Final Flourish – Lastminute.com!

We finally reached week 11 of a very long term with for once zero plans for the two week Easter holiday ahead – we had optimistically hoped Zach’s first passport would show up in time for a trip to Australia. Instead we checked the long-range forecast to see if a New Zealand road trip was on the cards. Sadly this may well end up being the last road trip of our epic New Zealand adventure, as after much deliberation we had decided to return to Scotland in July in time for the start of the new school year there. New Zealand is an absolutely perfect place for our outdoor lifestyle and leaving behind our schools, jobs and house that we love isn’t going to be easy! Forecast looked good though so we pieced together a fun active adventure, packed the car very carefully (turns out fitting in 4 children, three surf boards and 5 bikes is no walk in the park!) and headed North in search of sunshine, surf and hopefully warm camping, late Autumn always a bit of a gamble for spending time in a tent, this time last year we had ice on the tent in North island – yikes! Also we’d never camped with baby Zach in a tent so it all had the potential to go very wrong, very quickly!!

First stop on the adventure was Lewis Pass to break the long drive to Westport and after quite a few stops for Zach to have yet another feed, we headed up through the dense bush trying to get above the trees for some mountain views. Ethan and Sara seemed very jaded after a long term and covid, and were not their normal sprightly selves, but Iona can always be counted on to set a good pace and we finally cleared the trees and arrived high on the ridge for some great views of the Southern Alps. Having driven through here so many times it was nice to finally see it from above, the late afternoon light was also spectacular and it was a shame to not have more time to explore the hills above. We headed down for a tasty fish and chips dinner in Reefton before arriving super late to Westport and getting the tent up in the dark, but everyone slept well so a great start to the trip all in all…

Great little Kiwi Holiday Park campsite in Westport to wake up, with a mini-golf, play park and plenty of cheeky weka trying to nick your food, but we pretty much had the campsite to ourselves despite being the school holidays. All keen for some surfing we headed down to Tauranga Bay which unfortunately had massive 10-15ft waves slamming into the bay and not a dolphin in sight. Still a beautiful spot though and we managed some fun body-boarding and used a rip to sneak into the back of the waves for some very long, bouncy rides back to the beach with an occasional blue face to play on. In the afternoon Em took us to a secret beach she’d found while running last time and this was a great find with dramatic arches, pinnacles and endless giant mussels to pick, no prizes for guessing what we feasted on for dinner that night! A cracking first day on the ever stunning, rugged west coast which never disappoints…

After a good pummelling from the giant waves we all fancied a quieter day for Easter Sunday so headed down the coast to Punakaiki which turned out to be a great choice at high tide with more enormous waves slamming into the coast causing the blowholes to be firing, creating cool rainbows in the spray. Sea far too dangerous to swim or surf today but we had an ice cream and a play on Allan’s beach on the way back – Em and I braved the mad dash to the off-shore pinnacle between waves, not a child-friendly option! Back to camp for a fun game of mini-golf and an Easter Egg hunt…

Last sunny morning in Westport and we headed down to the river mouth in town which had some great little waves coming into a pretty driftwood covered beach, not at all bad for a town beach, and a very hard place to leave and get back in the car for our next destination Nelson Lakes where we hoped to see some mountains up close by staying in a mountain hut.

