Toot Toot, Vanlife - Oct 2021

 

Finally the day had come!  Earlier in 2021 we had bought a van to afford us a bit more independence.  Our housesitting lifestyle had become a little unreliable since Covid took over the world.  There were either no housesits available because the country had gone in to lockdown or there were tons of them as the rules relaxed.  The uncertainty can be a little tricky to negotiate so we decided that Vanlife would give us a little flexibility.

We finished our renovations, packed all our belongings and headed for the South Island for the six months of summer.

We started out on a journey through Waikaremoana country expecting there to be plenty of places to stay in the wild and at least some fishing to be had.  Unfortunately we found everything closed.  We assumed that the recent lockdown had meant that things hadn't quite opened up yet but came to find out that the government had given control of the land back to Iwi. Nuff said.

But at least we were able to stop on the side of the road for James to get his legs out for the first time this spring.

So that first night we popped out on the coast near Mahia and decided to go for a hunt.  We got a goat and some hunters we met along the way gave us some venison backsteak.  We have a small fridge in the van but can't carry too much meat at one time.  We stopped on the side of the road on the way out to pick some watercress to go with our wild meat.

We also managed to score a turkey which was very tasty too.

We slowly made our way down the east coast revisiting a farm sit we did a few years ago.  It was great to see everyone again.  The puppy had become and adult in our absence!  Stopping in Wellington for a few days with Clare's sister and to visit her parents (for the first time since they moved into a retirement village).

We crossed over on the ferry without fuss.  We are required to wear facemasks on public transport and in shops or gathering places but everything else for us is pretty much normal.

We headed straight for Blenheim to embark of a journey neither of us had taken before ... the coast road back to Picton!  It was rugged and beautiful and very quiet.

So great to have the sand between our toes

Nice to meet this slimy bugga

Marlborough Sounds from on high

It was great to discover that our beloved sourdough crumpets turned out to be very van friendly.

We then made our way slowly toward family in Nelson, stopping in some wonderful camp spots along the way.

In Nelson we spent a few days with Clare's nephew and his wife.  It was great to meet young Elliott for the first time.  Also great that we were able to bore him to sleep so that his parents could get a few precious moments to themselves :-)

Next we headed toward Collingwood, detouring up the Cobb river for a night, catching and eating our first trout of the trip.  We don't eat many of the fish we catch and only ever take fish and animals for food when we need it.  We prefer to forage for our own food rather than eat meat from the supermarket, something we don't do a lot of.

We found this bbq in situe which was
damn handy

Feeding the eels at the same spot

Back on the coast we managed to forage some cockles and mussels and some really huge ones!  We enjoyed a fine laksa and a couple of batches of mussel fritters.

Next we headed for Collingwood and into the Aorere Valley.  The river was spectacularly clear.

 

Look! A river bath

We found this really cool shop in the middle of nowhere and bought some sour snakes.

Then we found this really cool waterfall at the end of the road.

Again, the water was unbelievably clear

It was way too windy in Collingwood on our way in and out or we would have liked to spin up some kahawai at the rivermouth, so we headed back to Motueka. We had attempted to make contact with two families we had housesat for in the area.  We like to call in and visit the pets again when we get the opportunity.  However, we found both of them had moved on to other places.  It is sobering to know that other people are on the move too, not just us!

Next leg of the journey was down the Motueka River.  This was a treat we weren't expecting. James also became reacquainted with his fly rod.

Sometimes James blends in so well with the background .....

Hitting the main road back to Blenheim we took a detour to visit the picturesque alpine town of St Arnaud.  It was bitterly cold and oh so windy.  We didn't stay long.

Lake Rotoiti, St Arnaud

We continued our journed up the Wairau River back to Blenheim.  We weren't as impressed by the Wairau as we were the Motueka but we did happen to find a very surprising jewel in the crown - Argyle Pond.  This is not only an awesome freedom camping spot but is a well stocked man-made lake at a hydroelectic dam.  Chatting with some fellow fishermen we were advised there were not only trout but also salmon in the lake.  We didn't really believe them until .....

It was time to head back to Blenheim and stock up for the next part of our adventure.