On December 18th, 2006 we made it to the South Island. When the ferry docked, we drove to the northern tip of the South Island to a gorgeous campground called Golden Bay. Whitney had been dieing to go to the beach for about 4 ½ months, so we agreed to go "look" at the water for family night. Of course this consisted of every taking off their shoes, rolling up their pants and then getting drenched. The children required full warm showers that night, but we loved it! We spent the full next day on our own private, gorgeous beach. For Christmas the campground expected 900 people, but being the week before we had it mostly to ourselves. Turns out, Christmas holiday in NZ like Memorial Day or the 4th of July in the States. Everyone camps, B-B-Qs and spends the day on the beach.
A couple days later we defied the weather and went through with our plans despite the rain. We took a hike to see a great view of the Farewell Spit (on a map this is the long skinny peninsula at the northern most tip of the south island) and another hike to a Whakariki beach were a seal colony lives. These are sights marked on maps, so you might expect paved trails, with tour guides and entrance fees. Instead there was a small sign with occasional arrows leading you through farmer's sheep pastures and over fences on stiles. We hiked over steep rolling hills among the sheep (and a lot of sheep droppings.) Our reward on the other end was always remarkable. We saw some wild seals body surfing on the waves and sitting majestically on rocks. It just rained and rained the whole hike, but of course it stopped about the time we got back to the car. We didn't mind, however. We changed out of our wet things, had some hot chocolate and watched a movie in our trailer.
Not everyday day was a beach or exploring day. In the past we have taken a vacation for a week or a week and a half if we were lucky. You can, with some effort put your life on hold for this amount of time and then play catch up when you get back. Being on an extended tour is different, because you have to incorporate everyday life into it. We made time for laundry, and cooking, dishes, shopping and finances. It makes for a slower pace, and that’s just what we wanted!
A couple days later we defied the weather and went through with our plans despite the rain. We took a hike to see a great view of the Farewell Spit (on a map this is the long skinny peninsula at the northern most tip of the south island) and another hike to a Whakariki beach were a seal colony lives. These are sights marked on maps, so you might expect paved trails, with tour guides and entrance fees. Instead there was a small sign with occasional arrows leading you through farmer's sheep pastures and over fences on stiles. We hiked over steep rolling hills among the sheep (and a lot of sheep droppings.) Our reward on the other end was always remarkable. We saw some wild seals body surfing on the waves and sitting majestically on rocks. It just rained and rained the whole hike, but of course it stopped about the time we got back to the car. We didn't mind, however. We changed out of our wet things, had some hot chocolate and watched a movie in our trailer.
Not everyday day was a beach or exploring day. In the past we have taken a vacation for a week or a week and a half if we were lucky. You can, with some effort put your life on hold for this amount of time and then play catch up when you get back. Being on an extended tour is different, because you have to incorporate everyday life into it. We made time for laundry, and cooking, dishes, shopping and finances. It makes for a slower pace, and that’s just what we wanted!
"Looking" at the water
Our "private" beach
You can (kind of) see Farewell Spit in the background.To see a map of the places we traveled so far in this series, click on this link: <http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&ie=UTF8&ll=-40.359103,172.875366&spn=8.067848,12.128906&z=6&msid=116765397961150020384.000451b63510a46db34d4>
1 comment:
Well written. I can imagine the rain and feel the place from your words.
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