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North & South

1/2/2018

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Cloud at sunset on South Island, New Zealand
Since our last dump update, we’ve moved again, this time taking the journey from the South Island to the North Island for the last two weeks of our time in New Zealand.
Before heading on to the ferry, we stopped at Kaikora, a coastal town famous for it’s near resident sperm whales and many dolphins, seals and sea birds, which can be viewed from boat cruises or in more up close encounters mainly involving kayaking and snorkelling. The coastal road leading up to and away from the town is closed from 8:30pm to 7:30am, as teams of workers battle to restore and repair damage to the road and rail lines caused by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake which struck in November 2016. Our plans to whale watch were thwarted by a thick blanket of fog which blew in from the sea and completely obscured everything in its path, including the dramatic coastline itself! The weather had already led to the cancellation of all departing boats that day by the time we arrived, so instead we ordered a portion of chips from a local cafe, browsed some of the gift shops and parked up by the coast for a night of freedom camping.
The next day we made our way to Picton via Blenheim, where we booked ferry tickets to take us, and the camper, across the sea. This turned out to be a very expensive endeavour, and we questioned if it would have been easier in hindsight to hire one van on the South Island and then a different one on the North once the crossing had been made (admittedly we haven’t looked into this so can’t say for sure if there would actually be any monetary saving and keeping the same van does have the benefit of allowing you leave all your things inside instead of having to pack up completely).
The weather forecast at the information centre in Blenhiem did not look promising, and we were warned there was potentially a cyclone on the way, meaning our tickets to cross could be cancelled at any minute. Whilst we were fortunate that the ferry crossing went ahead, we were not quite prepared for the journey itself, that at times was so rough it felt like we were in a fun house! Alice ended up having to stand on the deck after feeling a bit ropey from the motion, but at least we both managed to keep our breakfasts down, unlike many of the other passengers who looked decidedly green from the outset.
After the rocky ferry ride, what greeted us in Wellington was true cyclonic conditions which saw wind and rain batter our camper beyond belief. It takes quite a lot to rattle Joe whilst driving but the conditions were so scary that even he looked nervous! We decided to hunker down at a powered campsite in Upper Hutt, and spent the rest of the day hiding from the rain and being thankful we hadn’t been blown off the road.
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    Hi! We're Alice and Joseph, currently on a year long RTW trip :)

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