Maggie The Road Maggot: March 2009

25 February 2009
Went into Alexandra to fill up at the Truckstop, as we have discovered that with the RD Petroleum card, BP Truckstops offer us the best discount. Also did the shopping and organised some other bits and pieces since we are going to be away about 26 days. Filled up with 72L (259719).
Left Clyde at 14:29, 20⁰C, partly cloudy. The kilometres we have done since end of last trip were to organise: 1) gas heating, 2) organising the signwriting and getting that done, 3) getting our Self Containment Certificate and lastly giving Maggie a full service and having the bearing on the alternator pulley replaced to finally fix the knocking at idle problem. Oh, and we are now NZMCA members (no. 36264) but refuse to drive along with our wings displayed, as we are just not into that side of the organisation!

Stopped in Omarama to put petrol in jetski (which Chris has kindly “loaned” to us while he’s overseas – thanks Chris!). Slower trip over the Lindis Pass this time, but not due to jetski as we have already towed that over the Pass – due only to the fact that we are full of food, water, diesel and liquid refreshments! All set up at our “usual” spot below Ohau C at 17:10. Sat and chilled, had Chinese Honey chicken drums and home grown new spuds for tea, bed at 21:18 as we are both quite tired.

26 February 2009
Up at 06:50 (what do you expect after such an early night!) after really good night’s sleep. 11⁰C, cloudy. Took dogs for nearly hour walk and now 9:16 and off to launch the jetski round the other side of the canal.
We went for a nearly 2 hour jetski down Lake Benmore, stopping to check out the film set for “’Til Kingdom Come”, then off down the Lake even further ‘til we got to the island where we picnicked and read the paper when we first had the boat. Got back, spoke to Bob and Joy Mason (Bob works with Mike and comes over here heaps – he actually put us onto this place) and had a yummy bacon and salad buttie for lunch. Mike went off for another blat on the ski while I did some housekeeping stuff. Now 14:54 (259904 kms) and moving a little further north as the weather loo

ks like it’s going to pack up. Arrived Lake Opuha and all set up at 17:11. Walked round to check out area, started to really rain at about 18:30. Gas heating working superbly though, so toasty warm inside! Ok, it’s not freezing cold outside (13⁰C) but with southerly blowing it’s a bit nippy, so we are really appreciating being warmer than ever. The gas heating is on thermostat and seems to provide much warmer and definitely faster heating than the old 2kW electric one we used – and there’s the added bonus of not having to go outside in the rain to start up the gennie. Bed at 21:50

27 February 2009
260044 kms. Up at 07:30, 11⁰C with very, very low cloud after drizzle and rain pretty much all night, but now not raining. 08:56, moving, after breakfast of muesli and yoghurt. 260135kms filled up with 60.03L at Mayfield Caltex Fuelstop at 11:35. We earlier stopped in Geraldine to get some groceries, and also to check out the weather forecast – horrible everywhere for next 2-3 days! Oh, and we bought some Camembert and some Maasdam cheese from the Cheese Shop in Geraldine. Had lunch at Bowler’s Stream of ham and salad sandwich and mushroom soup. Low cloud everywhere but it almost tried to clear and we almost (not quite though!) had sun coming through while we ate lunch. Left lunch stop at 12:44.

And then we got to the exciting bit – at 14:09 we hit new territory! Last time we turned to go to Rangiora at Waddington, this time straight on – to

Arthur’s Pass and beyond. The drive through to Arthur’s Pass was cool – some terrific climbing, awesome views and the incredibly weird rock formations at Castle Hill. But the drive through the Otira Gorge, down across the viaduct was a real

experience. Very steep – 2nd gear all way down and still occasionally having to touch the brakes. The whole thing is an amazing feat of engineering and we marvelled our way down! We stopped at Otira Hotel for a beer – only one, ‘cause what a dump. Left there at 17:25 on way to Lake Brunner, which is only another 40 minutes on. Spent ages in Moana trying to find the way to what we thought looked like a cool camp site, across the Arnold River, but gave up in the end because it was getting too late, so at 18:55 we parked up for the night at Lake Brunner Country

