Filling up with water at Uncle Steve's before we head south...
Joining the campervan queue...
alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453566805563596450" />On the ferry...
Our first stop in the South was Momorangi about 15 ks/1 hours drive along Queen Charlotte drive. Yes it was the first of many windy drives that led us to a grogeous spot to park up. We stayed at the DOC campsite right on the beachfront and spent the morning playing on the beach (except for Mike who hitched back to Picton to buy the all-important-but-forgotten petrol for the boat).
Our campsite - we're the van at the end
Watching the sun set...
and the sun rise...
We then drove further up Queen Charlotte to Portage and spent a couple of days at Cowshed Bay - again beside the sea. We gave the boat its first South Seas outing across Kenepuru sound. It all worked well and kept us afloat despite the wind picking up on the return journey. Jack LOVED the big waves crashing into us, Lucy wasn't quite so sure - although, of course, talking about it later back in D, told us her favourite part of the day was the "chip chop" waves!
We did a mini-tramp on the Queen Charlotte walking track and received many strange looks and "it's a long way to the next stop" comments. Of course they didn't know that D was parked 15 minutes away!
After lunch and train spotting in Havelock, we drove to Pelorus Bridge for another couple of days. Again, we stayed in a DOC site and this one was a real winner. Lots of lovely grass to kick the ball on and, more importantly, unlimited hot showers - divine! Here we did a walk to a couple of waterfalls and Jack and Lucy amazed us. Jack walked the entire 4 k, 2 hour walk and it wasn't always easy either as we edged our way along cliff faces and through rough forest paths and Lucy walked close to half the distance also.
Yesterday we drove to Okiwi Bay for lunch and a play on the beach. Jack had great fun damming the creek and Lucy loved running into the puddles around the rocks (despite cutting her feet up on oyster shells - brave little thing). Then, while the kids slept, we enjoyed a beautiful peaceful drive up to French Pass. Today was fishing near D'Urville Island for us all in the morning and rock pool fun (and some train play of course) in the afternoon while Dad went out fishing again and caught us cod for dinner.
Of course by now you are wondering where all the photos are. Well, due to a slippery jetty, a beautiful photo opportunity requiring a yoga pose to capture it, a slip and a splash, we have a rather water-logged camera and no photos! We are hoping to rectify that when we get to nelson in a few days.
Our only other real misadventure was when our bbq somehow set alight the gas hose connected to it (which was connected to a gas bottle in the side of D). Thankfully our fire extinguisher worked well and we only have a slight tinge of yellow on D to remind us of it. In all honesty, very scary.
Back to happy thoughts, we'll be heading back down the peninsula (if that is what it is called) tomorrow and hope to land in Nelson within the next day or two.
