Activity Summary
Tuesday 14th February - Day 166
Drive to Golden Bay
Hope Saddle lookout
The Grove Scenic Reserve
Labyrinth Rocks
Wednesday 15th February - Day 167
Wharariki beach & walk
Archway cafe
Farewell spit
Thursday 16th February - Day 168
Drive to Nelson
Te Waikoropupu Springs
The Riuwaka Resurgence
Luke’s Nelson wine tour:
Kina Cliffs
Moutere Hills Vineyard
Richmond Plains Wines
Chopper gets kicked in
Friday 17th February - Day 169
Car repair day - woop de fucking yay
Drive to Abel Tasman
Summary
Golden Bay
A very quiet and remote part of New Zealand which seems to be more farmland than anything. It has a couple of nice stopovers and the Wharariki beach was lovely (assuming it's sunny) but not a whole lot of time really required here to see it all.
Nelson
Revised opinion - we fucking hate Nelson.
Accommodation
Collingwood - Collingwood Holiday Park
Number of nights - 2
Price per night per person - £19
On hearing that the edges of the cyclone were quite likely to hit the North of South Island we were a little shook about the idea of staying in our tent so made the sensible decision to upgrade to a cabin. It wasn’t that much more to upgrade, gave us peace of mind and also more nights sleep in a bed - even if these were two bunk beds.
The campsite was in a lovely location however. We were able to sit and eat overlooking one of the many inlets but also out across the Farewell Spit that forms the top of the iconic moon of the Golden Bay. Very calm and relaxing.
Facilities wise it had everything we could have wanted. Even a laundry sink for Luke to clean his rotten day bag after weeks of hiking and sweating.
Nelson - Bridge Backpackers
Number of nights - 1
Price per night per person - £30
Large kitchen and a decent lounge room to relax in. The bunk beds were some of the better ones we have had for a while (more like Pai) with large beds, plugs and a side light to allow a lone traveller some basic needs even if the top bunk is like climbing into everest. It was very high for Luke without a bar to contain those that have a fall out of bed potential.
Of course this wasn’t a concern because both of us got basically no sleep.
Diary
Luke had pretty much got a vibe for Westport on his drive to get garlic bread the day before so we concluded we wouldn’t push anything else sightseeing wise here. Besides, it was a good 4 hour plus drive to Golden Bay.
There wasn’t a whole lot to stop at on the drive. The drive took us along the Buller Gorge which has a suspension bridge but this is privately owned so not exactly accessible. The views from the drive were therefore enough for us.
We did have a short stop at the Hope Saddle lookout which had some very distant views of the mountain ranges in various directions and a dial saying which was which. Given it was valentine's day and Nicola is a much better gf than Luke bf, she gave him a present of Manuka facemasks and some Timtams. Very cute of her - Luke didn’t even realise it was V day and is a moron. Nicola, you can do better.
The first real sightseeing stops (outside of fuel and supermarkets) we started making were in Tanaka. We stopped at the Grove Scenic Reserve which turned out to be a very nice short walk around a forested area with huge split & lone rock formations all over.
Down the road was a similar spot called the Labyrinth Rocks and was far less exciting. The labyrinth ended up being a bit of an annoyance for a tired Luke and was very much done with sightseeing at this point so continued to our cabin-site in Collingwood.
Once here we chilled, made some food and ate on the waterfront overlooking the calm waters of the Golden Bay with a very quiet campsite helping the vibes.
We had a bit of a lie in, had breakfast overlooking the bay and then drove in the direction of the spit.
The area around the Farewell spit is pretty remote and a dedicated reserve so actually walking to the end, while it would have been fun, actually isn’t possible. Therefore we stopped at Wharariki beach to have a walk around and chill.
It was a lovely sunny day so we were pretty fortunate to see the Golden Bay in an actual golden environment - beaches in the grey really aren’t fun or that pretty. It was a short walk from the carpark to the beach which was wam and the sand was pretty damn hot as well so made a beeline for the more comfortable wet sand.
After sitting around for a while we walked along the beach with great views of the archway islands and various other cool rock formations along the beach. We even got to witness the panic pullup of a dude's shorts clearly getting a sloppy BJ that was interrupted by our walk and presence. Luke gave him a wave of apology, of course while refusing to turn around, for not allowing him a finish. Our bad.
We completed a loop of the beach that went along across half farmland half bush but were a little disappointed with the route and would have preferred heading back the way we came.