With the forecast set to deteriorate, we juggled our plans around a bit and spent one night in the Alpine Lodge in St Arnaud before setting off on the Mount Roberts circuit hoping to stay in Bushline Hut. I’d read online that the 14 bunk hut fills up quickly and it’s first come first served, so I raced ahead up Paddy’s track with an enormous bag containing five sleeping bags to try and beat the rush and bag the beds. I met people walking out who told me you could actually book the hut and amazingly there were still four beds left so with relief I booked them and carried on steeply up, clearing the bush and getting some nice views of Lake Rotoiti and St Arnaud far below. Ditching the bag at the hut felt amazing as I switched to lightweight running mode and continued along Roberts Ridge which gets rockier and more interesting as you go before dropping down to the nicely situated Angelus Hut for a quick lunch break. Decision time, the sensible person would have headed back here to meet the others at the hut but with mighty Angelus Peak looming overhead I opted for the steep rock and scree approach to the summit and was rewarded with some stunning mountain views for my troubles and a fast scree run descent and refreshing cold water swim in the lake near the hut. The return journey along the ridge was long and painful and took far longer than I hoped, but 19 miles and over 2000m was never going to feel easy! Also lost quite a few daddy brownie points as Em had the children for a large chunk of the day but I really did appreciate the solitude and epic scenery. Em and the kids had made it up onto the ridge for some great views too, so fingers crossed weather holds for Em to have a decent walk with Zach up here tomorrow. Another friendly family in the hut with a 6 and an 8 year old so lots of fun card games and amusement for the little people. Not the comfiest beds but a cracking place to stay and well worth the effort of getting everyone up there.

We woke to cloud inversions below and low cloud above and after a tasty porridge breakfast, we bravely set out and continued the loop up over Mount Roberts and down the steep pinchgut track back to the car. Em had left the hut early and pushed on up the ridge in rain and dense cloud so not quite the experience she was looking for, she had some well-deserved choice words for me at the car park which I won’t share on this family-friendly blog post! Weather in the valley was better so Em went to check out the bike trails for a couple of (long!) hours as was only fair and I struggled to entertain a grumpy baby and three wild children back at the lodge. Mid-afternoon the weather completely deteriorated with heavy rain all day and night and we were all very glad to be safely inside and not camping, the following morning involved packing the car in heavy rain and bailing for the coast but we did well to sneak in some mountain fun before the heavens opened, a nice contrast with the west coast for sure…

The rain continued to tumble down, which apart from poor daddy packing the car was alright for a travelling day, so the only logical thing to do was go underground or inside – the excellent Ngarua caves on Takaka Hill were the obvious choice, well lit, dripping stalactites and plenty of cool rock formations to look at, though the walk back across the hill after was pretty exposed and brutal! You can get horizontal rain in New Zealand too, not just a Scottish phenomenon! We spend the day repeatedly changing our minds about whether to take the softer yet more expensive campsite option of a family cabin or just try and get the tent up quickly between rain showers. We arrived at the campsite at Pohara beach in Golden Bay just as the rain stopped and cancelled the cabin booking but of course the heaviest rain arrived as I put the tent up, once it was up though it was fine and had four days to dry out slowly!

We awoke to sunshine streaming into the tent and plenty of condensation and dripping from all the rain but were keen to get back to Abel Tasman so drove over the windy hill to Totaranui and this time headed south of the beach armed with swimsuits and a SUP. The kids and Em walked over the hill to the beautiful white sands of Goat Bay and I SUPped round to meet them doing a few headstands and handstands along the way to impress the local wildlife! After a very long wait at the other end (turns out a landslip means a long diversion over the top) we swapped over and Zach and I walked back over enjoying the views while Em taxied the kids back on the SUP, this works really well as walking the hill twice would have been tough. We all had one last swim on the golden sands of Totoranui Beach before leaving, amazingly we were the only people on the beach apart from a few sandflies, gotta love NZ before the borders open to tourists again!

Next day we ventured North to another old favourite, Farewell Spit and the white sands of Wharariki Beach, we dropped Em at the spit and her and Zach walked the cliff-top 10km over to the beach while we carried in a SUP and bodyboards to the beach. Despite the “flat” surf forecast, massive waves were crashing in (theme emerging here!) and we opted for cave and pinnacle exploration instead washed down with a bit of crazy dune jumping and running instead and before we knew it Em had shown up plus some of our friends we’d made at the campsite. A few of us braved the waves for a quick bodyboard and then I ran back the coastal way enjoying the great views along the way, still my favourite short run in NZ and I can see the benefits of running more than once in a while as legs felt sprightly after my Nelson Lakes “warm up” run. There can only be one finish to a perfect day in Golden Bay and it was of course a slap-up feed of mussels and (vegan – yay!) garlic bread at the world-famous Mussel Inn.

