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Travel NZ – South Island Maybell beach New Years Eve off the beaten track:

After sitting down and watching the motocross, I wanted to find a quieter place for New Years Eve so I made tracks south again and found a sign after traveling for about 40 minutes that stated maybell Beach 8k. That was it I thought it had a camping sign so I knew I would be okay.  After the short 8 k I came upon a small gravel track that led through to a massive open area. With parking on the hills and the surrounding grass, there were say a couple of hundred people there, so much for my quite night I was thinking.

I had to settle for a place on the gravel track to park the car, I had the tent up in a couple of minutes and setup camp; I placed a towel on the ground got a beer and relaxed watching some kids play on a dirt bike up and down the beach. Nice area and even though there were a lot of people around where I was in the mix of things it was quite nice indeed. I razed my can and said cheers to my parents, wish you could see this. There was no cell phone signal out this far on the coast so I was unable to call them.

It was a nice, to be able to wind down after all the time on the road in the last couple, and the beer was starting to do it job. A couple pulled up in front of the skyline and asked whether it was okay for them to park so close to me and I said “ no worries “ go for it.  The couple thanked me and then began to setup there camp. Some time passed and I though that I would go for a walk around the area to see what was here.

After wandering around for several minutes I found out that it was indeed a national park and you were asked to make a donation in the box on a tree for staying the night. Also there were several walks from small inland 30mins round trips to overnight camping experiences. Seeing as New Zealand does not have any nasty critters like snakes and or poisonous things that can get you when you sleep unlike Australia, you are quite safe so bunk down for the night. You may have to watch for the mosquitoes though, but near the beach I did not have any trouble at all. They did have toilet facilities but they were long drop only but very tidy. No running water or power in this area and no generators.

But I was getting thirsty so I went back to the tent and got another drink and sat back down to enjoy the sun and scenery. Moments later I wandered out to the tide and sampled the water it was not to bad, so I went back to the tent got my swimmers and set off for a swim. Playing around in the waves took a bit out of me, so again back to the tent to dry off and have another drink (pattern was forming). It must have been a couple of hours I was sitting there for, when a guy come down and said hello, asked if I wanted to join them later on for a couple of drinks, I said Yeah okay mate no worries, found out his name was mike, he said that he would come and get me when the they were ready.

An hour had passed when mike came back down and said if I wanted to come over now it would be cool. So I grabbed a couple of Woodstock cans and headed over for that drink. Turns out his brother had a skyline as well so we were talking about that for some time and his other half seemed okay about all of it. Even got offered a steak sandwich which went down rather well. It was dark now and the night had really got underway, we could hear a faint singing in the distance so we decided to pack up and head that way to see what was going on.

It so happens that after talking to a couple of the people there, they have been getting together in this location for the last 4-5 years, and singing the new year in was some sort of tradition. So I thought that I would get into the spirit of things (and it did help that I was rather lubricated at this point) and as midnight rolled over I began singing, I razed my can once again and toasted family that were unable to be here. Mikes other half had gone back to the there tent several hours before and mike and I were left to have a few drinks to see the in the New Year.

I think it may have been about 2 or 3am when his other half came down the road and told him to came back to the tent as it was late, we laughed and I said you had better go dude she seems a tad up set, he laughed as well and said cheers for the drinks and was dragged off. I suddenly realized after getting up from the bank that I was sitting on that I was quite drunk, and getting back to the tent was a bit of a mission. But I did make it in the end and I soon I fell asleep.

I woke up the next morning a 6am, I had that sinking feeling, but they always say don’t get drink drunk unless you are willing to pay for it the next day. And let’s just say that I was my first thoughts were to run to the tide and jump in for a refreshing swim, not really thinking I wandered down and dived in. My god it was cold, but it did do the trick sorting out my head. I went back to the skyline and packaged up all the gear and the tent and headed off for the next part of the journey. I turned my cell phone on and I had a message, it was dad and he did not sound happy. He said he was going to call so I sent him a txt message and waited for him to call.

It was about 10 minute later when I got the call, I had never heard dad like this before I asked what was wrong and when he told me I should stop the car if I am driving I got worried. I pulled off to the side of the road and then he told me that his brother Les had died at 1am this morning. Well I felt sick and sat there just listening for a couple of minutes. This was not good news at all and dad was rattled by the whole thing and so was I. I sent my love and he said that he would be in touch seeing as he was in Australia and the funeral was going to be in New Zealand he would have to sort out air fair and a place to stay. I got off the phone and got out of the car and walked down to the beach and had another swim, not a good way to start the New Year.

Travel NZ – South Island Wandering from Nelson to Cape Farewell:

I woke up pretty early and as I had planed a site seeing trip, wandering from Nelson to Cape Farewell the northern most tip of the South Island. Nelson was humming as it was nearly New Years Eve, a happy feel surrounded this place and the views to be had are exhilarating. They have a massive field that is setup for various market days and town gatherings, but this time it was used for a massive Motocross and long distance jumping records spectacular. I was sure to back for that later on.  I packed my day pack that I had purchased the day before got in the skyline and set off. I was looking for a lookout in order to get a bird’s eye view of Nelson itself. It was a magic day nice and warm great day to be at the beach and nelson bay looked spectacular from the vantage point that I found.

