Loading...
Start a new Travel Blog! Blogabond Home Maps People Photos My Stuff

Chris and Charly Down Under

a travel blog by chrischarly

Bye bye tuk tuks
Bye bye negotiating
Bye bye, 'Hello Mister'
Bye bye long bus rides
Bye bye heavy backpacks
Bye bye savings...
And G'DAY 'down under'!

After plenty of time spent in South East Asia, we have just left Australia after having an amazing time driving around for almost 3 months in a camper and are now in New Zealand doing the same :)


view all 1130 photos for this trip

Show Oldest First
Show Newest First

Walk through The Cobb Valley

Cobb Valley, New Zealand


The river

Walking along the Cobb Valley

We woke to a partially cloudy morning, but along the valley seemed not too bad, so after a yummy trout brekkie we decided to head off to walk the valley, well at least some of the way.


Fast-flowing water

A little hut

It was really pretty and we made a pretty good pace, all in all walking around 12 kms in about 4.5 hours.


The river

The river

Chris tried for more fish but was not so successful. Instead we cooked some potatoes on the fire and had them with baked beans and franks. Then we went to bed and watched Little Rascals which is a terrible film, unless you are 5.

permalink written by  chrischarly on February 11, 2012 from Cobb Valley, New Zealand
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly Down Under
Send a Compliment

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

So pretty


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

He fell over


Hidden cave

First look at the beach

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


Almost low tide

High rocks


Walking along the beach

Beautiful


A seal pup

Such an awesome beach


The 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.


The caberet

Circus performers


Dunno his name

Our friend, Neil


She is so tall it's intimidating

The caberet


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.

permalink written by  chrischarly on February 12, 2012 from Wharariki Beach, New Zealand
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly Down Under
Send a Compliment

The Labyrinth

Takaka, New Zealand


A hobbit-sized hole

Chris trying to squeeze through


Having a rest
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.

permalink written by  chrischarly on February 13, 2012 from Takaka, New Zealand
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly Down Under
Send a Compliment

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.

permalink written by  chrischarly on February 14, 2012 from Nelson, New Zealand
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly Down Under
Send a Compliment

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

Chris fishing
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.

permalink written by  chrischarly on February 15, 2012 from Pelorus Bridge, New Zealand
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly Down Under
Send a Compliment

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.


Nice...

Nice...


Mussel farming

Nice views


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.

permalink written by  chrischarly on February 16, 2012 from Havelock, New Zealand
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly Down Under
Send a Compliment

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.

Gorgeous
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.

Rock climbing
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.

permalink written by  chrischarly on February 17, 2012 from Waimaru, New Zealand
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly Down Under
Send a Compliment

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

Sunset
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…

permalink written by  chrischarly on February 18, 2012 from Robin Hood Bay, New Zealand
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly Down Under
Send a Compliment

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.

permalink written by  chrischarly on February 19, 2012 from Picton, New Zealand
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly Down Under
Send a Compliment

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.

permalink written by  chrischarly on February 20, 2012 from Wellington, New Zealand
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly Down Under
Send a Compliment
Viewing 141 - 150 of 187 Entries
first | previous | next | last

View as Map View as Satellite Imagery View as Map with Satellite Imagery Show/Hide Info Labels Zoom Out Zoom In Zoom Out Zoom In
find city:
trip feed
 author feed
 trip kml
 author kml

   

Blogabond v2.40.58.80 © 2024 Expat Software Consulting Services about : press : rss : privacy