Four Seasons in One Day

I think the thing I like best about the New Zealand bush is the smell: the dampness, the denseness, the silence. If you stand there in the bush and breathe really deeply, the smell of the decomposing leaves and the Punga trees will over power all the other smells, and I almost feel like it could be another time entirely.  A time where the world was a totally different place, where dinosaurs roamed the earth, and the internet had not yet been invented. This is how I felt walking up the well worn path, from a parking space on the side of State Highway 1, going north from Kiakoura. The only signs of people were the little bridge and the Department of Conservation (DOC) signs along the track.
10 minutes after stepping in to the Jurassic Park like surroundings, we approached a waterfall; in the pond at the bottom of this fern covered natural wonder, were half a dozen seal pups frolicking in the icy cold water. The DOC sign informed us that the baby seals played here while their mothers were out at sea collecting food. So I guess this was a marine version of a playgroup.  We walked down the path, crossed the road and sat on the rocks to watch the larger mammals at work. Seeing these animals in their natural habitat was amazing, the fact that it was next to the longest state highway in the country, was nothing short of a miracle.

We got this tip thanks to our pintsize friend Libby who we met over our flat whites that morning. She was sweeping the cafe next to our hotel dressed in purple pyjamas and mismatched pink socks, this was the same attire that she wore when she crossed the street to buy some carrots .....  and no she did not put on any shoes. Libby often goes to see the seal pubs on the way back from the swimming pools..... this is of course if she doesn't fall asleep..Libby is four years old, has one medium sized brother, a larger sister and a dog called Ellie. Libby's mum owns the Pot Bellied Pig cafe in Kiakoura. Libby's mum suggested that we stop and check out the seal colony that lies about 20 minutes outside of town. Cheers Libby's mum choice tip.

Now correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure that a place that you go into to buy stuff is called a shop, like the "4 square" Libby's mums got her carrots from. Well here in the South it seems to be called a store. The first time I heard it was from our BFF Tania (see earlier entry) then from an assorted number of people from there onwards.Not that it really matters, I was just curious.... Anyway the next place we stopped at to top up on caffeine was a little shop/cafe called The Store. (see there it is again.... anyone else noticing a pattern) The spacious cafe with a massive selection of very naughty sweet treats almost made me want to run straight back to the Batmobile and high tail it out of there. We didn't and you wouldn't have either as soon as you looked out of the double glass doors that opened out on to the deck. We took a seat at an old round table which, had been rusted by the sea breezes that blew over the rugby field size verge of grass and wafted up to the cafe.

We gazed out on the ocean, sipped our coffees in silence and  guarded our treats from the various assortment of birds that were circling the table with one eye on our food and one on the competition.....until.... a jumbo sized bus of extra large people on a Lord of the Rings tour burst in to the roadside oasis and shattered the serenity. Holy tourists Batman, It's time to get out of here. After a quick costume change (i.e. goodbye jeans, hello shorts) We were on the road again, heading in the direction of Marlborough...  ahhhh wine country..... home to over 40 of NZ vineyards including the makers of my favourite drop.... Grove Mill......After a sweaty and slightly irritating tiki tour,* we arrived at Grove Mill's short gravel driveway, we drove up to the main building and........ you guessed it closed for the weekend.... Not cool guys, not cool.

We decided to cut our losses and kept heading north towards Nelson. We drove into Havlock and along the side of the road we saw the beautiful Queen Charlotte Sound. On a whim we decided to stop for a bit of a picnic. I say a bit of a picnic as the wind had really picked up and it was no longer really "outside weather". Whilst eating our fabulous sandwiches we consulted our trusty campers guide and found that there was a lovely seaside site just 20 minutes up the road.  We quickly polished off our sammys and headed off in search of the beach (in the hope that the weather would remain consistent and change again). The camping ground was quite empty and low and behold the weather did change again and we settled down on the grass to enjoy the late afternoon sun. Paradise! However, as dusk approached so did the mundane task of moving everything around from a seating to bedding area. Not quite tears before bedtime but the axe had well and truly fallen on camping. One chapter closed and another was about to begin...

*Kiwi for driving around. Sometimes with no particular goal in mind. Otherwise known as the long way (favoured by taxi drivers worldwide)