Motels and Campervan Park. They gave us access to the tent site area, so all on our own and a fenced paddock for dogs to run in. Big day, many hours driving, but an experience. We had dumped grey and toilet in Methven, but couldn’t find water, so left without filling as the NZMCA travel guide said there was stops on the way with water. Well, we couldn’t find two of these stops, and the other 2 had no w

ater, but finally, and thankfully as we were starting to despair, we found water at the Avalanche Creek Shelter in Arthur’s Pass Village (as stated in the Travel Guide) and filled up.

Up at 07:30, muesli for breakfast and then made use of the camp facilities and had showers etc. Nice to not have to turn off water between wetting and rinsing, and nice to be able to use shampoo and conditioner! Left camp at 10:03 and checked out the spot we had seen from acros

s the other side of the Arnold River, called Beechwater – it’s a new subdivision and no way of actu

ally getting down to water in Maggie. Took dogs for a walk across the footbridge back to Moana, and checked out the boat ramp, but thought it too steep to try. Walked back, had ham sandwich and left at 11:25, heading in direction of Stillwater. Stopped along the way to check out Arnold River Power Station (tin-box little thing, built in 1932 though, and still going strong!) and walked the scenic walk to the weir and intake. A bit of a climb, but well worth it as the views were really good. As we were walking it started to rain, and by the time we were ready to leave (12:55) it was raining quite heavily, but not at all cold – around 19⁰C. Turned right at Stillwater,and then right again at Ngahere, as we’ve decide

d to go and check out a couple of parks at Haupiri. Got to the last possible one at 13:55, had ham and cheese sandwich and soup. Rained heavily, but now easing. We also carried on down the road a bit further (the whole road is no exit) to Kopara Village – to discover the whole village is up for sale,

so we thought we’d have a look. The real-estate sign made it sound quite appealing, but the picture of the village tells a different story! What a joke. It's a derelict "wild-west" town, almost everything is falling down and not at all what the sign indicates! Rain actually stopped, so Mike lay in bed and read, while Marielle went for a fish, but wind got up too much, so now Mike’s still reading and I am typing the blog! 21⁰C! Had left over green curry for tea – outside! Beautiful mild evening, and had dinner by candle light – citronella candle, that is, as the black bitey things are a bit thick. Bed at 21:30.

1 March 2009
260506 kms. Up at 8:09, after somewhat restless night as it blew quite a bit, and rained off and on. Now 15.5⁰C and pouring. It was still warm all night - 17⁰C at 01:30. Now 10:15, had breakfast of muesli and yoghurt and went back to bed for a while hoping rain would ease – no such luck – absolutely pouring on and off. Temp now 14⁰. 10:39 – motor running, waiting for aircon to clear misty windows and then we’re going north!

260593 kms – at Reefton 12:05 to fill up at Mobil with 64.2L. Also did some shopping and water, not raining just drizzling. Stopped for lunch just past Inangahua, after checking out the Earthquake Museum. Then on to find one of the promising looking campsites.
17:36 – St Arnaud. What a disappointment this afternoon has been. The possible sites the Travel Guide talks about are, to put it bluntly, mostly crap. One that wasn’t listed and looked really good from the road was not accessible due to the heavy rain over last few days and big bog holes at bottom of track. Otherwise it would have been perfect – right beside the Buller River and room for us and dogs aplenty. The one at Owen River is in a carpark, miles away from the River, and then we went all the way down the Howard Valley Road to what was described a