Once at the carpark we decided to get a cold brew at the Archway cafe. Clearly they have pet peacocks as there were a number of them just strutting around not giving one iota about us. Nicola thoroughly enjoyed sitting back in the hammock chair and reminiscing about home. We haven’t gotten homesick but it was nice to think about Notts and the home awaiting us, albeit in a long time.
We drove over to the point closest to the Farewell spit we could get to but this wasn’t an overly great beach or view so spent about a minute there before heading back to the campsite. It was fairly early but there wasn’t a whole lot else to do so we had a relaxing afternoon and evening at the campsite, minus trying to get the damn US ESTA sent off. The website sucks, but it was approved very quickly.
The logical plan (which was the original itinerary) was to go to Abel Tasman. We had to change our plan however so Nicola could get a scan as it was the earliest time we could book and it was the closest city. Not too shabby a timeframe however so we couldn’t really complain.
We stopped at the Te Waikoropupu Springs, a body of water fed by masses of beautifully clear ground water that created a pretty aggressive river. It was beautiful (even in the cloud) and pretty impressive to watch. It has cultural significance to the local Maori so it is protected from getting in it but it was very tempting.
Another nature stop over was at The Riuwaka Resurgence. Initially google tried to tell Luke to take a road off the side of a cliff which thankfully he questioned while shitting his pants. The resurgence had a beautifully clear freshwater cave system that flows up to the surface and down a river surrounded by lucious forest. For a short stop over it was really nice and well worth it.
With all the nature done it was time for another of Luke’s self styled wine tours in the Nelson region, only really finding this was an established wine region once we had left Nelson the last time around. He had designed it such that the wineries were more or less on the route to Nelson and kept it minimal so as to not have Nicola excessively bored.
The wineries & subregions were:
Kina Cliffs - Moutere Hills
Moutere Hills Vineyard - Moutere Hills
Richmond Plains Wines - Waimea Plains
The Kina Cliffs winery was right on the coast so thought this would offer a little difference in view. It was however a very small winery and on arrival Luke had to call the guy to come open up shop. This made him feel very awkward and the 1-1 experience was very full on but was very happy to know it was chargeable at $10. Therefore he kind of rushed through it in order to get moving.
Wines as follows:
Sauvignon 2021 - 6/10
Pinot Gris 2021 - 7/10
Pinot Gris ‘from the barrel’ 2021 - 4/10 *** too much oak
Pinot Noir 2016 - 7/10
Reserve Pinot Noir 2016 - 6/10
Luke was actively looking for a bottle to purchase but he wanted something a bit unique.
The Moutere Hills Vineyard was a lot more of what he was used to. It was a fairly big vineyard in the middle of a lunch rush and seemingly not able to cope. We perched up in the bar and Luke chose his 4 wines with help from the hostess who seemed to know nothing about the wine so just ended up regurgetating the written tasting notes to him. Not a valuable experience but at least he had time to appreciate the wine of his own accord in peace.
Sauvignon 2022 - 5/10 *** acidic and almost fizzy
Cenin Blanc 2020 - 6/10 *** too buttery but smoother than the Sav
Voignier 2020 - 2/10 *** No flavour. Felt like sparkling water without the fizz
Merlot 2020 - 6/10 *** a bit heavier than I like but not massively so
Luke was happy to try some different wines here, even if he didn’t really like them much.
The last winery at Richmond had a similar call the host to get the tasting vibe. So Luke had a similar awkward encounter with the guy (it’s a whole lot easier with female hostess’ for some reason). This was a bit different in that each taster was $2 and then all were free on a purchase. Most of the usual wines were actually sold out and he didn’t even advertise the Sav because it was already so popular but on talking to the guy he let Luke have some.
Sparkling Rose 2021 - 6/10 *** enjoyable but a bit tangy
Riesling 2021 - 4/10
Sauvignon 2022 - 7/10 *** a bit grassy for me
Blanc de Noir - 8/10 *** from Pinot Noir grapes & processed like Champagne. Really enjoyed it and has a lovely pink tinge to it
Reserve Chardonnay - 4/10 *** not to my taste but the toasted oak really came through smell and taste wise
Luke was really only keen to try the Blanc de Noir & Sav but stretched it out a bit and then came away with the Blanc de Noir. Very nice bottle of wine and something a bit different.
Overall it wasn’t his favourite wine region. A lot of Pinot Gris, Chardonnay & Pinot Noir which he has tasted a lot of but had better elsewhere. The wineries were also all very small (bar Moutere) and clearly not very touristy so this made the 1-1 experience a bit awkward, especially when calling the guy front of house to come give Luke wine.
