so it’s a kind of lucky lottery, you have to be very fast with the application. All I knew, that I need a stable internet connection on the application day, better not to be at a camping site. I asked this Hungarian guy if I can stay at his place while I apply and luckily he said yes. But back to the journey as there was more than a week till 26th April.
I decided to go to Banks peninsula. It is close to Christchurch, very peaceful and quiet. I found a camping site out of town at the very end of the peninsula. It was really nice with amazing view and some sheep and chickens around. They actually had some trails around, but when I saw 3 huge cows laying on the walkway, I decided to turn around and go to Akaroa. It was just the perfect weather for sailing, so I went in a tourist office and checked the prices – it was waaaaay tooooo expensive, so I checked my backup plan – bookme. Of course I found a tour for half of the price they told me earlier. 2 hours later I was on a sailing boat to see some hector dolphin. They said, if we won’t see any they will pay back the ticket (of half of it, I can’t remember). Anyway after 10 mins sailing we saw the first hector dolphin – which is the smallest dolphin on earth. The captain said, they really like music so we turned some nice and chilled music on. He told a lot of history about Akaroa and Banks Peninsula too. It is actually a volcano and you can spot the old edges and the volcanic plug.
Than the unexpected happened. Somebody from the boat spotted an Orca!! I couldn’t believe to my eyes. It was incredible, especially when one of them was swimming under our boat! I watched too many scary videos about killer whales and how they playing with sailing boats, so I was, sorry for the words but sh*tting my pants. 😀 I forgot all what the captain said about the peninsula and Akaroa. He was really nice as we followed the orcas way and actually saw a whole family. A mom with 2 babies going to hunt seals. National Geographic… Please, this was real life! I still can’t believe I saw and experienced this! After the blue whale I could tick the orcas on my list too. Also I saw the smallest and biggest dolphin on the same day. You know, New Zealand treating me well since I arrived and by this time I was sure I want to stay longer and I have to have one of the hundred visas…
First time ever I stayed 2 nights at the same camping ground. Next day I went to hike on the volcanic plug and headed back to Christchurch. I spent a night here, than I decided to go a small loop. The advantages not having a plan, I just jump in the car and go.
I need to cut the story here as we are not even halfway of my South Island journey.
To be continued…
For more pictures and videos of orcas and hector dolphins, please visit my Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/evi_4/
Evi around the world 