s Louis Creek Camping Spot. Sounded good, but wasn’t – a hole. No access to creek that we could see, and just a dump. So, on to St Arnaud. Checked out Kerr bay – beautiful spot, perfect boatramp – no jetski’s allowed on lake and no dogs anywhere! So back to West Bay – no dogs allowed either, but now no choice, so parked up out of way, and have dogs tied to running line tied to jetski and tree if they want to go out. Ok, it is a kiwi area, so we’re doing the right thing by not letting them run. Oh, and the sandflies are wicked here – worse than anywhere down south. So we are not going to park here for a couple of days, like we’d been planning, tomorrow, further north towards Nelson. Oh, and it has rained pretty much all day, but now at least dry. At 21:00, knock on the door – DOC Warden, to collect fees for the night - $20. So after we’d counted up all our change, we moved to a powered site – if we have to pay that much, might as well use the facilities. Raining again. Bed at 22:30, after a tea of cheese on toast (had cheese and crackers earlier, and we are so over this place that we just wanted to get to bed so we can move on early tomorrow.). And so over this place, we even forgot to take a photo of our overnight spot!

2 March 2009
Good night’s sleep, up at 07:10 and guess what – it’s raining. Had showers (used Doc’s facilities – and not very good showers as there is plenty of cold water pressure, but no hot to speak of, so a bit of a dribble!). Dogs not understanding why they can’t run! 260768kms 10:25, just had breakfast beside Wai-iti River – lovely big rest area – and it’s WARM and SUNNY! Ye

ah!! Stopped in Wakefield for some supplies – what a lovely little village. Then on towards Motueka over the Takaka Hill – which was more of an experience than the Otira Gorge – very windy and steep and a hell of a climb, followed by one hell of a descent – and we were overtaken by a push bike on the way down! Ended up taken slightly wrong turn and going inland –

not what we had in mind, but then again, we found this gorgeous little cottage called Somerset Farm Cottage – restored by locals and really worth the “wrong turn”. Then spent rest of afternoon looking for somewhere to park – went past Pohara Beach looking for Tarakohe – decided when we got to Wainui Bay that we’d gone past it, so stopped to have sandwich. Beautiful sea views and warm and sunny still, so we’re happier than we’ve been for days. Back towards Pohara we found Tarakohe – on the wharf, so definitely not what

we had in mind. Checked out Pohara Beach Holiday Park – no animals. God, is there any place round here where you have some freedom? No dogs, no jetski’s, no freedom, no fun – give us the lower half of the South Island any day – oh, and the West Coast! 15:11 – at Waitapu River Bridge in a lovely big rest area, away from road enough not to have to worry about dogs, right beside river. 26 degrees, so now thoroughly enjoying just relaxing (both of us over driving!) and sitting in sun. Roxie happy because she’s able to run to her heart’s content! Had steak and salad for tea –yum. And hit pit at 21:45. 260997 kms.

3 March 2009
Up at 7:15, cool morning but clear skies – 10C, forecast for beautiful day. 9:32 Goin

g into Takaka to do some washing, dump and fill, then on to find a beach! 17.5⁰C and climbing! 10:53 All chores done and rolling to find spot. 11:40 Golden Bay Holiday Park – right beside beach but in spot sheltered from decent sea breeze. 261024kms. Walked do

gs along beach – coolish sea breeze but ok for T-shirt and shorts – for a while, then sat and relaxed, with both of us reading a book. Walked dogs again later on and then chilled some more – much needed after a couple of “driving and driving rain” day

s! So good to not be driving! We had discovered later on yesterday (too late to do anything much about it!) that the carpet by the door was saturated (any bloody wonder – 4 mammals getting on and pissing down all the time!), so dried it, plus the underlay out, this afternoon. Also hung out the washing we had done earlier between 2 trees on our little washing line – handy thing!. Sat and relaxed outside until it got too cold, then had Chicken korma for tea, bet at 21:45.

