Blenheim ; Picton ; Kaiteriteri ; Nelson ; Eel feeding at Takaka ; Abel Tasman National Park ; back to Picton for the ferry

(Posted from “The Straitsman” ferry, nearing Wellington, NZ)

(This post covers 15 - 17 March, 2013)

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Sunday, 17 March -

For the first time in our trip we heard rain on the roof overnight. At first it seemed sporadic but as dawn came the intensity picked up. We had thought we might try another walk this morning but it was not to be... the rain was just too relentless.
After a leisurely breakfast we packed up and headed back out the long, winding road to civilization. The road didn’t seem nearly so bad, mostly because we had only one oncoming vehicle and that one in a wide spot.
At Takaka we paused only for gas and to set the GPS. I noticed that it’s 112K as the crow flies to Picton but when I tell the GPS to figure out the routing, it’s 212K.... because of the torturous turns in the route. We drove for an hour through the first hilly section (Tanaka Hill) but with traffic lighter than yesterday and very few trucks, it was easy enough.
We had lunch at a roadside park after Motueka and another hour or so put us at Nelson. I thought of looking for a museum or other rainy-day thing to do in Nelson but as we talked we decided we’d better head for Picton and figure out our ferry arrangements rather than tarry here.
The only pause we had was for an afternoon coffee break at Pelorus Bridge, where we had camped two nights ago. We had had a very nice walk through the old-growth forest here but today the walk would be a dreary one for anyone giving it a try. We had a chicken-and-camembert pie on the cafe’s little roofed patio and moved on.
In another hour and a half we made Picton, where we immediately checked on available sailings. We were in luck--- it was 1600 and we could take the 1900 crossing.
After buying our ticket we drove into Picton and walked around the town centre for an hour and picked up a few items from the grocery store.
We then returned to the ferry terminal and started reading up on the North Island and looking for a camp for the night.
At 1730 we got in line and boarded at 1830 for our 1900 departure in a very straightforward process. Our ferry, the “Straitsman”, has cafeteria-style food service and wi-fi service in the coffee shop.
As I write and post this, I’ve just finished a SPOT report and see we’re approaching the North Island.

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Saturday, 16 March -

After pack-up we continued into Nelson for re-provisioning. We only needed a few items so it didn’t take long. We then toured the town centre area to get a sense of the town but then had to move on.
Outside of Nelson we saw many vineyards and orchards and then those gave way to a forest industry. We see many completely denuded hillsides, many so impossibly steep it doesn’t seem possible they were logged. We also see rows of replanting and in one very odd case trees in perfect rows on a 60-degree-plus mountainside.
The land here is much greener than further south but that’s from the evergreen trees. Once you get away from the forested areas, the grasses and weeds are just as brown from lack of rain as the rest of the country.
After a brief stop for the i-Site and lunch in Moetuka, we drove to nearby Kaiteriteri for our first glance of golden beach. We were surprised to find a large parking lot and many cars until we learned Kaiteriteri is the southern departure point for water taxis taking people up along the coast for the Abel Tasman National Park’s beach walk. It’s also a departure point for kayakers. Also, right there is a magnificent mile-long beach curving gracefully around.
After Kaiteriteri we retreated to the main road toward Takaka and the other side of Abel Tasman park, i.e., the northern entrance.
As we neared Takaka, we took a detour to the Anatoki River and a nature park which has eels. This is one of New Zealand’s time-honored tourist draws. The eels live wild in the Anatoki River but in 1914 a local girl began feeding them. She learned she could attract them by snapping her finger against the water’s surface and that they preferred to eat ‘mince’ (finely ground beef) and blancmange, a type of pudding.
Today, the small farm is a petting zoo with this side attraction of feeding eels. We toured the zoo, feeding the emu, llama, goats, pigs, red deer, chickens, sheep, cows, donkey, and horse. Then we were given a small cup of bright-red mince and a 18” stick. We walked along the river to the designated point and indeed saw a few eels along the bank. We’d put a small ball of mince on the stick and put it at the water’s surface just in front of the eel. After we fed one of the larger ones (about four feet long) a few times, the others started crowding in for their share. We were there alone and had plenty of time to take photos of the eels.
We then made our way back to Takaka and on to Abel Tasman National Park’s Totararanui campground at the north end of the park. The last part of the trip is via 10 kilometers of very narrow and twisty gravel road. I found the best thing to do was slow down to ten miles per hour and keep a close lookout for oncoming traffic around each turn. In many places the road edge had been washed out by a big storm earlier this year so only one vehicle could go through at a time. But at such a slow speed, it wasn’t a problem, just a bit nerve-wracking. Not a good time to think about failing brakes or a jammed accelerator pedal!
At the campground we found a nice spot off to ourselves and while Labashi made supper I took a quick look around. After supper we walked three miles of gold-colored beach, all perfectly flat and the edges washed by blue water.


