#165 Nomad Diary. 16-22 December 2023. Drive Queenstown to Cardrona to Geraldine Airbnb. The Wrinkly Ram for Lunch. Lake Tekapo. Fairlie Bakehouse Salmon Pie. Christchurch to Cheviot Overnight. Highway 1 North to Kaikoura, Blenheim, and Wakamarina River and Valley 3 Night Farm Stay. Scenic Drive to Picton. Ferry to Wellington Airbnb.
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| Leaving Queenstown heading for Geraldine by way of a Detour on Crown Range Rd |
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| Seafood Chowder at The Wrinkly Rams. Yum! |
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| Fairlie Bakehouse Salmon and Bacon Pie Saturday. 16. Today we leave our Queenstown airbnb and drive to Geraldine for one overnight. Our drive takes us on an unexpected detour over a mountain leaving Queenstown in the direction of Waka. The day is sunny and dry and the views from the top of the mountain back toward Queenstown were spectacular! We stopped on the other side of the mountain for coffee at Cardrona Hotel. They have beautiful gardens with flowers in lush bloom. I got a small christmas tart which seemed to be a spiced raisin filling in a little pie. We drove through some places we had been earlier on our trip. Lunch was Seafood chowder at The Wrinkly Rams. We stopped for ice cream and pictures at Lake Tekapo. We stopped again in Fairlie to get Salmon Pies to reheat for dinner. We were ready to rest and eat dinner at our Geraldine airbnb. We visited a bit with our host Ricki and then relaxed for our evening. |
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| Inside Our Cheviot Apartment Sunday. 17. We drove from Geraldine 2 hours to Christchurch for 10 am Bible class and then worship where Darrell preached. There were the people that we have made friends with there: Chrissy and Grant, Marjo and Jan (from Prague). We met another member who is a Philipina woman and then a family of four just moved into town two weeks ago from India. They have not yet found work and are hopeful of their choice to move here. After we completed our time of study and worship, we went out to lunch with Chrissy and Grant. We visited for another hour and then we said our goodbyes with hugs. Darrell and I headed north to our stay at Cheviot. We had a one bedroom unit at a nicely done campground and motel compound. There were lovely flowers in bloom, a tree full of singing birds, a pool, and a playground. With the sun up until 10pm, we sat out on our deck playing cards and then fixed ourselves a dinner of vegetable soup. We slept very well. |
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| Water Birds |
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| End of the Road in Kaikoura is This Restaurant. We Ate Lunch Here. |
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| Sarah's Holiday Gift to Us Monday. 18. We did our morning routine: DDP exercise routine, have breakfast, pack our car and get on the road. We drove along Hwy 1 going up the northeast side of the South Island. Much of our day was spent along the coast. We stopped often to take in the rocky coastline, and look at the sea lions and seals. We saw a lot of baby seals in one stop. Another stop was a seal colony sanctuary at Kaikoura. We had a fresh seafood lunch at a food truck near the end of the road and the colony. We did some grocery shopping in Blenheim and then arrived to our beautiful farm stay in the Wakamarina valley. |
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| Darrell Wading in Wakamarina River |
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| Boulders and Waterfall Where We Turned Around |
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| We Drove Over the Overflow of This Falls Tuesday. 19. Darrell and I took a walk down Wakamarina road at the end of the driveway. We thought that we would walk a short way to the end of the road, but there was no end of the road. We walked 45 minutes winding back through the valley following the narrow paved road. Each bend lured us to see what was around the next. We read two markers about an 1860’s gold rush on the small river here. One year there was a bunch pulled from the river and then not enough any year after that to keep it going. It had a boom that ended within 3-4 years when people got tired of not getting much. We could hear the water in the river, but we haven’t seen it yet. The trees are so thick that river is hidden from our view. We did a load of wash and hung it in the sun for quick drying. David took us to see the river on their property, across the horse field and down a steep bank through the woods. We get to the river and walk along the rocky shore. David has one of his dogs with him the he goes to jump into the river off of a boulder. Then he comes around to get his little dog from my lap and makes her go into to water which she ultimately enjoys. We linger for maybe an hour. Once we get back up to the house we have decided that after dark tonight we will go back down to the river for David’s private glow worm tour! After the sun went down around 9:30-10 pm we are finishing up a visit with David and Sarah and learning about David’s amber collection. We head off with flashlights back to the river. We see loads of the famous NZ glow worms! We also get some sand fly bites which are painful and sleep-interrupting. But the place is still so lovely! Wednesday. 20. We are itching bites and have one more hike and one more night here. We take a 3 hour hike at the end of the road that we drove to and parked. We crossed over several mossy waterfalls on our hike through a canyon. At the far end of our hike we were at the river with boulders that I didn’t want to cross. We turned around and went out the same way we came in. |
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| Soccer Field Nearby Our Airbnb |
Thursday. 21. Today we did our morning routines and headed for Picton via the scenic route. It was a curvy road and and down mountains and around water inlets. We stopped for pictures and followed through the slower traffic leadings where sometimes the road was blocked for one lane falling away and needing rebuilt. We got to Picton and easily found parking in the small downtown. We window-shopped. Darrell bought lavender oil for soothing our itching sand fly bites. I added peppermint oil to it. For the next 2-3 days we smelled very floral as the lavender would quell the pain for a few hours at a time. We ate lunch– seafood chowder of a different recipe, had ice cream and easily got into the line for the ferry. We had a smooth and beautiful sailing from Picton to Wellington. We arrived around 4:30 to an overcast Wellington. We got to our 2 night airbnb and checked in.
Friday. 22. Today we went to meet Celia our house sit host. She showed us around their house and talked to us about taking care of their cat Jojo. After we got all of that information and a house key, we went out for lunch and got our car washed and vacuumed.
Nomad Notes. As I write this, it is Tuesday. We are in Wakamarina at David and Sarah’s farm airbnb. They have welcomed us like family and have the best stocked kitchen of our NZ adventure so far! We have enjoyed their farm fresh eggs and picked lettuce for our salads. Sarah put out Christmas treats and decorations that reminded us that it is this season.
On Thursday as we sailed away from Picton with our 7 week South Island road trip in our past, I cried a few tears. Tears for the ending of a time, the ending of a planned trip together and a farewell to the friends and joys that we have had in the South Island. By the time I get to Wellington, I am a bit recovered and ready to look forward. I am still a bit sad and lonely once we arrive at our house sit on Saturday the 23rd.
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