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chrischarly


700 Blog Entries
6 Trips
5148 Photos
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Trips: Chris and Charly Down Under Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia Chris and Charly's Pacific Island Pit-Stop Chris and Charly's mini trip to The States Chris and Charly's African Adventure Chris and Charly's Indian Odyssey Shorthand link: http://blogabond.com/chrischarly

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And then the rain came down

Woodville, New Zealand

Red-sky-at-night-shepherds-delight...not

Woke up and left our free camp, drank some coffee, did a bit of driving and found a place we could secretly freedom camp alongside a River. Enjoyed the brief amount of sunshine there was by Chris going fishing and by me soaking up as much vitamin D as I possibly could before the rain hit.

written by

chrischarly on February 21, 2012 from Woodville, New Zealand

from the travel blog: Chris and Charly Down Under

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And onto the North Island

Wellington, New Zealand

The Bluebridge ferry

Waving goodbye to Picton

Drove the 10kms to Picton before going to the harbour for a shower, and then a coffee followed by checking in to the Ferry bound for Wellington.

Bye bye south island

Leaving the south

It was a huge Ferry with lots of comfy seats to relax in for the 3 hour journey which we soon camped out in before waving goodbye to the south Island. Had a great time there but now excited to see what the North Island is like in comparison.

First sighting of the north island

Almost there...

As soon as we arrived and finally drove off the Ferry, we exited Wellington and drove to the nearest free camp site outside of town driving down a gorgeous windy road.

written by

chrischarly on February 20, 2012 from Wellington, New Zealand

from the travel blog: Chris and Charly Down Under

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What a shitty day

Picton, New Zealand

A very pregnant cow

After such a gorgeous day yesterday we woke up with rain and lots of it. Hoping it would clear a bit we waited at the campsite sitting in the car but soon gave up and drove to Picton in search of a warm place to sit for a while supping on coffee. Then, after drinking way too much coffee (which we later regretted when trying to sleep later) we found a free place to camp up for the night just outside of Picton, not particularly great, but like I said, free, so we would be close to the Ferry for tomorrow.

written by

chrischarly on February 19, 2012 from Picton, New Zealand

from the travel blog: Chris and Charly Down Under

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Such a gorgeous free campsite

Robin Hood Bay, New Zealand

Where we camped up for the night

We decided to leave our campsite this morning so went to find Andy and Tracey to say goodbye before heading out of the sounds and towards Picton.

Nice view of the beach

We got our bearings in town in preparation for catching the Ferry on Monday, and refuelled, re-gassed and went food shopping.

View from our campsite

We then headed south to check out a couple of DoC sites, the first White’s Bay was packed full of people soaking up

the good weather and thus didn’t really appeal so we moved on along a very windy, steep, rough, gravel road to reach Robin Hood Bay. The bay looked amazing on our decent, and was free nice spot and Chris went sea “ing” before returning empty handed, blaming his lack of sea tackle. As usual, we had a yummy dinner then retired, looking forward to another sunny day tomorrow…

written by

chrischarly on February 18, 2012 from Robin Hood Bay, New Zealand

from the travel blog: Chris and Charly Down Under

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Lots of tasty seafood

Waimaru, New Zealand

Chris almost stranded on a rock

Another absolutely glorious day, which made the sounds look better than you can imagine. We packed up and went to Chris’s fishing beach which was all ours. Chris went off rock climbing and brought back a huge bag of mussels, before quickly grabbing his rod and heading off across the rocks again to try and catch some fish to go with our shellfish friends.

I got on my new swimsuit and headed to the clear blue water to cool off. He returned after nearly getting cut off by the rising tide, with only half a spotty (small fish), the other half used as bait in search of a monster snapper or blue cod. We decided to try and take the coastal route back, 1) to avoid the steep climb up the hill, and 2) to see if we could find anymore fishing spots.

Lots and lots of jellyfish

We had to be quick as the water level was rising and making the rocks harder to cross. Although it was a tough scramble, having to avoid lots of jellyfish we made it safely around then walked the length of the bay before returning to camp.

Stupid jellyfish

Upon return we stopped in on Andy and Tracey, who had also been fishing but the other way, and had managed to get a small bag of mussels, 2 blue cod and a handful of spotties. They were planning to cook up some chowder and crumb the blue cod. Chris suggested we both cook something and share our fare together.

We then returned back to the car and Chris tried his best to make something, with nothing. The result was an amazing Moroccan couscous salad with mussels and he also managed to make some damper bread with rosemary to complement the chowder. I don’t know how he does it! We had the chowder and bread to start, then blue cod with couscous for main. It was all delicious and Chris helped Andy knock bag a fair amount of his home made whiskey. All in all great day and night.

written by

chrischarly on February 17, 2012 from Waimaru, New Zealand

from the travel blog: Chris and Charly Down Under

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Mussels

Havelock, New Zealand

Tucking in to some mussels

We went to Havelock for lunch, which is supposed to be the Green Lip mussel capital of NZ. Chris was excited so we had a nice lunch of fresh local mussels, even though we both agree that we prefer the smaller black mussels that we get at home, and here.

