We left Wellington via the early morning ferry. The three hour trip can be choppy as the Tasman Sea is funnelled between the two islands, but we had been advised to make sure we were on the top deck for the last hour of the journey when the sea and wind calms in the shelter of the beautiful Marlborough Sound. This was excellent advice. The beautiful bays and cliffs along the sound were a great introduction to what the South island had in store for us over the next few days.
On arriving in Picton, we headed straight up the road to Anakiwa a small village which is the start (or end) of the Queen Charlotte track. The 72km Queen Charlotte Track is another of the 22 Great Rides (intermediate to difficult mountain biking), but also a very popular walk with access to sections of the track provided by water taxis for those just wishing to complete a day walk. With just an afternoon to spare we elected to do a there-and-back-again walk to the first viewpoint along the track.
As we left the village the path climbed up the cliff side, dipping into a couple of beautiful secluded beaches and bays along the way. The path then steepened with some sharp corners close to steep drops that definitely met the intermediate mountain biking standard! Much of the path was tree covered and we were grateful for the shade on the hot day, whilst wishing the trees would part for a moment to give us an unrestricted view of the glistening sound below. As we continued to climb the trees began to thin and we were offered a couple of sneaky peeks at sections of the bays before we reached the viewpoint, with a glorious 180° panorama along the Sound.
On our return walk we stopped off at one of the beaches for a relax in the sun before heading back to the camper for a late afternoon drive north west to Nelson. There are semi frequent signs along New Zealand roads warning travellers to allow extra time on New Zealand roads, and the stretch of road from Picton to Nelson certainly lived up to the warnings. It was like being on the most undulating, winding sections of the Cornish coast for the majority of our 110km drive, with equally spectacular views. The concentration needed for this section of the drive and our early start that morning meant that we were both tired and relieved when we arrived at Nelson, to our campsite by the sea.
The next day was our second day at a Twenty 20 cricket match. In the morning, after picking up a coffee at the beach, we went into town to pick up some supplies and also went into the Department of Conservation offices to book some camping hut spaces for the Routeburn Track later in the holiday. It was lucky we did as it was the last two spots available.
We headed over to the cricket and were worried that there would be nowhere to park the camper close to the stadium, but fortunately New Zealand is much more relaxed than the UK and we were able to park a short walk from the stadium and arrive just before the game started. It was an absolutely stunning location for a cricket ground, with views of the Tasman Sea in the foreground and the National Parks of Abel Tasman and Kahurangi on the other side of the bay. On top of that the playing surface look lovely with snooker table flat lush green grass and a straw coloured wicket in the centre. Spectators packed the sloping grass banks around the ground and many had brought in picnics to keep them sustained.
The game itself was another good one, with New Zealand racking up a big score of 180 for 7, with the big hitting Colin De Grandhomme (“the big man”) getting 55 and several others chipping in. It seemed like it would be a tough total to chase, but England started really well making 90 for 1 in the first 10 overs. Then Dawid Malan got out for 55 and soon after Eoin Morgan followed for 18, which sparked a trademark England Collapse, where they went from 139-2 to 149-7. In the end England were 14 runs short, but they were in with an outside chance until the last two overs.
Gareth really enjoyed an afternoon in the sun watching cricket in such a lovely place, but unfortunately we appeared to be a jinx on England as they won the other 3 games that we didn’t see and also won the series 3-2. Claire really enjoyed an afternoon in the sun eating chocolate ice cream
That evening we wandered to a nearby Sprig and Fern where we sampled some local beer and really tasty burgers. On the way home we wandered along the beachfront and we were treated to the locals setting of firework displays all across the coastline – it turns out that Kiwis are just as keen to celebrate the saviour of the Houses of Parliament from oblivion as the British are!
Claire and Gareth go travelling! 