Travelling from The top of the south – ending up in Queenstown (eventually!)
My experience around the North Island was a trip and a half, but nothing beats my southern adventure!! It was a couple of months of pure delight, and it started right from the time I boarded the ferry to cross the Cook Strait!
- Image via Wikipedia
I remember getting the interislander ferry across from Wellington to Picton and I was already blown away by the beauty that I saw on the journey. I was told I was lucky as I had an awesome journey, but I heard that trip can be quite bumpy as you leave the infamous windy Wellington, and head to the precious Picton on the other side!
Coming over you get to see the beautiful Marborough Sounds and the Queen Charlotte track (which I haven’t walked yet, but left unturned so I can have an excuse to go back!) One of my favourite times was exploring the marlborough sounds, where me and my man took ourselves and our 4 wheel drive, shirley (our 1985 Land cruiser – the other woman in our relationship!!!) on a trip to a secluded bit of paradise called Titirangi. All I can say is wow!
We drove about an hour or so from Nelson and it was not the easiest of drives along a windy road and then a cattle gravel road, and we thought we would never get to where we were going!!! But then we came to the top of the road until it started dropping down to Titirangi Bay where we were staying in a little farm style camp ground. The view was out of this world! We both smiled at each other and thought this is what we’ve been looking for all of our trip!!! The secluded bit of paradise we sooooo were looking forward to!!!
When we arrived we saw that it was a real local spot and that we were the lucky ones getting a tip off from a local guy in Nelson! We parked up and popped up our tent and that was us! We had our own kayaks so we spent the next few days just paddling on the ocean and enjoying the serenity! It was here that I tried Kina for the first time….Now if you haven’t tried kina then it really is a love it or hate it job. It was ok, but I definitely won’t be having it again. Some people love the little sea urchin (which reminds me of a little hedgehog!!!0, but for me it was a little too strong in flavour…and quite slimey!!!
So we left this little bit of paradise and headed off to Nelson where we stayed with some friends in Motueka. I love Nelson and all it has to offer. If you get the chance to get there on the weekend then you can explore the aweosme weekend markets that it has. As well as this, the seafood and fresh fish is one of the main reasons I could have set up camp here! Not far away from nelson is the amazing Abel Tasman National park which you can get involved in the Jurrasic setting and go on an awesome kayaking trip with Kaiteriteri Kayaks. What an amazing trip, you can see why it’s one of the most popular things to do in NZ!
So after the trip back from Abel Tasmen to Nelson Lakes, we headed off down through Murchison to the mighty West Coast….Another paradise in itself….
To be continued!
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