4 March 2009

Up at 07:00, 9⁰C but sun coming up. This is a cool spot, but we really, really want to go somewhere where we aren’t at all restricted by ANY rules, so at 08:15 we filled up with water and heading out towards Collingwood to see what we can find. 09:30 At Puponga and having breakfast. This pla

ce, plus couple of others mentioned in book along the way, are not doing it for us. Had bacon and eggs for breakfast, but decided against staying here, mainly because outlook of mudflats at low tide is just not what we had in mind. So at 10:21 we left and heading down what looks like dirt roads to Patarau River. 11:33, at Patarau River – AWESOME spot. Absolutely beautiful – rugged, wild, isolated – exactly what we’ve been looking for – only taken us 7 days! The trip here was quite awesome too – through Kahurangi National Park through winding, sometimes narrow, steep dirt roads and past endless

mudflats – the Whanganui Inlet at low tide. Took dogs for a walk – just over an hour – along beach south then read and relaxed –

that’s what holidays are about! Cloud burnt off at around 13:00, lovely warm afternoon with gentle sea breeze to keep it comfortable. Played on beach some more later on – erected our own Patarau Taniwha, had drinkies, talked to a couple of lovely old ladies after Mike had offered to take their picture and then just as we were really relaxing, a couple of Ozzies pulled up in car, offered them a beer and wine (which they accepted) so talked to them for a while. Tea of steak and salad, bed at 22:37. 261101 kms.

5 March 2009
Up at 08:00 – cloudy, 13⁰C – front coming in. Took dogs for 2.10 hour walk along beach – awesome rock formations in places – and then talked to old dude who grazes sheep here and thanked him for opportunity to park here. Then headed indoors (yesterday Marie

lle sat outside to read) and curled up with books. Read on and off all afternoon, started drizzling when we got back from walk, but started raining at around 15:00 and it looks here to stay, as per forecast we heard yesterday morning. 20:24 – been raining, heavily at times, all afternoon – but we are toast warm (14⁰C out, 26.3 in!). And a first was achieved today – we have been away long enough to eat stuff out of the fridge enough to have room for alcohol – which is necessary as Collingwood (what a hole, by the way!) didn’t have any ice and beers getting warm – and plug in chilly bin good for keeping stuff cool, not getting it there! Mince omelette (yep, a new Mike creation!) for tea then bed at 22:30. And once in bed, it started to blow – and how! In the end (at 01:40) Marielle decided that, despite earplugs, she could handle the noise no more, and moved downstairs. A lot quieter as the wind was hitting the front of Maggie. JD not happy at all to have to share his sleeping space! And thank heaven we carry an extra blanket – not that it was cold, 18⁰C at 01:40!

6 March 2009
Up at 07:30 – gr

ey, grey, grey everywhere – sea, mist, sand, it felt like everything was grey. 18.7⁰C, so definitely not cold, just miserable. 08:10 – rolling, on to Collingwood to dump etc. 10:23 – had scallop pie for breakfast (we’d seen these advertised when we came through the other day, but weren’t warm!) - very delicious! Checked out Farewell Spit Tours and heard all about the “Gnome away from Home” weekend they run every year (this year will be the 3rd) in August – sounds like a hoot! Now on to Takaka to dump – couldn’t at Collingwood as bay a bit tight for Maggie plus ski. Raining! 11:21 – been to Pupu

Springs. The light was from completely the wrong angle to actually see into the springs (except for the mirrors, but it was a bit windy for them to give a true perspective) but still awesome – definitely on our list of things to come back to – only on a good day! Then off to go and see the Pupu Springs Private Power station (of course!) but almost became our biggest mistake. The road is dirt, and really should be noted as a dry weather road only. When we got to the first ford we thought “uh oh”, but it was ok. Trouble is, the 2nd one wasn’t – way too fast and deep for us. And the real problem was, this 2nd ford was at the end of a bit of very narrow road, and boggy all around, and no where to turn. So no choice but to back up – which is easy enough, normally, but not with a jet ski that you can’t see, round blind corners, and with the sides so boggy you can’t afford to miss the road! Poor Mike – what a prick of a place to have to back a trailer you can’t see. He did it though, all the way back to the driveway we’d seen (about 200m). So we thought, phew, made it – and went to turn around. Trouble is, driveway was up a fair bit, and the spare tyre on trailer kept bottoming out on the hump – ‘til we got to the stage where Maggie and trailer right across road, and no room left to move. So had to unhitch trailer (after putting rocks in front of wheels to stop it slamming into Maggie), turn Maggie around in a very tight spot, and the re-connect trailer. We did it, but what a mission! 12:11 Dumped in Takaka, didn’t fill because we’ve decided to head back over the Takaka Hill (7

