After another great time in Wanaka it was now time to head up the West coast of the South Island. A woman at Skydive Wanaka had told us the West coast is nicknamed the 'Wet' coast as it rains all the time and true to form as soon as we neared the West it started pouring down. Our first night we pulled over in Haast which seemed a miserable grey place, parking up under a bridge we were stuck in the van because of the immense rain. Little did we realise opening and shutting the van door, we filled the van with mosquitos and sandflies! With a spatula we attempted to kill as many as possible to let us get some rest in peace. Little way into our sleep we awoke and the van roof was full of at least 50 mosquitos, at 2am Ian took the steering wheel with windows down to blow mosquitos out which barely worked. Basically put, this was our worst night yet; rain, insect bites and no sleep.
Heading further up the West coast we realised we'd left pots and plates outside when Ian drove off but we were too far to turn back. We just wanted to be rid of the Wet coast! We stopped at Fox Glacier and Franz Josef but we didn't really appreciate the views with rain pissing down and fog everywhere ruining our view! Bombing it up north we passed through Hokitika and the aptly named Greymouth which seemed a very Grey drab town! A few kilometres north of Greymouth we stopped at Rapahoe to stay in a campsite. This was great actually as we met a super cool Kiwi couple who shared great music taste with me and we got chatting about football and Kiwi culture, they even made us a lovely cup of tea! The next morning we met some surfer dudes from L.A. who were pretty cool. Also the weather finally got better, I guess we're heading north from West coast towards the equator.
Now, only a few kilometres north of Rapahoe was Barrytown where we had been told by other travelers about knifemaking which we wanted to do but you had to book and we missed the Sunday slot, they were closed Mondays so Tuesday was the day for us. With this in mind we needed to stay in the area the next few days so we headed for Westport where the weather was great. Here, we had a Sunday roast with beef which was amazing! Oh, how I miss roast dinners. There was an odd thing on the plate though which I assumed was sweet potato but it wasn't, it was pumpkin! We've later found out that Pumpkins are essential in a kiwi roast, they sell them in all supermarkets too. I'm not sure if I like them yet though... Looking for a place to stay we saw Cape Foulwind (named by Cpt. Cook) on the map which we looked to camp. We ended up at a lovely beach spot around there called Tuaranga Bay where there was a Seal colony! Loads of seals on rocks in the wild! We camped next to another Wicked Van which were 2 friendly girls from Switzerland who shared travel stories.
The next day we spent in and around Westport checking out the shops then went to a small beach location called Granity. The weather was absolutely great now! No wet weather and for some reason I forgot to put sun cream on my legs, the result later that day..... sun fucking scorched legs! My legs were so burnt it hurt for days. We headed back south now towards Barrytown for knifemaking the next day.
Knifemaking was run by Steven and Robyn Martin at their own house with a workshop out the front. There was us 3, an English couple and 2 German guys. We got straight into with a length of steel which we had to heat and hammer into shape on an anvil. We then marked it up, made the handle from a native NZ wood. We spent the whole day sanding and shaping the knife and protecting it. It was an awesome day, the fact that we made a knife from scratch is unreal. It made me feel very manly!! hahaha. For lunch they invited us in their house where they had food out so we could make toasted sandwiches and tea! They also had a huge swing that took 6 people to pull. Knifemaking was a highlight of the trip! If you're ever in Barrytown, NZ make a knife! The end knife is amazing and you've made it from scratch!
At the end of the day we got talking to Tim, the German who has been hitchhiking around NZ. He needed a lift and we were going in the direction so we gave him a ride. Driving inland on route 69 we pasted Reefton and stopped at Lyell to camp. Another epic landscape of New Zealand! We were basically surrounded in a full circle by mountains coveredin forest!
The next day we drove further with Tim on board and dropped him off in Kohatu as he was heading to Nelson and we were to Cape Farewell. Through Tapawera we arrived in Motueka where the weather was still beautiful. Through here we found the beach location of Kaiteriteri. This place is the best beach i've ever been to so far. The sand is golden, water is clear with mountains as a backdrop. Out in the middle of water is a floating dock which you can chill at and dive from. None of us are strong swimmers but we all went for it. Jan made it first (as he's the best swimmer) with Ian struggling and thinking he was going to drown so Jan had to pull him out of water onto the floating dock. I made it last with the slow and steady approach to pace myself. We were now in a problem now as Ian didn't think he'd be able to swim back to the shore. Waiting out in this part of the sea a good while from the shore we didn't know what to do. I thought I could swim back so I went for it, I did panic slightly in the middle of the deep water but I made the shore and found a guy on a boat. He was super nice, I jumped aboard and we picked up Ian and Jan from the pier. We aren't strong swimmers so we really shouldn't swim too far out of our depths in future! We enjoyed the rest of the day and came back to Kaiteriteri again and loved it, but didn't swim out the floating dock this time!
So, Xmas eve was spent on Kaiteriteri so later in the day we bought some burgers for our disposable bbq and headed north to Cape Farewell (furthest north of the south island). Reaching the point we camped for the night for Christmas the next day!
Our first Christmas Day in the Southern Hemisphere was glorious! The sun was shining and it was hot, and this is Christmas! It felt far from it especially knowing theres snow back home! We headed slightly south from here to a perfect beach in the Golden Bay called Patons Rock. We got our tinsel and wrapped it round a branch we dug in the ground then typically as you do on Xmas, we swam in the sea :) Out in the sea we noticed all these shells on rocks. A Kiwi guy told us they were mussels and are great to eat if you steam them. So we did, and had mussels for lunch on Xmas! Most the day we spent in the water as it was too hot to sunbathe, the sun burnt my feet. Some nice Kiwi dudes came on the beach with cake giving it out which was super nice! Coming up to dinner time it was time to have our BBQ! We had BBQ burgers with new potatos and salad! We bought too many burgers and were so bloated yet still had enough room for mince pies! By 9pm it was 8am English time so we found phoneboxes and rang home to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! It was really nice speaking to the family for the familiar voices of home. That night we parked up at Waikoropupu Springs, the largest spring in NZ, and the clearest freshwater spring in the world. It was dark now so we slept to checkt it in the morning. This Christmas was one to remember! It's not the same without the turkey and family but it was still bloody great!
Waikoropupu or 'Pupu' Springs as shortened was unbelievable! The water was so clear it looked as if the surface of water was clear glass to view the rocks. It was so clear, but only for viewing! If only we could jump in!! What a Boxing day. We now headed for Tata Beach and later Totaranui. We camped in a lovely spot in the middle of a national park where no cars or anybody past us. We took a walk in the night and saw glow worms which was an epic sight!
So today we've been to Takaka and now are in Motueka. We're thinking back to Kaiteriteri beach tomorrow as it's soooo nice. Then to Nelson for New Years!
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Some Kiwi Slang i've noticed so far:
'Eh' - It's like Canada here! Everyone's like 'that's pretty good, eh'
Jandals = Flip flops/Sandals
Heaps = Loads/Lots "theres heaps of stuff to do"
Bach = Holiday Homes
Keen = (you know the meaning, but its used a lot)
"Lets get a feed" = Lets eat
Capsicums = Peppers
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