Feb 12th – 18th – Goodbye to Tom, Gila and Lisa
Greg Says……
Mon 12th – We left Kaiteriteri, and moved to Nelson. At lunchtime we went with Thomas, Gila, and Lisa to a restaurant called the ‘Boat Shed’ in Nelson Bay. It was a nice place which specialised in a fish menu. Lucy had Thai Crab cakes, and I had Crayfish. Alistair had Marlin, and Rowena Blue Cod and Chips. It was really nice, and we all felt satisfied when we left. After a trip into Nelson for some shopping we went to the biggest campground in New Zealand and Australia by the harbour in Nelson. It has an exercise track around the outside for 2 km’s, which Tom, myself and the children completed before dinner! Tonight was a delayed Movie Night for the children, and they watched ’Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’! The adults had a quite time socialising with the children kept quiet in front of the film!
Tues 13th –After breakfast it was time to say ’Goodbye’ to Thomas, Gila and Lisa. It was very sad, and we had a tear in our eyes! We had spent a lot of time together for the last 6 days. Thanks to them for a great time, we are left with lots of great memories.
We went into Nelson for some more supplies, then headed out to Wakefield to go and see Lucy’s friend Linda. Lucy and Linda were flatmates in London, and travelled together on a number of trips.
We got there at about 5.30pm, and stayed the night. Linda has a lovely house with her husband Greg, and children Jesse, Annie and Sophie. Alistair and Rowena enjoyed playing with Annie and Sophie in the 4 acre wood that is part of their land, and with their horses. The house itself was built in the late 1800’s and has heaps of character. (Kiwi’s say ‘heaps’ all the time!). They are currently building a new kitchen, and guest bedroom, and it will be even nicer when finished. It’s the kind of house I would like with lots of space inside, and also all around it. It is set in the country, but only about 2 miles from Wakefield.
Wed 14th – We left Linda’s and Greg’s house and drove to Murchison. Thanks to Linda for a nice evening.
At Murchison we stayed at the Riverview Campsite. The drive here was lovely, through the Buller gorge. There are high mountains on each side of the gorge, which are a lovely lush green colour. The river Buller gushes down beside the road, and there is good rafting around here.
We arrived at the campground, and set up. Alistair, Rowena and I went for a run, and then a swim in the river. You have to be careful after you swim in certain rivers to wash the swimming togs thoroughly, due to the Didymo outbreak. Didymo is Algae which spreads easily, and cogs up the rivers.
Anyway, all that aside, we had a nice bit of exercise and a swim. We fully deserved our diner when we got back to the camper!
Riverview is a nice campsite by the river, with the sites in between the trees. There is a lovely bush walk through to the golf course which we ran on.
Thurs 15th – Today we went to the six mile drive walkway. Luckily it wasn’t six miles long, it was just that distance from the main road. We had a nice walk through the bush to the river and back again. Afterwards we drove to the swing bridge which is the longest in NZ, across the Buller river. It was good to go across the bridge which is suspended about 100 feet above the river. The bridge is quite strange to walk on as it moves! Rowena decided to come back over via the zip wire, which only took about 30 seconds and cost $10, but she enjoyed it.
By the time we got back to the same campsite as the night before it was time for lessons, then dinner, the bed
Fri 16th – We left Murchison and mad our way down the Buller Gorge towards Westport. On the way we stopped and picked up a Hitchhiker. She was from Hamburg, and was working at a backpackers in Punikaki. We dropped her on the road South, and went into Westport. It’s quite a nice little town, which has no Warehouse, no MacDonalds, or any other big chain, it’s really quite refreshing! Anyway, the main activity was getting Alistairs hair cut, so he looks like a boy again, and not a girl! We decided that the Top 10 campsite called ‘Top 10 Seal’ was the best place to stay for tonight.
Also, it was a day of exercise, so Alistair, Rowena and I (Daddy) went for a run along the beach to the mouth of the Buller River. It was about 3km’s there, and the same back. In retrospect it was a bit far for Alistair to run, but he eventually did it! Rowena was cycling, so she was ok. It was a really lovely run as the evening temperature was just right, and when we got to the mouth of the river, we were entertained by dolphins, commonly known as Hector’s Dolphins. This was the first sighting of several in the next few days! We limped home satisfied that we had done our exercise, and that we had seen the sea mammals.
Sat 17th – We Stayed in Westport Top 10, again, today. Lucy got up early at 7am and went for a cycle with Alistair on the same route as our run the previous night. The dolphins were there again, and gave another show to the cyclists! Rowena and I were woken to warm hot cross buns and coffee! Later we went to the Cape Foulwind Walkway. This was a lovely coastal walk, which reminded me of the Purbecks, although the sea was a beautiful turquoise colour, and there was a seal colony at our destination! Alistair and I ran back to the van, but really it was too hot to do this, but we did it anyway! When we got back to the campsite, I went for a cycle with Rowena to see if the dolphins were there, but we got there a little later than the night before, and they were not there…..never mind!! The highlight was Rowena trying to ride with no hands, which she did for at least 2 seconds!! She still needs to practise, and she’ll eventually get it!
Sun 18th – Alistair and I got up at 7am, and cycled, yes you’ve guessed it, to the mouth of the river to see the Dolphins. We saw them today, and it was the perfect farewell to the area for us! We returned the compliment of hot cross bus and coffee, and the day started well again! Later we went to the Pancake Rocks at Punikaki. These rocks are shaped like pancakes one on top of each other, and have formed some fantastic shapes. Guess what….we saw some more dolphins, this time jumping right out of the water and flipping back into the water. Today we had lunch on the beach with the seagulls feeding them our leftovers. We arrived later at Greymouth and went in search of LOW COST Camping, but couldn’t find it! So we ended up in South Beach, where there was just enough time for homework and then bed!
