Now for the next chapter in our New Zealand adventure! I was happily able to select winners for the Bearded Vet coasters, and I sent them off to the winners recently. If you are interested in scoring some sweet Norseman Creative merch or signed novel, check out the shop! I appreciate all your support, and hope you enjoy reading the post! Be sure to check out the Norseman Creative YouTube channel. I will post our New Zealand videos, other Quickstride & Shambler videos, and some marksmanship clips there.
After our ferry ride , Jenny and I meandered off the dock alongside mountain bikers, backpackers, a rowdy group of teenage athletes, and a bunch of camper vans. It was a short walk from the boat to the Picton ferry terminal, where our own camper van was waiting for us across the street.
Standing next to our rented camper van was a representative from the rental company, and he was delighted to see how light Jenny and I had packed for our trip. We only had two backpacks and one carry-on suitcase between the two of us, which the Kiwi found funny enough to comment on in his thick accent several times while he showed us the ins and outs of the vehicle that would be our ride and home for the next week. After a surprisingly quick walkthrough of our van, the Kiwi handed us the keys, wished us luck, and watched as we headed off to our first stop on the South Island.
We drove for about three hours to get to the short trail for Split Apple Rock, a rock that looks like a split apple because of lightning or erosion or giants or something, hence the name. During our three-hour drive, we observed that the South Island continued the North Island’s tradition of having more sheep and cattle than people. Throughout our time driving around the South Island it was not uncommon for us to drive for hours without seeing another car driving in either direction.
When we got to Split Apple Rock, we parked and quickly made our way down the trail to see our first natural landmark on this half of New Zealand. There isn’t much to say except that the rock was aptly named. We snapped a few photos and then high-tailed it back down the winding road we came on.
Our next stop, a shorter drive this time, was the Coastal Trail at Abel Tasman National Park, taking us to Tinline Bay. We parked our camper van in the large, gravel parking lot, cleaned up the rubbish from our road trip snacks, and made our way to the trailhead. There was a little restaurant that served brick oven pizza right next to the trailhead, but when we arrived the rather rude proprietor (the only rude Kiwi we ran into) informed us that they were closed and that we couldn’t use their rubbish bin. This was unfortunate because we planned to have our post-hike dinner there. Oh well.
The hike to Tinline Bay took us about an hour, and on the way we ran into our first weka. Weka are flightless birds about the size of a grouse (if you know what a grouse is). They are curious, and will often rifle through beachgoers’ bags searching for whatever it is flightless birds like to steal. Shiny things and food, I suppose. Our weka walked up to us, then led us down the trail for a bit before bebopping off into the forest.
Tinline Bay was nice. We snapped a few photos and walked around the beach, enjoying the early evening sun. There was a couple of other tourists on the beach, and they were out swimming while a weka rummaged through their bags. Jenny and I made our way back down the trail in an effort to hunt down dinner and hit one more stop before parking the van for the night.
After hiking back to our van, Jenny and I had two more hours of driving through the countryside, looking at mountains, sheep, cattle, and very few people. We eventually arrived at Kerr Bay in Nelson Lakes National Park, and watched the sun set over the picturesque, mountain-rimmed lake. We briefly considered camping at Kerr Bay over night, but it would have meant adding another hour to our morning drive, so we pressed on.
We finally parked our van at Maruia Falls campsite after a jam-packed day. Having only had a light breakfast, light lunch, and a light dinner, and gone on two hikes, I was pretty hungry. We hadn’t had a chance to resupply our provisions, so I had to settle for a Sackville Baggins Cider that I brought from Hobbiton as a bed-time snack. It was quite delicious, and I got my first restful night’s sleep next to a beautiful waterfall that we would explore in the morning.
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