91 metres above sea level) and we so do not need the extra weight on board to climb that hill! 14:30 – been shopping, now off to find water before we park up for the night (in Motueka). Found water in Ruby Bay, awesome spot but no dogs allowed. And no spots, according to Travel guide, in Nelson that aren’t Mitre 10 carpark type places (yuck!), so decided to head back a bit to Wakefield, and now parked at the Edward Baigent Memorial Reverse – really lovely spot, got here at 16:15. Talked to Karen and Gary (who have bus and dog) for a while, dogs all happily playing, then had steak, corn (fresh!) and home grown potatoes for tea before hitting pit at 21:35.

7 March 2009
Up at 07:20 – rained all night and everything very wet – inside of Maggie now really damp and muddy. Sun out though, so hopefully we can dry everything out. 9:18 – walked dogs th

rough here and Faulkner Bush Reserve which was really cool. They do have it sorted round here as far as walking dogs goes – you can pretty much take them anywhere, and they even provide “doggy doo” bags at various points. Beats signs saying “no dogs”! Now getting ready to move to some non-muddy ground for showers etc. 11:03: Showered, starte

d the cleaning/drying process! Beautiful day, 21⁰C, no clouds and full on sun. We parked in the Wakefield Village carpark to shower – tarseal all around so no mud and good for drying out a couple of dogs, who both fell asleep in the sun on the tarseal. Dropped jetski off at Pru’s place (thankfully, as we didn’t fancy towing it round Nelson!) and went into Nelson to have a look around and have some lunch. Nelson’s really busy but a really pretty town. Very glad we didn’t bring jetski in, as parking is at a premium. 13:40 Heading back to Pru’s, in Richmond. We are going to spend the night parked on her driveway, and spend the rest of the evening catching up. Had a great night – lots of memories and yarns – Marielle hit the pit at 22:00, Mike followed sometime (when?) later!

8 March 2009
Up at 07:20 and waited for the rest of the place to emerge. Had coffees and sat and talked some more before hitting the road. Now 11:30, doing some shopping and filling the diesel ta

nk (261382, 49L) and now heading off to Okiwi Bay. Nice day, sunny and a nice warm 23⁰C. Had (bad but yum!) Burger King for lunch. Arrived Okiwi Bay at 14:22. Beautiful spot but somewhat disappointing after the spectacular views on the way here. Very steep and twisty road – 22 kms of it. Just before we dropped down into the bay had magnificent views across the inlet, with golden sandy be

aches. Blue sea and lots of sun and thought “yeah, this is it”. Unfortunately, the beach that is accessible consists of rocks, so no good for launching the jetski – well, ok for launching but can’t actually beach it anywhere. Arggghhh!!! Walked dogs, came back to camp (oh, another drawback – absolutely no view from camp at all, even though Okiwi Bay Holiday Park is otherwise not a bad spot) and sat and enjoyed the warmth and sun. Tea of pork steak and coleslaw, bed at 22:00.

