We are on a road trip for 6 weeks around New Zealand’s South Island in our motorhome, and recently been in Christchurch and Akaroa. Then we headed north to the top of the Island to where we began our trip. On the way, we drove the coastal route to visit vineyards, bays, and quaint towns.
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| Waipara vineyard, NZ |
Our first stop was the Waipara Valley to visit some vineyards. But unfortunately, most were closed for harvesting. Then we were directed to Waipara Springs winery and 10-minutes later, we found it and were delighted to find it open, and ready for lunch customers.
We ordered a platter to share, and a glass of Waipara Springs Pinot Gris each, and really enjoyed our stop in the sun. It was a delightful setting with great food and wine, and very good service.
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| Yachts resting in Kaikōura harbour, NZ |
After lunch, we headed to the seaside town of Kaikōura. As we arrived, we admired the interesting coastline and the town beach. Deciding to stay there overnight, we looked for a nice spot to camp close to the township, and found a paddock set up for freedom camping beside a B&B. It was a good choice as we had a lovely view of the sea and it was very peaceful.
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| White rocks of the exposed seabed, Kaikōura, NZ |
The next morning, we visited Kaikōura township. We wanted to see how it was going following the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake where much of the town and surrounding area was heavily damaged. In fact, the bay and surrounding areas were raised by as much as 2 metres as a result of that quake. We could see the white exposed rocks around the shoreline, that used to be part of the seabed.
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| Southern fur seals mother and pup, Kaikōura, NZ |
Leaving Kaikōura the next day, we followed the coastline north. Just out of Kaikōura, we stopped to view some southern fur seals. There were lots and lots of mothers and babies playing in the water, and sunning themselves on the rocks, it was lovely to watch.
The drive along the Kaikōura coast was spectacular. The SH1 road is squeezed in between the towering Kaikōura Ranges, and the dramatic Pacific Ocean.
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| Stabilizing the cliff-face and SH1 road after the earthquake, Kaikōura, NZ |
We could see that major road works had been carried out to stabilize the cliff-face and repair the highway after the Kaikōura earthquake. There were now many places to safely stop to view the scenery, and we were impressed by the installation of several pieces of cultural artwork that depict the local history.
As we drove north, we passed through several different landscapes, including the famous Marlborough wine area. We loved its rolling hills of gold showing the occasional dark green of a vineyard, under a sombre grey sky.
Marlborough wines are known world-wide, with the most prominent being Sauvignon Blanc. Currently, this area produces three-quarters of all New Zealand wine.
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| Historic rotunda and clocktower, Blenheim, NZ |
Eventually, we reached the town of Blenheim, and stopped for a break and a walk around the town. It seemed very quiet when we were there. As with many other places we’d been to on this trip, international tourism has ground to a halt, and Blenheim as a wine region town would normally be buzzing, but is now not.
After filling up our diesel and gas bottle, we pushed on to Picton. We checked into the Picton Campervan Park as it was close to the ferry terminal, allowing for an early start on our day of departure.
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| Around town, Picton, NZ |
The next day, we walked around Picton town and found it to be a quite vibrant and tidy little place. We had a nice walk through the shopping area and the arts precinct, then around the port and marina before heading back to camp.
Later, we organised our gear so that when we arrived back home in Wellington, it would be easy to off-load on the way to returning our hired motorhome the same afternoon.
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| Near the Ferry Terminal at Picton Harbour, Picton, NZ |
It was the last night of our trip and we were ready to board the Bluebridge ferry early in the morning and head home. However, lots of big diesel trucks went to and from the ferry terminal throughout the night, making it quite noisy. But we used our ear-plugs and had a lovely sleep – the last one in our motorhome.
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| Picton Harbour and car ferries back to Wellington, NZ |
It’s been a wonderful six weeks travelling around the South Island. We’ve touched base with rural New Zealand, got to see places that we had only read about, seen earthquake recovery that has amazed us, walked on ancient ice, seen some beautiful native bush and birds, and done lots of lovely walks.
Best of all, we got to do it in a nice motorhome, at our own pace. Loved it!
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.