If I had to use two words to describe the west coast, I would have to say: wet. windy.

We (reluctantly) left Marlborough and drove to Golden Bay, which was actually quite strange- there’s only one very windy road around a mountain in and out so you feel very isolated. Then you arrive in Tanaka, which felt like a hippie colony- good coffee though. We drove to the Farewell Spit, the most northern point on the south island. Very beautiful and cute seals on the beaches but it was SO windy. The photo doesn’t really do it justice:From here, we headed down the west coast to a teeny tiny village called Punakaiki, stopping at a few campsites along the way. There’s not a lot to do in places like this, apart from hiking and the scenery was so pretty that I don’t think Sam minded too much (especially with the promise of hot chocolate and marshmallows at the end of it!) We’ve gotten into the habit of stopping for coffee or hot choc everyday- so much so that Sam has created a separate category in our budget app. I don’t want to know how much we’ve spent on it so far- definitely more on coffee than on booze!

We’ve now reached the awesome glaciers- Franz Josef and Fox. WOW. Although the weather hasn’t been great and so we haven’t been able to get as close to them as we’d like, they’re still hugely impressive. Fun fact for you- the glaciers are retreating due to global warming and so the DOC needs to constantly change the access points for the public. The only way to get onto the glacier is by guided hike via  a helicopter. We looked into it but it was going to be more expensive than skydiving- Sam put his foot down firmly on this one.

Low cloud cover- but this is a glacier, honest.

Man flu has struck Vanatar this week- Sam has been ill, which has been SO FUN for me! No, it’s actually been ok, although patience has been wearing thin for both of us! He’s rallied though and come on hikes with me everyday even though he’s felt rubbish- massive husband points for him.

The west coast is notorious for its rainfall and this proved no exception yesterday- 24 hours of solid heavy rain. Seriously heavy rain. To the point where pretty much leaving Vanatar to go to the toilets resulted in needing to change clothes. It’s really interesting in how different countries deal with wet weather- in HK, it would’ve been declared black rain, everything would have come to a standstill (school would’ve been cancelled for sure.) In London, buses would’ve been gridlocked, tubes with massive delays. In NZ, everyone just deals with it- normal life goes on.

Tomorrow, we’re heading in land to the Central Otago region- more wineries, woohoo! Next week we’re also planning to do another great walk- weather dependant. Sam’s counting down the minutes.

Where to start? We’ve absolutely LOVED being round here- it’s been nearly 2 weeks now and we’re only just beginning to think of leaving (with a little side trip to Golden Bay for a few days.)

I’ll start with the wine then (as Sauvy B drinkers we’ve definitely taken advantage.) As much as we liked the Hawkes Bay vino, Marlborough takes it to a whole new level- it’s SO good. We had another day cycling around vineyards, pretending that we knew what people were talking to us about (I don’t know how convinced they were of this though.) I’m not sure how wise it is to actively encourage people to cycle around main roads having had the equivalent of 4/5 glasses of wine, but NZ doesn’t seem to think it’s a problem, so who are we to argue with them?

One of the great things about having your own transport is having the freedom to make/change plans at a moments notice. We’ve done this alot- woken up and decided we felt like doing something different to what we’d intended. I’m starting to see why people in UK buy camper vans- I’d never really thought about it as a holiday alternative but I definitely would think seriously about it in the future- I’ve floated the idea of hiring a car in June when we’re in US and driving the coast to coast. We were planning on taking the AmTrac but now I think I’d prefer driving. Especially if it’s an automatic- why have I always driven manual, it’s so much harder!

Anyway, back to Marlborough. After overhearing some Kiwis in a restaurant, we decided to visit Mapua Wharf and Rabbit Island, which was BEAUTIFUL. So quiet and just the most gorgeous beach with crystal clear water.

We’ve done a fair few hikes as well (in preparation for our big 5 dayer, which we’ve just finished today.) I think it might be time to leave the hiking boots off for a week or so (I can hear Sam cheering from here) and maybe do some more kayaking- hopefully we’ll see some of these elusive dolphins- I don’t get why we seem to be the only people in NZ who don’t see them?!

One thing to note: We’ve finally had some of the famous NZ fish and chips- AMAZING! Totally worth the wait.

So, after Golden Bay we’re going to head down the west coast, but as yet neither of us has any idea about what’s there, apart from some big glaciers. I’ve been frantically trying to sort out Xmas and NY in Fiji- it’s peak season there then and everything’s filling up fast in the Yasawa Islands. Oh yeah, and I also need to start thinking about applying to schools IF I decide it’s what I want to do next year. The only problem is, I’m going to have to apply to schools in so many places to keep all our options open. Yawn. I can think of other things I’d rather be doing, like this:

Admittedly it wasn’t very hard.

On Sunday we left Wellington (and the god awful car park campsite) and took the 3 hour ferry to Picton at the top of the South Island. Everyone told us it would be way more scenic down here and we thought “hhm, really? The north’s pretty great.” But so far, they were right. Everywhere we drive, every corner we turn around, we’re amazed by how beautiful the views are- including the ferry. Words can’t really do it all justice, so here’s some pretty photos instead;

10 points if you can spot the dolphin

We’d heard about a really great hiking trail called the Queen Charlotte Track, so we decided to do a bit of that. SO PRETTY. The next day, we climbed, for what seemed like forever, to a lookout. Again, SO PRETTY. In Asia we got temple fatigue- I wonder if we’ll get amazing view fatigue here? Because surely it can’t keep getting better and better?

We’re spending a few days near Nelson, around the Marlborough Sounds, in preparation for our first 5 day trail on Monday (I’m really excited, Sam is less so,) We’ll be doing the Abel Tasman Trail, which is one of the great walks in NZ- 5 days, 4 nights and loads of mosquito bites, yippee! So we thought we’d take some time out and relax for a while (because we haven’t been relaxing for the last 3 months at all.) It just so happens that this is a great wine area- this had absolutely nothing to do with the decision to base ourselves here. Nothing at all.  There’s  a beach nearby, loads of lovely restaurants and most importantly, SUN!

Happy Weekend everyone!