Picton
We have booked our crossing to the North Island. We leave in two days
This gives us plenty of time to explore Marlborough Sounds region
Sublime and mystical, the Marlborough Sounds are the region's major attraction. Their lush green landscapes between sea and land are stunning.
According to the Legend, they represent the debris of the canoe on which the god Māui sailed when he fished the North Island with his hook.
We spend the next two days on the Scenic Roads” from one campsite to the next.
This allows us to get used to our motorhome.
Driving is more difficult with its 7m70. It's more complicated to park and drive in narrow roads
The interior is spacious: we have a real shower, a kitchen with oven and microwave and a lounge at the rear.
Richmond
As soon as the offices open, we call to know the arrival time of our future "house on wheels".
Apparently he hasn’t left yet ... They’ll let us know!!!
Meanwhile, we go shopping with Léonie for the next few days while Erin goes on his daily bike ride.
Then we spend the morning to get news, without result.
Erin replaces Christophe for better communication and finally we learn that the camper leaves from "Christchurch" on a breakdown truck.
Of course he did not leave this morning but around 3:45 pm and it takes 6 hours to reach Richmond .... Arrival scheduled for 10:00 pm.
In the meantime we meet "Catherine and David" friends of Léonie and Erin.
We are very embarrassed to intrude on this evening, but our hosts refuse to let us leave.
We spend a wonderful evening around a barbecue and good wines.
Finally, we contact the driver who confirms us an arrival at 22:00.
We leave our friends and Erin takes us to the garage, place of transfer.
The motorhome is designed for 6 people and is about 7m70 ... A palace compared to our campervan " Cetelem ".
We transfer all our stuff from one to the other and store as much as we can our supplies. We have decided to stay on site even though wild camping is forbidden here.
We go to bed around 1 am!
Richmond
To change our minds, we are planning a visit to the "Abel Tasman" park.
We have no news of the mechanic, Christophe calls him but he has not had time to take care of it.
We decide to go on an excursion with our New Zealand friends.
The explorer Abel Tasman discovered the southern island of New Zealand during his 1642 voyage. The first stay of the Westerners is short-lived following the confrontation with the "Maoris".
Abel Tasman Park was founded in 1942 to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the discovery of the country. It is the smallest national park in New Zealand. The beech forest that covers the granite hills extends to the seashore.
Over thousands of years, erosion has carved out the coast and created islands and lagoons.
Access to this park can only be done by boat. So we booked a boat plus lunch package yesterday.
The appointment is at 9 o'clock in the port, so everyone get up at 7 o'clock for an express breakfast.
The day trip includes a small cruise that takes us to see the most beautiful places of the park. Then the boat drops us off on a beach where we can hike and finally have lunch à la carte. Then return to the port
.
We spend a pleasant day under a gloomy sky in the morning and sunny in the evening.
There is no internet on the island, so no news from the garage. On our return, Christophe contacts him who announces that the vehicle is unusable ...
Immediately we join the renter who studies the file and contact us!
We receive an email in the late afternoon to let us know that there is no campvan available at the moment but that it offers us a camper " Polaris 6 " as well as a budget for hotel nights. Unfortunately the camper is not on site so it will be in Richmond tomorrow.
We accept their proposal and we spend again an excellent evening after these emotions
Richmond
We received by mail both addresses for revisions.
After having made contact with the two garages, we leave the campervan at the garage for the engine overhaul.
Then we hike along a popular beach where the sea has also deposited driftwood.
Return home for lunch then Christophe and Erin at the garage to pick up the campervan to drop it off at the camper repair shop.
Meanwhile Léonie and Jean Pierre stay at home to enjoy the beautiful garden and good weather.
Arrived at the garage, the mecanic tells them that he must keep the campervan all night to do tests .... This does not reassure us!
In the meantime they go to the second appointment to detect the leak. After an hour the repair is done and they return to bring back the campervan for its night tests.
New very nice evening around a good meal and good wine.
We are very happy to have our friends who help us in all these steps and to be able to think of something else ... We admire their latest photo album on India and Nepal.
Richmond
First stop of the day " the Pancakes " the main attraction in the area.
The "Pancake Rocks" are an amazing natural limestone formation. These types of cliffs, bordering the Tasman Sea, attract by their very particular appearance, which makes think of pancakes.
These cliffs were formed about 30 million years ago. Originally, these are deposits of sediment and dead marine plants on the seabed at about 2 kilometers depth.
It was then that the action of wind and water finally eroded them, leaving this aspect of pancakes.
The second point of interest of this place are the blowholes. In different places of these cliffs, huge holes have formed. At high tide, when the sea rushes into it, with the power of the currents, it creates a kind of air calls that propel the rising water through the holes and make it gush out like impressive geysers.
We enter this site by a marked path that runs along the cliffs along the coast.
Back at our campervan, the battery is flat for the second time ... It becomes tiring and especially annoying ... Christophe calls again to the assistance department to solve the battery problem as well as a motor check up as the red light indicating an oil keeps lighting plus a check up for a water leakage.
The battery repair comes 1 hour later and as for revision and check, Christophe asks for an appointment not here but in Richmond for the next day where we have to join our friends " Léonie and Erin "
We decide to join a big city to solve all these problems.
A long drive awaits us and we arrive in the late afternoon.
It is a real joy to see our friends again and especially to share our misadventures of the trip.
Evening around a barbecue and good wines
Punakaiki
Rainy day.
We go up along the coast towards "Punakaiki" and postpone to tomorrow the visit of "Pancake Rocks"
We chose to settle in a campsite with electricity to charge our electrical appliances
We are very annoyed to recharge our computers in particular.
In our old camper we have installed a converter 12 v/ 220 v that works on our slow discharge batteries. In general we use it when driving.
Here we are not equipped which greatly complicates our update of the site but also the realization of videos.
In general, we work on these last two for several hours every night.
So every three days we choose a campsite equipped with electricity which is not the case of all campsites in New Zealand.
We are trying to catch up.
Lake Kaniere
Since a few days we are doing small steps to appreciate the beauty of the region but also not to spend our time on the roads.
Today, we only one visit the gorges of " Hokitika "
The gorges were carved half a million years ago by glacial movements. The place is famous for its turquoise blue waters due to the "glacial flour" (fine particles of rocks).
A short walk leads to a suspension bridge from where the view of the gorges is superb. Unfortunately we can’t make the loop completely, the second bridge is destroyed which blocks the rest of the hike.
When the weather is nice, the water’s colour is a sublime blue green according to tourist guides. This is not the case for us ... The bad weather is back.
After this visit we go to another lake to bivouac.
The weather has improved a little which allows us to rest outside with a beautiful view of the lake.
Mahinapua Lake
Wake up under a beautiful sun.
We walk along the wonderful coast to "Hokitika".
The town was founded in 1664 during the gold rush. Today it is famous for its gorges and its jade.
Hokitika and its surroundings are the place of origin of "Pounamu", or jade in French. The Maori have discovered this beautiful green stone, very resistant, which they use for a long time to make weapons, tools or decorative objects but also jewelry.
We visit this small seaside town and its small shops of "Jade". Then we walk along the beach where there is an impressive amount of driftwood. We discover some sculptures representing various real or imaginary animals.
After lunch we turn back for our evening bivouac.
ROAD BOOK 205
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MAVROS ODYSSEE
