Final Days down South

You know you are in wine country when you travel along with vines planted on both sides of the road.  We were heading for Blenheim, where there are vineyards galore.  The vines have been pruned back hard for winter, waiting for the spring growth. 

Vines growing everywhere

Our stop for the next couple of nights was the Waterlea Racecourse.  Some of the grassy areas for parking had been roped off, but we found a suitable gravel site.  This CAP (charges apply parking) has water, dump station, and toilets available, but no rubbish bins.  

There we are, not far from the grand stand

The weather was a combination of rain, showers and occasional sunshine.  We took the opportunity to visit the local laundromat early one evening.  Our cunning plan was to take care of the laundry, then buy fish and chips from the shop next door for our dinner.  That worked well.

The next morning we drove out to Renwick, the home of Burleigh Gourmet Pies.  We discovered this bakery when we were down in December 2022, after reading about the famous Burleigh pies.  We bought one each for lunch, and some frozen ones to take home with us to enjoy later.

Who doesn't love a great pie!

Then it was back to where we started, Koromiko.  This camp has now been purchased by NZMCA after quite some time spent on negotiations.  New signage has been installed, and shortly the main road will be extended to add a turning bay into Freeths Road  in time for the summer traffic, we were told.  The weather was wet, with strong wing gusts shaking the caravan.  

The lasted NZMCA park

Just a few vans on site

The weather had been overcast over the last few days with little sunshine charging the batteries so Robin set the generator running for a couple of hours.

Generator time again

A storm came rolling in as the day wore on, and was fully fledged by night time.  We could swear that the thunder was right over head, and each noisy clap spooked Gemma.  She ran around the van looking for a hiding place, hunkering down on the carpet at the foot of the bed, with the overhanging duvet giving her the illusion of cover.  Lightening cracked around us, torrential rain came down, and the caravan was buffeted all night by strong wind gusts.  Dear oh dear, what would our sailing be like the following day, we wondered.

Luckily the storm had gone the next morning, just leaving the wind gusts behind.  Time for the final part of our journey, crossing Cook Strait.  We were hoping the return trip would not be too rough, after all that bad weather the previous day.

Boarding Blue Bridge again

Gemma stays in the caravan

We had a light lunch in the cafe as the trip got underway.  Gliding through the Marlborough Sounds, I went out on deck to take a photo or two.  This part of the journey is sheltered and usually nice and calm.

Marlborough Sounds

The remainder of the journey was surprisingly calm, hard to believe after the terrible weather the previous day.  A friendly Irishman (yes, we have traveled to Ireland, we told him)  saw my camera and asked if we would like a photo.  He and his wife were very impressed that we made such good use of our caravan and traveled far and wide around our beautiful country.  "You two are enjoying life and living the dream", he commented.

Two happy campers

Oh look, we are almost in Wellington.  Time to head down to the car deck and get ready.  Off we went, passing the Sky Stadium, known locally as the Cake Tin, and we got on to the motorway.

Sky Stadium

We decided to stop at Plimmerton NZMCA Park for the night, as it was getting dark, and we didn't want to arrive home and unload the van at night time.  A quick meal, and it was early to bed, it had been a big day and we were exhausted.  The next morning after  breakfast we hooked up for the final leg of the journey.

Our final night at Plimmerton

Driving up the Coast Road there was no sign of Kapiti Island, it was was out there somewhere but hidden away under the cloud.  All I could see was the rocky coastline as we drove along.

No sign of Kapiti Island

Home at last we unpacked the van, put the first load of washing on, and sat and relaxed over a late lunch.  Phew, it's good to be home again.  We had 10 days away this trip, and traveled 1110 kms.