Mon 12th – We left Kaiteriteri, and moved to Nelson. At lunchtime we went with Thomas, Gila, and Lisa to a restaurant called the ‘Boat Shed’ in Nelson Bay. It was a nice place which specialised in a fish menu. Lucy had Thai Crab cakes, and I had Crayfish. Alistair had Marlin, and Rowena Blue Cod and Chips. It was really nice, and we all felt satisfied when we left. After a trip into Nelson for some shopping we went to the biggest campground in New Zealand and Australia by the harbour in Nelson. It has an exercise track around the outside for 2 km’s, which Tom, myself and the children completed before dinner! Tonight was a delayed Movie Night for the children, and they watched ’Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’! The adults had a quite time socialising with the children kept quiet in front of the film!
Tues 13th –After breakfast it was time to say ’Goodbye’ to Thomas, Gila and Lisa. It was very sad, and we had a tear in our eyes! We had spent a lot of time together for the last 6 days. Thanks to them for a great time, we are left with lots of great memories.
We went into Nelson for some more supplies, then headed out to Wakefield to go and see Lucy’s friend Linda. Lucy and Linda were flatmates in London, and travelled together on a number of trips.
We got there at about 5.30pm, and stayed the night. Linda has a lovely house with her husband Greg, and children Jesse, Annie and Sophie. Alistair and Rowena enjoyed playing with Annie and Sophie in the 4 acre wood that is part of their land, and with their horses. The house itself was built in the late 1800’s and has heaps of character. (Kiwi’s say ‘heaps’ all the time!). They are currently building a new kitchen, and guest bedroom, and it will be even nicer when finished. It’s the kind of house I would like with lots of space inside, and also all around it. It is set in the country, but only about 2 miles from Wakefield.
Wed 14th – We left Linda’s and Greg’s house and drove to Murchison. Thanks to Linda for a nice evening.
At Murchison we stayed at the Riverview Campsite. The drive here was lovely, through the Buller gorge. There are high mountains on each side of the gorge, which are a lovely lush green colour. The river Buller gushes down beside the road, and there is good rafting around here.
We arrived at the campground, and set up. Alistair, Rowena and I went for a run, and then a swim in the river. You have to be careful after you swim in certain rivers to wash the swimming togs thoroughly, due to the Didymo outbreak. Didymo is Algae which spreads easily, and cogs up the rivers.
Anyway, all that aside, we had a nice bit of exercise and a swim. We fully deserved our diner when we got back to the camper!
Riverview is a nice campsite by the river, with the sites in between the trees. There is a lovely bush walk through to the golf course which we ran on.
Thurs 15th – Today we went to the six mile drive walkway. Luckily it wasn’t six miles long, it was just that distance from the main road. We had a nice walk through the bush to the river and back again. Afterwards we drove to the swing bridge which is the longest in NZ, across the Buller river. It was good to go across the bridge which is suspended about 100 feet above the river. The bridge is quite strange to walk on as it moves! Rowena decided to come back over via the zip wire, which only took about 30 seconds and cost $10, but she enjoyed it.
By the time we got back to the same campsite as the night before it was time for lessons, then dinner, the bed
Fri 16th – We left Murchison and mad our way down the Buller Gorge towards Westport. On the way we stopped and picked up a Hitchhiker. She was from Hamburg, and was working at a backpackers in Punikaki. We dropped her on the road South, and went into Westport. It’s quite a nice little town, which has no Warehouse, no MacDonalds, or any other big chain, it’s really quite refreshing! Anyway, the main activity was getting Alistairs hair cut, so he looks like a boy again, and not a girl! We decided that the Top 10 campsite called ‘Top 10 Seal’ was the best place to stay for tonight.
Also, it was a day of exercise, so Alistair, Rowena and I (Daddy) went for a run along the beach to the mouth of the Buller River. It was about 3km’s there, and the same back. In retrospect it was a bit far for Alistair to run, but he eventually did it! Rowena was cycling, so she was ok. It was a really lovely run as the evening temperature was just right, and when we got to the mouth of the river, we were entertained by dolphins, commonly known as Hector’s Dolphins. This was the first sighting of several in the next few days! We limped home satisfied that we had done our exercise, and that we had seen the sea mammals.
Sat 17th – We Stayed in Westport Top 10, again, today. Lucy got up early at 7am and went for a cycle with Alistair on the same route as our run the previous night. The dolphins were there again, and gave another show to the cyclists! Rowena and I were woken to warm hot cross buns and coffee! Later we went to the Cape Foulwind Walkway. This was a lovely coastal walk, which reminded me of the Purbecks, although the sea was a beautiful turquoise colour, and there was a seal colony at our destination! Alistair and I ran back to the van, but really it was too hot to do this, but we did it anyway! When we got back to the campsite, I went for a cycle with Rowena to see if the dolphins were there, but we got there a little later than the night before, and they were not there…..never mind!! The highlight was Rowena trying to ride with no hands, which she did for at least 2 seconds!! She still needs to practise, and she’ll eventually get it!
Sun 18th – Alistair and I got up at 7am, and cycled, yes you’ve guessed it, to the mouth of the river to see the Dolphins. We saw them today, and it was the perfect farewell to the area for us! We returned the compliment of hot cross bus and coffee, and the day started well again! Later we went to the Pancake Rocks at Punikaki. These rocks are shaped like pancakes one on top of each other, and have formed some fantastic shapes. Guess what….we saw some more dolphins, this time jumping right out of the water and flipping back into the water. Today we had lunch on the beach with the seagulls feeding them our leftovers. We arrived later at Greymouth and went in search of LOW COST Camping, but couldn’t find it! So we ended up in South Beach, where there was just enough time for homework and then bed!
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