We are on a 6-week road trip around New Zealand's South Island, and after finishing our fabulous Abel Tasman National Park walk at the top of New Zealand’s South Island, we drove our motorhome Vwhā, south to Ruby Bay / Māpua which sits on an estuary of Tasman Bay.
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| The estuary at Ruby Bay, Tasman, NZ |
We found a lovely camping spot alongside the estuary there, and settled in for the night. It was a very pleasant spot and the bird-life was plentiful and entertaining.
The next morning, we travelled through this fruit-bowl area, seeing plenty of orchards growing apples, pears, kiwifruit, grapes and hops. In fact, the hop vines were wall-to-wall along the Moutere Highway. They grow up wires strung between high poles, creating fences of green right throughout the area.
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| Hops growing along the Moutere Highway in Tasman, NZ |
Hops are the essential ingredient in beer, and this Nelson-Tasman area is known for them. They were first grown here in 1842, and by the 1850s, local breweries had established large hop fields. Now-days Nelson-Tasman hops are used in craft beers world-wide. This area of New Zealand, is full of hops, wineries, and walks and we have really enjoyed it.
After driving west for a while, we arrived in Belgrove, where we turned south. We were headed to Lake Rotoiti in the Nelson Lakes National Park.
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| Lake Rotoiti, Nelson Lakes National Park, NZ |
We arrived, parked by the pebbled edge of this beautiful lake, and admired the unspoiled scenery. The Department of Conservation (DOC) has been doing some intensive work here to eradicate pests with the aim of returning an area of honey-dew native beech forest back to its original state.
So, after enjoying our lunch lakeside, we took a short but enjoyable walk through the peaceful beech forest and agreed that their work seemed to be paying off – it’s a beautiful stand of native beech.
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| Historic pub in Murchison, NZ |
Next, we drove to Murchison. This wee rural service town has a population of around 470, and a handful of commercial buildings; the main one being the historic Hampden Hotel.
The town is known as the ‘Whitewater Capital of New Zealand’ because of its proximity to 7 rivers, and the activities provided on them, which include white water rafting, and jet boating.
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| The attractive Maruia Falls, NZ |
From Murchison, we drove south to view Maruia Falls, and after parking, we walked a short way through the native bush to find them. These Falls have a shallow but attractive 10 metre cascade, falling noisily into a deep pool surrounded by huge rocks.
Maruia Falls has been labelled one of New Zealand’s ‘must see’ waterfalls. It was created as a result of an earthquake in 1929. The quake forced a landslide in the Maruia Valley that diverted the course of the Maruia River, forcing it to find its new path.
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| Leigh about to cross the long swing bridge over the Buller River, NZ |
A short drive from the falls took us to the Buller Gorge Adventure Park to walk across NZ’s longest swing-bridge. It is 110 m long and suspended 19 m above the mighty Buller River. It is very narrow with room for only one person, but gave great views of the river.
There were some historic gold mine displays in a short bush walk on the other side, and we were soon back on the bridge returning to Vwhā. Driving west after that, the road was winding and narrow but showed some spectacular views of the gorge, river, and native bush.
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| The attractive art-deco Town Hall in Westport, NZ |
Our next stop was Westport on the west coast. As we were driving though, the beautiful and stately art-deco style Town Hall caught our eye. This statuesque structure with its attractive clock tower, is on the New Zealand Historic Places Trust Register.
Westport sits on the Tasman Sea near the mouth of the Buller River, and is the largest town on the north-west coast (population around 10,000). We bought some supplies at the local supermarket, then drove through the town which we found a bit tired with very little happening.
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| Marg beside Vwhā at Cape Foulwind with the Tasman Sea behind |
Our next stop was Cape Foulwind where we camped with a great view of the Tasman Sea. Originally, we parked at the Cape’s Star Tavern as they cater to motorhomes. But we met a woman who introduced herself as the owner of the Tavern, and she offered us a camping space opposite the Tavern beside her home, giving us the great sea views.
It was so much better than a shingle lot outside the pub, and we had the view! We visited the pub for dinner later, and shared our table with a delightful couple from Auckland. It was a fun night and we had a peaceful night’s sleep after, listening to the sea lapping the rocks.
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| Seal pups playing in a pool at the point of Cape Foulwind, Tasman Sea, NZ |
The next morning, we drove to the other side of Cape Foulwind and walked back around the coast to view a colony of New Zealand fur seals. We had a great view but it was so windy. We asked a local why the place was called Cape Foulwind. He said that Captain Cook had arrived there, but the wind stopped him from landing so he named it Foulwind, and the name stuck.
Next, we drove along New Zealand’s stunning west coast road, but you can read about that n the next blog.
This is part of a bigger blog on our travels around the South Island of New Zealand. The first blog is called NZ's South Island in a motorhome.