Nothern South

Autumn is getting to us : dark at 6:30pm, wet weather or even real showers. Why the hell did we leave the plenty of TreeDimension? Anyway we need to get going and catch "hippie" city, Takaka.

After some window shopping in Takaka and a starfish rescue mission on one of the endless beaches, there we are. We reach the end : Farewell Spit, a 30km long narrow stretch of sand expanding east. On a map, it looks like a kiwi beak ☺.

Surprised by how fast the night falls, we stop at the first camping we find, a bit suspicious (we're still not sure if it's a campsite) and we cook our dinner with the torch and the ceiling lights. For a fulfilling feeling, we ALSO visited the northern point of the North island. On Dieter advice, on Wharariki beach, we observed seal puppies playing in their private swimming pool, unaware of the dramatic scenery.

Farewell Spit is a dead end (of a hundred kilometres but still a dead end) so we have to go back and go up Takaka Hill again, a 700m pass where our car got a hard time. We let the Chariot having a break and, in the meantime, we walk the beginning of Abel Tasman Coastal Track. Its beautiful sandy beaches also attracted Abel Tasman in 1642 while he was in mission to discover new territories for the Dutch East India Company. The first contact with local people was a culinary experience: Maoris ate three crew members. Tasman sailed away and English, who were less tasty, came back in 1769 (and now we're wondering why there's no good cheese in New Zealand?)

We complete our food stock at Nelson Farmers Market (which was still half full thanks to Dieter) and we're on the road to French Pass in Marlborough Sounds, an extensive network of sea-drowned valleys. Really wonderful to look at but, thanks to its geography, it's raining almost all the time. Gusts of wind oblige us to cook in the toilet shelter and to re-think the direction in which we park our car (we thought the strong winds would blow it away). We travel from bay to bay along the peninsula: Elaine bay, Piwakawaka bay, ... 50km further, the next island seems to be within reach but the amphibious version of the Chariot isn't out yet so we have to go backward! Let's go to recharge our batteries in... wait for it... another wwoofing!