Early days on the South Island

Our early morning ferry crossing to the South Island on 5^th February was calm and uneventful. After a quick stop at Blenheim to restock our larder, we headed west in to the Wairau Valley arriving at the campsite we were looking for by about 3pm. The next couple of days were very hot, approaching 30 degrees in the shade, so we stayed put and enjoyed the swimming pool and our very shady spot under some trees.

From here we headed west to Murchison to meet Berylla (a great friend of Joanne’s in Otaki), her daughter Briana, son-in-law Ron, and their ten week old daughter, Pippa – all of whom live in yurts on their 100 acre section! We spent a magical few days with them all, thoroughly enjoying a very different way of living, and doing a few little jobs to help out. One of the many delights of staying with Berylla was swimming in the Matakitaki river to cool off after the hot sunny days (30-40 degrees!). Another was tramping up the Johnson Creek Track to see the site and effects of a recent (1929) earthquake that resulted in a landslide that completely dammed the river. As well as an amazing home, Berylla had a wonderful collection of books and she very kindly suggested we borrow some, which we did, including ‘Intuitive Astrology’ which we are both finding fascinating. Sad to leave, we drove in to town to say goodbye to Berylla at her office at the Murchison Resource Centre – where she does a job similar in some respects to the one Julie had in Frome. From here we journeyed west to Westport and then south to Punakaiki.

At Punakaiki we stayed at the Te Nikau Retreat in the hope of meeting the owner, Hamish, a friend of a friend. Unfortunately Hamish wasn’t there but we stayed for one night anyway because Pancake Rocks is just down the road which we wanted to visit the next day. From here we decided to head North to Golden Bay, staying at the Tui Community in Wainui Bay for one night, followed by two nights at Totaranui DOC site in the Abel Tasman National Park. Right now we’re staying at Pohara Beach Top 10 Holiday Park (although apparently there are 48 of them!), catching up on washing, enjoying hot showers, and some of the other 4-star amenities, including wi-fi internet access!

Hope the UK weather isn’t getting you down too much. Would love to hear all your news.

Lots of Love

Richard and Julie xxx