9 March 2009
Up at 06:15!!! We have seen more sunrises on this trip than I have in the last 5 years! 10⁰C, not a cloud in the sky so it promises to be another good day. 09:20 – walked dogs for an hou

r or so – stunning views from the hills but no photo’s as we forgot to take the camera. Had showers and breakfast and now getting ready to move. 9:48 – rolling. 11:37 – have walked around Havelock and the marina – gosh it’s huge now! Had sandwich on side of road and now moving a

gain. 15:00 261579 kms. Been round Queen Charlotte Drive looking for somewhere to park. Absolutely beautiful, but either “no dogs” or dogs ok but so many wasps it wasn’t funny. Tried a POP at Ngakuta Bay, but the lady who owns it is 99 years old, deaf and obviously having a sleep as we couldn’t raise her. Stunning spot, but she had a sign on one bit of the property saying no dogs – everyone we spoke to thought it would be fine, but we don’t like

just assuming so we carried on. Ended up parked at the DOC site at Rarangi Recreation Reserve, about 30kms from Blenheim. Walked to Monkey Bay which was quite cool, as the water comes through a hole in the cliff from the other side. Read, played cards as there is quite a chilly wind blowing and not really that nice out. Mike talked to DOC guy for a while, about the layout of this reserve and the wasps at Aussie Bay. Dinner of korma chicken, bet at 09:30 – tried to delay sleep time by reading, but no luck, it only lasted 10 minutes before we were both asleep!

10 March 2009
Up at 06:30, walked dogs along the beach – a very difficult walk because the soft sand and pea gravel made it hard going, had showers and breakfast. Now 16⁰C (13 when we got up), clouding over after beautiful sunrise – another one! Blowing hard every so now and then and forecast to get worse. Off to Blenheim where we intend to stay until Thursday.

11 March 2009

Spent the day with Dad. Anne, Rob and Shelly. Rob, Mike and I went to Canvastown looking for a place to fish, drove down to

Pinedale Motor Camp which is pretty much non-existent as there is no way you can get a motorhome down to the camp site because it’s so overgrown. No access to any fishing spots, so back to Wairua River and Rob tried his luck there. Several squalls came through, dropping temperature drastically. When we got back to Blenheim they had had hail. Spent rest of afternoon talking and eating Anne’s fabulous food.

12 March 2009
261735 kms. 8:59 off finding the Blenheim Truckstop. Cold this morning, 4⁰C when we got up at about 06:30 to say goodbye to Rob and Shelly. Filled at 261739 with 49.1L (7.27 kms/L) and also filled gas bottle – have used 3.2 kgs in 15 days for heating, water and cooking – not bad as that’s about 20cents a da

y. 9:54 – have done all chores and now heading west. Got to Murchison around 12:30-ish, not exactly sure of the time as we are still in shock – a great big rock hit the windscreen right in Mike’s line of sight – it was like a shotgun going off in the cab and gave us both a huge fright – not to mention JD! We now have several circles in the windscreen – right in front of Mike’s face. If we didn’t have laminated windscreens things would be a bit dif

ferent now, as we were doing 90 in one direction and the truck from which the rock came doing who knows what in the other direction. Went to Murchison Panel and Paint where Craig told us it would be fine and would last ‘til we got home. He suggested we could try to see if we could get it fixed in Greymouth. After the shock, we decided we’d done enough driving for one day and parked up in the Murchison POP – our first experience of a POP, and probably our last, seeing as it just doesn’t spin our wheels. Handy yes, sociable and nice, no. We had stuck our "wings" in the windscreen with bluetack, but obviously not clear enough as another couple decided they had to investigate us at close quarters, to make sure we are actually members. That's ok, but it was so sneaky - why couldn't they just have knocked o

n the door and asked us? That would have been a lot more friendly than sneaking around! The POP did have a warning sign lying in the ditch, which perfectly descr

ibed our predicament!! Anyway, we set our washing going at the local launderette and decided that we definitely needed to have a couple of beers at the locals’ pub – the Hampden. And what a rip off the local launderette is - $6 in the dryer for 3 times, and our washing still very damp! So took it back to the camp site and hung it up along the fence to finish drying it, plus some inside Maggie! Had not such a good night – the stress of the last couple of days plus the rock just didn’t make for a nice night. 13 vans in POP and at 19:15 we are still getting over the shock of our very close call. 13.7⁰C out, 22 in – gas heating on. 261909 kms.