Top that Pohara? We hadn’t used the bikes much on this trip so far and the chains were all going rusty from all the rain so we oiled them up and strapping the baby on tightly we set out for Zach’s first ever bike ride, a few nice flat coastal kilometers west of camp that lead to an amazing find, lovingly hand-crafted single track perfection in the woods at the west end of Pohara beach with a variety of trails for all skill levels. I whizzed back to camp to get the car and we then squeezed in Ethan’s choice of exploring the funky Labyrinth rocks and a late afternoon SUP at lovely Tata beach which had some great islands and caves to explore complete with seal residents to say hi to. Ethan and I went first and Em and Sara went second while Iona and I had endless handstand competitions on the beach. The wind and waves picked up and we were relieved to see the girls safely back on dry land. Another great day of holiday adventures and another campsite we are going to find it very hard to leave, you could easily just come to Pohara for two weeks and have a great trip! I finished the trip with an online lesson on Series and Parallel circuits at 11pm (originally 2.30am!!) to try and get a job in Edinburgh which seemed to go well, testing it on Ethan is always a good plan, he has a great scientific brain for age 9!

But like all classic road trips we had to move on to our next stop which was somewhat predictably the Marlborough Sounds and again Zach was determined to make a long drive even longer with some essential milk feeds needed at regular intervals. We had a roadside stop in busy Nelson at a mini-golf and ice cream cafe but basically spent the whole day driving the windy roads of Takaka Hill, Havelock, Nelson and the Sounds. So windy in fact that Ethan managed to vomit an impressive amount of projectile vomit all over the car requiring another stop and an emergency RAT test in case he had covid – this was his main symptom last time so we thought it sensible to make sure. Luckily negative and once again we arrived late at camp at Mistletoe Bay and set up the tent in the fading light…

Mistletoe Bay is a great location, right on the beach in the sounds for kayaking, SUP and pier jumping adventures which the kids loved but also you are right next to the Queen Charlotte track for walking and biking trips too. Our first day we needed a quiet one after the big drive yesterday so had lunch and a swim at the well-named Picnic Bay on Kenepuru Sound and dropped Em at Portage for a bike ride home over the tops where she enjoyed some steep ascents and descents and the amazing view from Onahau Lookout on the way back. The kids and I rented kayaks and Zach and I watched as the other three paddled round like pros and even cruised under the pier a few times. I now had the panel interview part of my online interview and after getting children to bed, begging the owner of the campsite to let me use his personal wifi, pleading with the other campers to stay out of the kitchen and dressing half in jeans, half in a suit I think I sold myself pretty well at interview at 8pm at night all things considered, time will tell!

One problem we encountered was the massive storms and flooding from last year had damaged the road badly, so the main road to the campsite was shut most of each day between 8 and 5 which meant leaving on day trips was not going to be easy! I left early the next day for my own biking adventure on the Nydia Track. I had a bike shuttle to the start booked for 10am but had to drive through before 8am so with two hours to kill I figured I might as well do a warm-up ride from Havelock! En route I got a phone call from Scotland and with atmospheric mist swirling below me and an awesome sunrise, I was very pleased to hear I’d got the job at George Watson’s College starting in August, guess the return to Edinburgh is official now then! The Te Aroroa trail from Havelock is a lovely bit of track above the road and I carried on up the spur to the obvious pylon above to get above the cloud and see some great views of the sounds from above. A cracking long descent back to town was rewarded with a great bakery for a steak and cheese pie and brownie. Most people would call it a day after a hilly nearly 2-hour ride, but I was keen to get my money’s worth out of a day off! Car relocation is a great way to do remote one-way trails like the Nydia Track in NZ, they drive you in your car to the start, drop you off and leave your car waiting for you at the end. This one started at the highest point on the Opouri saddle where you are straight into the action with some tricky grade 4 (black) technical action on the Opouri Bridle Path descent to Duncan Bay. Glad I’d had a warm-up ride on some easier ground, some of the exposed slips were a bit exciting and after an early fall down a rocky bank, I took my time and enjoyed the descent. Duncan’s Bay leads you round to the start of the 27km Nydia track proper and some intensely technical roots and rocks on the long climb to Nydia Saddle, 90% rideable but even the walking bits aren’t so bad. The descent starts equally rocky and rooty and unrideable in places but gets better and more flowy as you go down, and I stopped at remote Nydia Bay for lunch and a swim out to a buoy which was definitely further than it looked in the cold water!