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Friday, 15 March -

We were so close to the beach overnight that the surf was making quite a racket but I didn’t hear a thing.
Another fine day today, sunny and 80 degrees, a few gusts of wind here and there as we drive through the hills but otherwise very light breezes.
Our first stop today was Blenheim. We bee-lined to the i-Site for info and then took care of regular chores at the dump station before finding the library for a wi-fi connection.
For once wi-fi was free and we spent more than two and a half hours using it to catch up the blog, check the answering machine at home and send photos to friends and family.
At 1400 we headed north to Picton, where we’ll catch the Cook Strait ferry next week. We were quoted a cost of 255NZD for the van and us to make the three and a half hour crossing. We also wanted to see exactly where the loading process takes place and I’m very glad we did. The Inter-Islander ferry has its offices and the terminal for walk-ons in a completely different area than the line for vehicles. We happened to come in on the vehicle-loading side and couldn’t find the terminal. In looking for it we nearly got trapped in the vehicle-loading lane without a ticket. I’m sure we would have figured it out if that had happened the morning of our sailing but we don’t need the extra hassle when time is a factor.
The other thing we learned from the ticket agents was where we can stay in the van both on the Picton end (the night before sailing) and the Wellington end (on the North Island). There’s a lot on the Wellington end which costs 18NZD a day for parking but we will be within easy walking distance of downtown and it’s close to the ferry terminal.
After our Picton visit we turned west toward Nelson. We had information about a nice campground about an hour that direction so made that our goal for today.
The road from Picton west is, depending on your mood and tolerance for winding roads, either delightful or horrible..... and perhaps a bit of both. The views are certainly the former and it’s not steep, just filled with an incredible number of turns. The speed limit is 50 kph or 30 miles per hour but that can seldom be achieved. I could mostly do about 20 with a remarkable number of ten-mile-per hour blind turns. In many turns, the road is just barely wide enough for two vehicles to pass but if the other vehicle is a bus or larger RV, it’s very, very close.
The good news, of course, is that it’s so obviously hazardous that everyone seems to drive sensibly, slowing down almost to a stop on the blind turns and, where the road permits, swinging a bit wide to allow the other guy the maximum room to swing a big vehicle through.
After an hour we came to Pelorus Bridge campground, a DOC site. This one is a bit fancier in that it has showers and a cafe but it’s also $12 per person per night. It has good reviews, though, and we see this part of the country doesn’t have the free campgrounds we found elsewhere.
When we checked in at the cafe/campground office Labashi noticed a wild-pork/kumara/apple pie among the offerings in the food display case. Kumara is sweet-potato so that combination seemed like it might be okay. It was served warm and was really good. The pork was fork-tender and made up most of the pie. It had a full crust but only a light topping of kumara paste with small slices of sweet apple. Good stuff!
After we found our camping spot along the river we walked the Tawa path and then back to the first waterfall. The waterfall was like none we’ve ever seen. The cliff is covered with moss and ferns. The water trickles down the moss and falls in hundreds of tiny little streams. Nice!
We returned to the van from our trail walk and then walked along the rocky river bed a bit. Labashi has this desire to see a wild eel so she put out a bit of raw meat to entice one close enough to see. Unfortunately, the sandflies found us and made it impossible to stay out to watch the bait.
We returned to the van and our laptops.


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