Friday 13 March 2009
9:27 have had showers etc. and heading off to the West Coast. 12:01 Just had lunch at Charleston – left overs from last night (chicken and Murchison bacon pasta) and now heading south. 13:49, in Greymouth. Found Smith and Smith, no windscreen in stock. But they did have a step

and some wire, ‘cause Marielle had locked all the doors and Mike hadn’t taken the keys – lucky his w

indow was open enough to allow him to get the wire in and pull keys out. Couldn’t have happened at better spot, and a definite lesson for the future – imagine if that had happened in the middle of no-where somewhere! 14:20 at Cobden, Ocean Beach. 19⁰C, sunny and light high cloud. Relaxed – Mike read and Marielle sat on beach watching surf and playing with dogs. Popular spot – cars in and out all afternoon but all gone by nightfall – except the odd boy racer! Beef stirfry for tea and bed at 20:30 – both still tired after last couple of days!

14 March 2009
Up at 07:15! Good night’s sleep apart from one boy racer waking us up, and anoth

er car pulling up at around 1am – 2 people still sleeping in it now! Grey and overcast but 15⁰C. 262111 kms and 9:15 off to Greymouth after showers etc to do some chores. 10:45 All chores done, heading to Hokitika to fill at Truckstop there – 60L 262160kms. 12:22 Just stopped at Rimu – decided to detour off main highway and we are very glad we did. Very pretty area, with Lake Kaniere – which neither of us had ever heard of. We carried on past Hans Ba

y and ended up on yet another windy, narrow road and were getting a little concerned as we were leaving the lake behind when we came across Dorothy Creek Falls which were very pretty, and also gave us a place to turn. Had spotted a possible cam

ping spot further back, so backtracked to there – Rose Creek. A perfect spot formed by the digging out of rubble from an obviously mighty little Creek when it rains. And there are no “no camping” or “no dogs” signs here (there are everywhere else!) so parked up here at 13:23. Awesome spot, really beautiful – just one drawback – the sandflies! But our favourite spot up to now. Fished (nothing) and battled the sand flies and really relaxed. Pork steak and coleslaw for tea, bet at 22:05.

15 March 2009
Up at “normal” time – 07:21. Fished, hooked one perch and hoped that the sun would come out to warm things up so

that we could put jetski in at other bay. We really want to go for a ski, but too cold (13⁰C). So after waiting for a while, we are now on the move at 9:47. 13:29 Have driven to a couple of spots mentioned in the Travel Guide supposedly at the Wanganui River Mouth. Well, they don’t exist anymore as the river has washed them away, and just as well we asked someone before heading off down there – he had had to do a 15 point turn in his 4WD – let alone a 6m camper plus jetski! So on to Whataroa, which we liked so much last time. Unfortunately, the place is being used as a Tourist attraction, so full of people. So off down Whataroa Flat Road, then into Whataroa Gorg

e Road and there it was – the perfect spot. Ok, it is in a disused gravel pit, but right beside the river and just awesome. And, NO SANDFLIES! Sunny, light breeze and sea fog at the mouth to our west, but not worrying us. Started up the gennie just to recharge some things – mainly the house battery for the fridge, seeing as we haven’t driven far today. Marielle went fishing for a couple of hours and lost count of the number of fish she caught – all tiddlies though, but great fun nevertheless. Mike read and chilled. Oh, we do love the West Coast, especially in places like this. Chicken, bacon and pasta for tea and bed at 22:00. 262390kms.

