Arrival on the South Island

So many things done and seen since Blenheim...
When I saw that the weather was getting better in Nelson, I ran for it instantly. I stayed there only one night and continued driving to Marahau, one of the entrance to Abel Tasman National Park.
On my first day there, I took the water taxi to Torrent Bay. From there, I walked 3 hours until Onetahuti. On my way by boat, I saw the Split Apple Rock, and on my way back I saw Tonga Island marine reserve where you will most likely see seals.

I went down a bit south to Motueka to spend the night. The day later I had booked a day in the park again to do some canyoning with Abel Tasman Canyons. I returned into the park with the water taxi and "canyoned" down the Torrent River.
The following day, I booked yet another day canyoning into the park, but on the northern part this time, which is Waterfall Creek.

I continued my route further north afterwards, up to Farewell Spit.
I walked to Wharariki Beach where there is (once more) a seal colony.

I met 2 French guys in this area that I followed for 2 days. The first night we tried a freedom camping near Takaka. Too bad we woke up early because of a ranger who told us we could not stay there without a van which is self contained.
In the afternoon, we went to a reggae festival at the Tui community in the Wainui Inlet. Funny to see hippies and reggae without alcohol and weed, but it was supposed to be family friendly.
 We thought we could spend the night in the community's field which was the carpark, but late in the night, someone said that it was impossible to stay. Anyway, they told us we could continue the gravel road for a minute and park at the end of the road. Nice place, but I smelled something fishy when I saw an Abel Tasman National Park sign when getting there. Well, it did not fail, a ranger woke everybody up early and wanted to give us a fine. After explaining that there was a festival the day before, he allowed us to leave immediately without a fine.
I ended my night at the I Site in Takaka, like the day before.
In the afternoon, I drove back to Nelson to spend the night.
The day later, I drove south, for a change, to Nelson Lakes National Park, one of the park I visited 2 years ago. The view is still amazing, but fuck the sand flies, they ate me alive.
 First day on Mt Robert Ridge Track, and slept near Lake Rotoroa:
4h10min walk / Peak at 1730m / ascend of 1000m

Afterwards, I continued south to Lewis Pass, where I walked the Lewis Pass Tops. Too bad I could not go up to the end and see the tarns, maybe another time. It is damn hard to start a walk like that in the afternoon. I will avoid this in the future.
2h00min walk / Peak at 14700m / ascend of 680m

Now I am back in Nelson for 3 nights to do some laundry, wash the van, and buy groceries. I will then go to Marlborough Sounds on Friday.
Two pictures on my way back:

Pupu springs, the clearest water in the world?

More pictures here

Where is Sangoku: the game

The rule is simple: find Sangoku
(easy mode to start with)

Map update (2)

North Island:
Auckland to Raglan
Raglan to Russell
Russell to Cape Palisser
CapePalliser to Wellington

South Island:
Picton to Nelson (via Farewell Spit)

Pahia to Cape Reinga, then to New Plymouth (the end)

I left New Plymouth the following day and took the Surf Highway to drive around Mt Taranaki.

I reached Cape Egmont Lighthouse, complete west of the region.

I drove till Wanganui where I got my tarte au citron and croissants.

Then, I continued to drive till Pahiatua. Before reaching the town, you have to drive through the Manawatu Gorge.

In the morning, I continued south and took the road to Cape Palliser to check out the lighthouse and the seal colony. I think it was one of the best scenic roads I have ever been on, despite it was fucking gravel.

After this perfect day, I stopped at the Putangirua Reserve for a one hour walk to the Pinnacles because it is on the Cape Palliser road. My map says it was a location for the shooting of the Lord of the rings.

I planned to sleep at the camping area at the Putangirua Reserve, but again, it was way too windy to cook and sleep, and without shower, so I drove up to Featherston.

The next day, I drove to Wellington to find a shitty weather and a city not made for people with cars. Every parking on the street cost money or are reserved for residents only... without speaking about all the steep roads.

Because I did not want to wait 3 or 4 days for the weather to be great, I decided it was time to cross Cook’s Strait. I went to the I site and bought my ticket with Interislander for a 14:30 departure.

I arrived in Picton, where the weather was also shitty. But I then drove to Blenheim. At least, it was easy to park everywhere, and a bit less expensive.

I spent already 2 nights here mostly doing nothing because of the rain yesterday. Today I went to Wither Hills, south from Blenheim to have a better view of the city and the wineries from a higher viewpoint.

More pictures here

Pahia to Cape Reinga, then to New Plymouth

After failing to swim with dolphins, I headed North West. I used small detours to avoid state highways like the tourist drive that goes through Matauri Bay, Wainu and Tauranga Bay.

I slept on Karikari Peninsula. Very beautiful, but either full or very expensive at the top 10 holiday park (35$ for one person!), holidays in New Zealand... prices are higher.

The next day I headed to Cape Reinga and stayed at Taputupotu Bay, beautifuld and very windy.

As I could not go further north, it was time to head south, completely south. On my way, I planned to sleep at the south end of Ninety Mile Beach, Ahipara, but the place was not appealing.

So I continued driving through small winding roads, took the ferry at Rawene on Hokianga Harbour, and spent the night in Omapere.

Then, kauri forest. I drove through Waipoua Forest and saw a few of the biggest kauris left in NZ.

Because it was early in the day, sunny, and there was “nowhere” to sleep, I drove until Hamilton.

It was finally time to go see Mt Taranaki. The volcano I saw from very far away on Mt Tongariro last month. On my way to New Plymouth, I stopped at Whitecliffs Conservation area for a walk. But I did not feel like it in the end because of the weather. And because I was lazy.

On my first night in New Plymouth, I went to Pukehura Park with people from the hostels to check out the music and fire show that was on.

The next day, after waiting for the weather to be better, I finally decided to walk the Mongorei track with a German Swiss (Switzerland German?). Not that hard, 3 hours 30 minutes walk. 740 meters climb in total, with lots of easy stairs to climb.

Later in the afternoon, I went to the zoo.

More pictures here