We 're counting: The West Coast in Autumn

Gentle Annie Camp on the Mokihinui River

The day the house went on the market, we headed off into the sunset, parking up with the Bus, Car & Bikes all on board in Murchison for our first night. Lovely to be back on the road, we had both missed it.

Parked up at Westport NZMCA Camp

We had two and a half lovely weeks on the West Coast with wonderful weather doing a few bike rides on sections of the new Kawateri Trail and walks. After a couple of nights in Westport on their rugged beach, unwinding after all the house renovations, we headed north.

The entrance into Westport Harbour

Bill and I had completed the Heaphy Track in our early 20's, which we enjoyed in our youth. But this time we just walked the first hour into Scott's Beach and return - this was what I remembered as the most scenic (probably because it was also the end for us 😄). The trail is currently closed due to a bridge that got washed out, but repairs are underway. We stayed two nights at the Doc Kohaihai campground, which is a lovely spot and Bill was in his element with fires each night on the beach. The only distraction to the ambiance were the sand-flies which must be missing all the foreign bodies.

Lovely Kohaihai Camp

The road north of Westport to Karamea had been washed out in many places, leaving the road one lane in many spots. It will be a while before this road is completely repaired - plenty of work for the local roading gangs.

Bill in his happy place at Kohaihai

Before coming back over the hill, we decided on a couple of nights in Karamea at the local Domain which has a lovely wee camp. We planned to visit the Oparara Basin Arches the next day and catch up on the washing as we could leave it hung out on the clothesline with the Caretaker in residence. It was ten years ago we last visited the Oparara Basin with Joan, who was 80 at the time and slept in Big Yella with us. This time we took the car up into the Basin as they are still recommending not to take large vehicles up there ( Bill doesn't think this applies to him!) - it is still a long gravel road. There weren't a lot of Tourists around of course with Covid restrictions and the road over the hill would deter a lot of people which is a shame as it was certainly as beautiful as last time. I let Bill enjoy the caves on his own.

Moira Gate Arch

Moira Gate Arch - the other end

We (well me actually) were lucky our 2nd night at Karamea was a Wednesday night - and the Food Truck selling whitebait patties was open for business in the Domain. Delicious 😋. Bill chose the venison burger. So Karamea was a lovely wee stop over.

Best Whitebait Patties in Karamea 😋

Cape Foulwind Walkway with Diana

We headed south from Karamea to catch up with fellow Motorhomer Diana up on the Denniston Plateau - an historic coal mining area. Doc allow Motorhomes to stay overnight up there. I had read the Denniston Rose before I went up there 10 years ago, which gave me a real feel for the place and feel sorry for those poor women who were taken up there and had their families. It would have been a pretty desolate place to live. We highly recommend a visit to this piece of NZ's history. In the morning I had some computer work to do so Bill and Diana headed off to explore the area. Bill returning with a bloody shin after falling into a bush while trying to retrieve some relic! Best left there BILL!

The Homestead at Cape Foulwind (& Bus)

We had another night with Diana before she headed off to join other volunteer Gorse Busters further south, so we decided to stay the night at the Pub at Cape Foulwind and do the walkway through to Tauranga Bay and the seal colony the next morning. The Pub carpark wasn't very inspiring but thankfully the Manager came out and told us we could park up at the Owners property at the bottom of the road (the sea cliffs)- looking out to the Tasman Sea. Well what a surprise this was - the Owner (Kay) taking us into her lovely old Homestead that she has been restoring for the past 10 years and showing us around. She has done an amazing job. We parked up on the large section attached to her property, along with a couple of other Motorhomer's, and then headed up to the Pub - The Star Tavern -for a meal. In the morning we had a typical West Coast blustery day for our 2.5 hour walk which built up our appetites for lunch once we returned - back at the Pub.

Shane & Sarah at Charleston

West Coast Style

Afterwards, we parted ways with Diana and we headed south too but only as far as Charleston, where we caught up with some friends we hadn't seen for years. Isn't Face Book amazing - Shannon had stayed in touch with Sarah so was able to connect us once again. Sarah & Shane had left Nelson a few years ago and moved down to Charleston where they owned a batch. Over the years they have bought another couple of properties, all connected, so they can offer a variety of accommodation to Tourists and their extended family. We had a lovely couple of days catching up and them showing us around what was once a Goldmining area started back in the rush of 1867. The settlement is situated in a couple of beautiful little bays. We rode some of the Kawateri Trail, which both Sarah & Shane are on the Trust Board . A very scenic trail. It will be a total of 55km once completed through to just outside Charleston from Westport. After we left S&S, we also rode the section from Carter's Beach to the bridge into Westport and return before parking back up in Westport to empty and restock.

Part of the Kawateri Trail

The next day we had our only real wet day and fortuitously we had bumped into an old friend/client of Bill's that had moved to Westport 2 years ago and we didn't know. So he invited us round for morning tea - perfect day for visiting. Pam and Warwick have a lovely home up on the river terrace overlooking the Buller River as it flows into Westport. They love living there, away from all the hustle and bustle of a bigger town such as Nelson.

We returned to the NZMCA Camp at Westport for another night before heading North again, this time only as far as Mokihinui, to a lovely little camp lots of people had recommended we should stay at called Gentle Annie. We thought we'd have one night there as it was more expensive than where we normally camp. Anyway - three nights later! It was such a beautiful little camp, and the location was picturesque on the river bank. We changed our minds and decided we'd stay two nights so we could do some of the local walks such as the start of the Old Ghost Trail and Charming Creek (which unfortunately was closed due to slips).

Denniston Plateau / Mt Rochfort 4wd 😬

On our second night we did a walk around the camp and heard someone call out to Bill. It was our neighbour Kathryn's good friend Fiona. She was also staying at the camp with her hubby Noah and her parents. They were heading off in the morning to do a four wheel drive trip (they are big into their 4wdriving - complete with all the gear). Fiona must have felt sorry for Bill as we (Me) don't normally do that sort of driving and asked us along. Bill was all excited and keen to take our Suzuki through. The Suzuki and Bill both performed very well - the others were impressed. I'd just like to say it's not really my idea of fun but I survived! And to finish the day off we all dropped into the Ngakawau Pub for a drink on our way back to camp, where Bill bought a beer and wine for $9.50! No city prices here 😁 - mind you, no red wine either!

Very relaxed at Gentle Annie

We headed back to Nelson to unpack / re-pack and prepare for our Golden Bay Easter trip. And to see if there was any action on the house with the deadline sale coming to an end. Sadly as I'm not showing any champagne celebrations - you can gather the house did not sell. We have now set a price. Unfortunately the market seems to have gone quiet with looming interest rates shaking a lot of Buyers.