16 March 2009
Up at 07:18, 7.5 C

and mist around the place but clear here. Stunning views of Mt Cook. 11:43 – rolling after a very relaxing morning. Did try and take dogs for a walk towards the mouth, but couldn’t as the river cuts off the bank. 12:29 Franz Josef. 14:43 – done washing, dump, fill, shopping and had the most expensive fish and chips ever for lunch – at the Landing. Ok, it’s a great spot, and we were really hungry and really fancied some fish – but $41 for 2x fish and chips and 2 x beer is fairly hefty on the price tag, to say the least. Oh well, we are on holiday! 15:39 At Bullock Creek, about 10 kms south of Fox Glacier. Wanted to park up at Clearwater Stream, but every man and his dog had

the same idea – about 10 vans there, and one lady had 3 labradors, so we decided we would keep moving. This spot is beside the road, but fortunately tucked down behind a little bank so still ok for dogs to run around. 262485kms. Heaps of vicious black bitey bastards around, and we are so over

them now. Sat outside doused in Bushman’s and tried to enjoy the sun - 34⁰C in the sun. Tea was last night’s leftovers – we weren’t hungry anyway because lunch was quite big! Walked up the Creek a bit with the dogs – quite amazing, as despite a reasonable flow of water, it disappears underground before the bridge so when you cross the bridge it looks like it’s dry. Obviously had massive rockfalls in the Creek just recently as the sides have been bulldozed back into shape! Did have company for a while – someone sighting in their rifle, which spooked Roxie no end as the shots echoed all around so she couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. Bed at around 22:15.

17 March 2009
Up at 07:00, rolling at 08:31. 10⁰C and sun about to hit the spot we were in, and it looks like it is going to be another glorious day. 10:22 had breakfast beside Paringa River and walked along the shores – beautiful clear water but no sign of fish. 16⁰C but feels way warmer in sun. 11:16 Haast. 12:20 Haast Beach 262612kms. Walked dogs – in bare feet, which made us realise later on just how

tough sand can be on feet! Read, enjoyed being back here again – apart from the hoards of really hungry sandflies! 22⁰C, sunny, light breeze – still our favourite spot of all time, despite the sandflies. We have decided that this trip’s saying has to be “GET OFF MY EAR” as poor old Mike has been plagued, everywhere we’ve been, by sandflies persistently having a go at his ears! Steak and sweetcorn for tea, bed at 21:40.

18 March 2009
Up at 07:36, 11⁰C and raining. So had showers and moved – picked up jetski which we’d left at Doc and Sue’s place (we knew it wouldn’t fit on the beach!). Today is 3 weeks since we left, and it looks like we’re heading home, because the rain is getting heavier and doesn’t look like clearing. Put some more diesel in the tank (29.96L, 262618kms). Got to Hawea and bought a paper to look at weather forecast – not good, so going home. Arrived home at 13:20, 262837kms, which makes 3118 for this trip. And we have decided that it was cool, especially Golden Bay and over the West Coast there at Patarau, but that really, we are more than happy to stick with anything south of the Waitaki Valley. It is all so much easier down here, and more fun. There are more places where we can go, dogs and all, they are generally easily got at, and there aren’t thousand’s of rules that are there simply to stop you having fun – or so we think! So we won’t be in too much of a hurry to travel far again – Ohau C, Poolburn, Queen’s Reach, Galloway and Haast suit us fine. We don’t actually need to travel too far at all, because we have everything we want, right on our doorstep. And we still have the whole rest of the lower South to explore. And the best thing about this whole trip? Putting in gas heating before we left! We used it almost every night, sometimes to dry the place out, sometimes because we needed it, and sometimes just because it felt good. The gas heating actually helped dry out condensation and really did make Maggie a very comfortable home away from home. And it is so much cheaper than using the gennie. And so much more convenient – no running outside in the pouring rain to protect the gennie and try and get some heat – just flick a switch and 5 minutes later you’re warm. Worth every cent and then some!

Maggie The Road Maggot

Poolburn, 21 to 23 March 2009

Top of the South, 25 Feb to 18 March 2009