Wet Interlude; And Update

We decided to pass the next tropical cyclone, Gita, in Blenheim, in the Top 10 campground, well above the river, etc. It rained and rained and rained for 36 hours, affording me the opportunity to compile some South Island out-takes. After the deluge, we moved to the Wynent St. car-park and its freedom camping area, and spend a day enjoying beautiful Blenheim. After that, we moved on to Picton, spending another day at a freedom camp just short of the port.

Update, a few weeks later. As we later learned, areas we had just visited were hardest hit by cyclone Gita. Parts of Nelson were flooded, Motueke was flooded and its water system compromised, and there were numerous slips on Takaka Hill, isolating the communities of Takaka and Collingwood, and the whole Cape Farewell environs. The road over Takaka Hill has just (March 2nd) been re-opened, 2 hours a day, after emergency repairs. Communication with the isolated communities is mostly by water taxi. There's a familiar billboard that reminds visitors that "New Zealand Roads Are Different." Indeed they are.

PS. The day after the deluge we amused ourselves with two (2) movies at the local cinema: The Post, and Darkest Hour, both of which we enjoyed immensely.

Havelock's Mussel Pot

Among my favorite South Island eateries is Havelock's Mussel Pot, which we visited in 2009 and again in 2014. Nice to see such a special restaurant holding forth... Havelock, BTW, is the green-lip mussel capital of the known universe.

Coin-Op Rubbish Skip in Marlborough Sound

So after Takaka Hill we over-nighted at Montgomery Square in Nelson, too late to enjoy the manifest benefits of the Solar Superloo, but content nonetheless. Tropical cyclone Gita was now forecasted to hit New Zealand at the top of the North Island where we were--it did--and so we decided to head for higher ground, closer to Picton, where we already had moved our ferry reservation from Wednesday, when the cyclone was to hit, to Friday, when the seas might be a bit calmer. Our destination thus was beautiful Blenheim. En route, however, Vicki wanted to approach French Pass in the Marlborough Sounds, which we had visited in 2014...

We got as far as Pukepuke; the road is both unpleasant and the scenery uninteresting;
I advocated a return to the highway

Looking out to the sea from Pukepuke

Returning to the highway, we encountered a coin operated rubbish skip...very
definitely a first for us land-lubbing city-slickers

Up close and personal

As I was marveling and photographing, a local couple arrived and willingly posed
to show me how it works ... travel is so enlightening ...

Wainai Bay, Taupo Point, Not

As noted earlier, I had wanted to do a bit of the farther reaches of the Abel Tasman Coastal Track, as a day hike, so we camped at the car-park at Wainui Bay, the terminus for the track. Next morning, we set forth with high hopes of having a positive experience on the Abel Tasman. Unfortunately, a member of our party apparently misread the tidal charts, confusing "high" and "low," and so our hike, though enjoyable, did not go exactly where we had planned.

We were to walk up the left side of the peninsula to the left-side
point, Taupo Point

Ominous note at the entrance to the track: washouts north of
Totaranui, campgrounds on the AT closed; this was February
18th, after the heavy rain we had experienced at Anchorage;
it was to get much worse in succeeding days as tropical cyclone
Gita moved through...but I'm getting ahead of the story

Beach totem

Maori rugby goalpost on the beautiful sand beach

Other structure

Beautiful Wainui Bay

Here we astutely noticed that the sand beach has given out and
that we are being pinched up against the cliff

There is a high-tide trail ahead, but, now suspecting that it is
a rising tide, and not falling, we eschew the higher route,
since taking it would entail waiting out the entire tidal cycle

As I'm taking these pix, water is beginning to cover my feet

We retreated a bit and erected a little stone to show us whether
the water was rising or falling (some were still skeptical)

Within a minute or two, the little stone was gone

So we decided to do a bit of the Gibbs track, up over the
beach

Looking toward what might very well have been Taupo Point

And the Bay again, now filling with water

Up in the bush again

In the next life, we will explore Abel Tasman via kayak

Everything getting wetter now

Including the little beach structure; after a couple hours' hiking,
we returned to the camper and drove on, past Takaka, over
arduous Takaka Hill, with stops in Riwaka and Motueka, to
Nelson and another night in Montgomery Square... 

Wainui Falls

We wanted to drive toward Totaranui and maybe do some of the upper reaches of the Abel Tasman Coastal Track as a day hike, and so drove to Wainui Bay. Along the way we did the pleasant little hike to Wainui Falls.

Wainui Bay

Shrimp plant?

Small waterfall

The waterfall; not very large, but a nice end to a nice, if sometimes
exposed, trail

New entry for Stick Man's Really Bad Day

The Grove, 2018

We visited the Grove in 2014 and had to return. It is merely a couple acres of bush and limestone, but it is fascinating to look at the extent that plants will go to survive at the differential erosion, and at the ongoing struggle between rocks and trees. Trees always win, over the long haul. Anyhow, the place reminded us of Cambodia, Angor Wat, specifically, and some of the temples there half-buried in jungle. No temples here, but still interesting, even the second visit.

Cleft, leading to viewing platform

Thus, tucked into a small ridge between the mountains

And the Bay

Us, there