I took a while to warm up again after lunch and headed up the long climb to Kaiuma Saddle, definitely starting to feel it in my legs now after so many big hills in one day! Met a nice family at the saddle who were impressed I was riding what they deemed a tough walking trail. It’s not manufactured single track but it’s definitely a proper adventure and a good honest test of your bike skills and stamina. A couple of great descents later I reached the car at 4pm after 5 hours (+2) of riding, and just had the long gravel road drive home to go, via the shops of Havelock for some badly needed supplies such as nappies and Easter chocolate! Not quite in the class of the Old Ghost Road, Paparoa and Heaphy but still a really fun day out on a bike and certainly a technical challenge if you like rocks and roots galore…

Last day in the Sounds and it was the kid’s turn for a bike adventure on the Queen Charlotte Track, they’ve done this section before but are now all that bit older and better on two wheels. Te Mahia saddle start gives you a short gentle up and then a really nice long scenic and flowing descent to Anakiwa via a few picturesque lookouts and remote beaches. After finding some silly technical challenges near the pier, I whizzed back up to get the car which was hard work with tired legs from yesterday (Em thought about doing it but with road closures we figured Zach might miss her for the length of time she’d need away?) and the others explored the cafe, library and beach options at Anakiwa while I brought the car round. We finished with a tasty dinner in the friendly and quirky pub in Linkwater before another painfully slow drive back to camp with a grumpy baby!

Sadly fast running out of days in the holidays now but just time for one final stop at the kid’s favourite NZ campsite in Kaikoura for a couple of nights, we surfed the mighty Mangamaunu in the morning, which wasn’t quite as clean as we’ve had on earlier trips, before heading back to camp for a quality afternoon of swimming in the outdoor pool (Zach’s first time in a pool!), bouncing on the bouncy pillow, go-karting round the campsite and best of all soaking in the hot tub before a memorable dinner of fish and chips on the beach in honour of Great Granny Grace, who very sadly passed away earlier in the week, her spirit and passion definitely lives on in young Iona Grace though and we all shared our happy memories of a truly great granny…

Just time on the last day for a final stop at Gore Bay for another surf, the kids tried their hardest to get three stood up on the SUP at once, and Em and I got a few rides for our troubles, it’s a really nice spot with cliffs framing the southern end of the beach and pleased to be back on sand again after the slippy, sharp rocks in Kaikoura. Back to work and school we go, tired and happy but the first week went by in a flash and was filled with super fun events like house sports (more yellow!), where I got to dress up again, run the 800m and compete in the sack race and gumboot (welly) throwing competitions. I clearly take these head of house roles very seriously! Finished the week with an amazing sunset ride home over the Port Hills over my two favourite hills, Cass Peak and Sugarloaf, which started well but then get better and better as a cloud inversion rolled in with the red glow of the Southern Alps beyond and the sun dropping away. I could hardly tear myself away and head down into the cloud for dinner it was that good! Em summed it up well when she said “And why do you want to leave this place?” Well all good things do have to come to an end as they say and now I get to plan the next fun global holiday to get us back to Scotland for a long-overdue catch up with friends and family. We know Aotearea is a magical place and will all definitely be back one day if only for a long holiday…the amount of scenery and memories we’ve seen in only two weeks will live long in the mind – mihi mo nga mea katoa Aotearoa, kia tutaki ano tatou!