A green lipped mussel

For some reason the Kiwis like the big ones?! After lunch we headed into the Marlborough Sounds and as the sun was shining, and sky blue, we enjoyed the amazing views all the way. The road was probably the windiest we have been on and my mussels kept repeating on me, making me feel rather ill by the end of it.

Chris and his spotties

We chose to go to the furthest DoC camp, Waimaru, to try and get away from the crowds, and we weren’t disappointed. The camp was in a lovely bay and only a short walk from the water. As usual Chris got chatting to some other campers, an English guy Andy, from Doncaster, and his kiwi better half Tracey. Andy advised Chris on a fishing spot and method, so he trotted off rod in hand and a few hours came back with two tiny fish, but fish nonetheless. When he returned we went over to see Andy and Tracey, and Chris had a few of Andy’s homemade whiskeys whilst we chatted about our travels. We then returned and Chris made some yummy Nasi Goreng (Fried Rice) with the little fish chucked in. We went to bed and opened the moon roof to see the amazing starlit sky. Another amazing paradise we have found in NZ.

written by

chrischarly on February 16, 2012 from Havelock, New Zealand

from the travel blog: Chris and Charly Down Under

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Waterfalls

Pelorus Bridge, New Zealand

Where Chris went for a dip

After getting ready to go for a nice shower, we realised we had left our towels in Motueka, oops! So back we headed 40 mins each way to collect them. After this unplanned detour we went to Pelorus Bridge campsite, which was lovely,

Where Chris went for a dip

and whilst more expensive than other DoC sites we have been to, it did have a great kitchen and hot showers. After setting up camp we went on a nice walk to see 2 waterfalls; challenging ourselves to get there in

½ the estimated time, which we surprised ourselves by succeeding over very rough terrain, up and down. He did beat me with his super-fast and long legs and I arrived to find him bathing in the small pool at the bottom of the falls, in his boxers! He exited freezing and quickly dressed so we could walk back to go rock hopping along the River, to try and fish. We then hungrily used the camp kitchen to cook up a nice healthy veggie curry.

written by

chrischarly on February 15, 2012 from Pelorus Bridge, New Zealand

from the travel blog: Chris and Charly Down Under

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Valentine's

Nelson, New Zealand

Chris rescuing the cat

We left Motueka to head for Nelson after Chris helped to rescue a cat stuck up a tree, as we were advised of a cheap camp nearby. We diverted through Richmond and had a lovely lunch, me – sushi, Chris – Chicken Laksa. We also bought supplies for a nice Valentine’s dinner. We found the camp, and although ok, the sites were pretty rubbish and the guy was pretty annoying. We finally found a nice spot after negotiating the fact that the one selected for us was pants and after chilling for a while Chris cooked up some amazing fillet steak (mine blue of course), with smashed cannelloni beans cooked in garlic and rosemary, flat mushrooms and a delicious salad. The sand-flies were pretty bad which of course they are most nights here in the south Island so we headed to bed early to escape them.

written by

chrischarly on February 14, 2012 from Nelson, New Zealand

from the travel blog: Chris and Charly Down Under

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The Labyrinth

Takaka, New Zealand

A hobbit-sized hole

Chris trying to squeeze through

After waking up and leaving the pub car-park that we camped in for the night we went for a walk in Takaka called ‘The Labyrinth’ with amazing rock formations that you walk around and around in getting lost a couple of times and with some tight squeezes to fit through. Then, with Chris feeling sorry for himself we headed back to our previous camp in Motueka, to chill, shower and then in the evening went for a yummy curry before early to bed to continue to sleep off any remaining alcohol.

written by

chrischarly on February 13, 2012 from Takaka, New Zealand

from the travel blog: Chris and Charly Down Under

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A stunningly beautiful beach and a cabaret...

Wharariki Beach, New Zealand

Wish we could've had a swim

A little info...

We went to Takaka and checked out the DoC info to find out the best stuff to do before going to ‘Pupu springs’, the largest in Australasia and one of the clearest in the world.

Beautifully clear water

Chris on the walkway

The water was amazingly clear and if only you were allowed to swim in it, but in fact you can’t even touch it. We then went to the Mussel Inn for a yummy lunch and beer before going to the most amazing beach up at the very North of the Island where Chris entertained us both by rolling down sandunes.

Chris collapsed at the bottom

First look at the beach

We walked about half way up the beach and we both ran straight for the water.

Almost low tide

Walking along the beach

Such an awesome beach

The water was cold but bearable and we splashed around for nearly an hour before spotting some big jellyfish which scared us off. We continued walking along the rest of the beach seeing a baby seal pup and some amazing views before looping back another route to the car.

Circus performers

Our friend, Neil

She is so tall it's intimidating

Swallowing a whole balloon!

We then raced back to the Mussel Inn to watch a cabaret; well I watched it, whilst Chris, as usual, found a couple of drinking buddies to drink the night away. And by the way, the cabaret/circus performers were awesome and Chris truly missed out especially when I recollected that there were in fact some very ‘raunchy’ acts on stage.

written by

chrischarly on February 12, 2012 from Wharariki Beach, New Zealand

from the travel blog: Chris and Charly Down Under

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