Luke’s many thanks again go out to Nicola who is an absolute dreamboat.
Now done with touring we weren’t actually too far away from Nelson so it was a relatively easy drive and by arriving at 4pm meant it cost us 50 cents to park directly outside the hostel. We were so happy with ourselves at this point, worth bearing in mind for the evening events.
At the hostel we sat in the downstairs lounge for a time, had some leftovers that required little effort to cook, and a slightly indulgent vegetarian indian platter from Countdown to keep at bay those bad takeaway thoughts.
We had gotten an absolute shiner of a windscreen crack while driving to Golden Bay a few days previous which had hit hard and split the glass in all directions like a starfish with a million arms. Pretty annoying given we were selling the car in 2 weeks. Luke’s responsibility therefore while in Nelson was to get that fixed in the morning, along with the other chip we got on day 2 of owning Chopper, while Nicola was at her appointment. Therefore we were going to be up for 7am and tried to get to bed early.
Pretty eventful night from that point onward.
Both of us weren’t really effective at getting to sleep early, Nicola was watching TV for a good long while in her bunk while Luke’s stratospheric orbit in the incredibly high top bunk hindered his.
Nicola was the first to react to a shed load of commotion going on in the corridor and what sounded like a car getting kicked in on the street. We then both got up and went into the first floor corridor which had turned into a hostel screening party for a load of drunk tweenies trying to fight each other and then fight a parked car. That parked car just so happened to be ours. According to the people watching the twat in red boots was absolutely going for it.
This was obiously rather upsetting news given we were planning to sell the car in the next 2 weeks and were already trying to fix the windscreen. We really didn’t need the hassle of a vandal kicking in the nose of Chopper on top of that.
Once the coast was clear the yobs had looked like they had moved on, we ended up going to inspect Chopper and sure enough he had had his face kicked in. The right side was the worst with cracked plastic, red boot marks all over and his front sensor kicked into the car. The right side wasn’t anywhere near as bad but Chopper looked like a one eyed hooker, dolled up in poorly applied red lipstick with a scars to match.
Somehow the fucker hadn’t done more damage.
At this point a policeman was trying to calm the tween down and deal with a possible domestic abuse victim at the same time. The guy was clearly known to the cops and what took us by surprise was how placid the response was. The guy was drunk and disorderly, kicking in cars and fighting on the street with potentially beating this poor girl and the copper did nothing but try and talk to calm the guy? Bit of a pathetic response given he needed to chill the fuck out and an obvious sensible solution is lock him up till morning and then deal with him sober. *Cough* Tom Maclean *cough*.
After a good hour or so the cop spoke to us, got some statements from witnesses and then proceeded to say this was likely to go fuck all anywhere. So fearing the worst we got an incident number and then considered whether we would need to be ringing this through on insurance.
Shout out to the guys at the hostel who helped the poor girl, witnessed the whole thing getting it on record and helping us both looking over the car and talking with the cops. All a bit stressful and more so for Nicola who had her scan the next day.
So in the morning, in addition to the windscreen, Luke was to get Choppers chops looked out and fixed. Pain in the ass.
Both of us only got a few hours sleep max before getting up and parting ways. Nicola went off to her scan and came back that it was most likely nothing but a biopsy would be needed. She would then spend the whole day trying to get that booked in in Auckland but with great difficulty.
Luke took off first to a glass repair shop which couldn’t do same day. The guy however was very helpful in giving a card of a man with a van who would be able to squeeze us in in the afternoon.
With one thing tee’d up Luke went down the road to the AA and managed to get a similar afternoon squeeze in appointment to get Chopper fixed up.
After a bit of a shitshow evening this did seem to be going in the right direction. We both went back to the hostel lounge to relax (after getting a mcds breakfast) until Luke took off at 12.30pm to get back to the car.
Fortunately the AA and windscreen guy were familiar so while the guys from the AA glued the sensor, refitted the kicked in plastic and checked the headlight dip, the glass man fixed up the cracks. $70 damage by the vandal and $130 claimed by NZ roads. It was a good idea getting both cracks done as apparently the minor one was major for failing the WOF and selling on would have been a pain in the ass.
All wrapped up by 2pm we could not wait to get the fuck out of Nelson and were quickly on the road to Abel Tasman for hopefully a stress factory reset.
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