After spending several minutes taking in the sites it was time to get a move on. My skyline was eager to under way as well, now you know what they say, a good car loves to be driven. It was a good trip up through the highway and I was going to take the coast road that meant water to my right and nice windy sections to really get into and enjoy. Purely my point of view, as it happens. I was looking at 160k`s till I got to Cape farewell, so just over 2 hrs on the road, but they are great roads up this way, great for the drivers amongst us. If you were traveling this road on a motorbike you would be in heaven. Motorhome users are seen also pulling off the road and staying, so no need for those expensive campsites on this trip.

Just before you get into the Cape Farewell there is a little place for the music festival, kind of like a mini Woodstock if you will, you will be able to hear it as you travel up the road, there must have been thousands of people there that day. The type of music that was playing when I went past was for the younger generation so it would pay to check what is on first. Drive around the corner and the coast just opens up to a view of water and sea side rolling rocks very nice view indeed, a real Kodak moment.

After getting in to Cape Farewell you come to the end of the road, if you are in need of some refreshments there is a café just before you head out onto the sands. There is plenty of parking both in the car park and in the field that is placed there for you to use if you are taking the eco tour or making the journey on foot as I was that day. The walk was 35 k`s to the tip of the Cape Farewell and 70k`s round trip so you had better pack some water and some comfortable shoes and sunscreen. If you were the type that likes to site sea from the comfort of a air conditioned 4×4 off road bus, you can book one of the Eco Tours that will take you up to the Cape’s spit that’s departs from Collingwood and includes a visit to the historic lighthouse, which is around $110 per adult and children 1-15yrs $50, which takes about 6 ½ hours. There are other tours also from the likes of the Gannet Colony Tour which you can see all types of bird life also 6 ½ hours and the Lighthouse tour that takes 4 ½ hours. Something for everyone and all walks of life, if you don’t have the money to spend on the tours, take the walk like I did.

I had packed to take along, one litre bottle of water, nuts and raisins for lunch, rain coat just in case jumper and long pants, towel and swimmers. I had planned on stopping for a swim at some stage to enjoy the day to its fullest.  The surrounding area cannot be driven on as it is a protected area the Maori people have named this place Onetahua roughly translated to (heaped up sand). The only ones that have the right to do so is the Eco tour company as part of the national park and wildlife protection program so you are guaranteed to see wildlife on your journey to Cape Farewell. It is a very peaceful place and you will get the feeling that you are all on your own as I did. You seem to be walking on un-chartered sands and all you can see at walking pace is the foot prints of the birds.

I decided to climb one of the sand dunes and get a shot of the surrounding area. You will see the shots as you read through. It was time to get into the tide so I got changed into my swimmers and headed out into the tide. After my swim at the cape’s tip I stopped for some lunch and started to head back to the car. It had been a full couple of hours and I was keen to head back to Nelson and get set up for the Motocross show. So I said my goodbyes to this magic place and set off.

The return trip always seems quicker and this trip was no different, I was back in nelson in no time. I was driving around the main street for a couple of minutes looking for a cooked chicken and a bottle shop. I found both of these things and headed back to the camp site for lunch.

After chatting to the guy at the gate he stated that the tickets had sold out but if someone was too climb the trees across the way they might get a good view from there. So I wandered over to the trees across the way and climbed one for a better view. I had found a nice posse in between the branches to sit down and watch some of the show.

Travel NZ – South Island Picton to Nelson via Havelock New Zealand:

It was a cool day in picton. It was time to start my wanderings into the South island of New Zealand. My Skyline was good to go after the journey. I remember looking up at the massive entry of the boat as I drive through it onto the Picton wharf. There was nothing open in Picton on that morning, but if you do find things open you will be able to sample and there are places to lay your head for the night, from campsites to catered lodges. I had a look around at the surrounding streets and shops and decided I was going to head for Havelock a small town on the way to Nelson.

Havelock, the gateway to the Marlborough sounds, and home of the green shell mussel cruise or maybe you would prefer to go on Captain Clay’s Snapper Fishing Charters . If you wish to find out about campsites or if you wish to have your holiday plans sorted for you, talk to the friendly people at the Havelock information centre or email them info@havelockinfocentre.co.nz. I merely stopped to see if I could get something to eat. I could not find anything that I wanted as I had a craving for subway. So I found a nice quite spot by the water and sat down to take in the sights.

I was just sitting there taking in the piece and quite when a lady appeared and asked if I had just come from the ferry. Well I had so she said that there are a couple of places to stay around here that are quite, but if you want a bit more excitement you can head on down to Nelson, that was more of a young person’s area. So I thanked her and continued to watch the bay, as I felt so completely free and content.

I got back into the car and set off for Nelson, not knowing what I would find. A hitchhiker was walking on what I thought was a dangerous part of the highway so I stopped and picked him up, it was an American dude, mid twenties, and he was heading to nelson also so I offered him a ride. Interesting stories he was telling of his travels on the way, he was talking about Cape Farewell which I was going to see. So I got some info on where you can stay there and what was going on while I had him to talk to.

It is a great drive though this part of the land; on the way to nelson you are privy to the sights of green lush covered mountains faces as you pass through gorges, very nice indeed. Soon we had arrived in Nelson so I said goodbye to my new friend and looked for a campsite to stay in for the night. I wandered up to the guy behind the counter and was greeted very warmly, he asked where I was from I mentioned Auckland and as I did he said he had a daughter there. In my haste I had forgotten to purchase a tent so I got directions to the local camp store and after several minutes got the 2 man dome tent for a bit of space. I paid the man his money and then went to setup, it was going to be a big day tomorrow, being New Years Eve, and I wanted to make the journey to Cape Farewell.