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| Neighbours Kathryn & Simon with Bill on Hector Beach |
We returned home to Nelson to spring full on. The grass had grown high and lush thanks to the dethatching of the lawn and a little fertiliser. Some of the Rhododendron's were in full bloom - looking stunning, welcoming us back home.
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| I nearly got lost in the lush grass π |
We got back into the gardening (mainly me) and the deck for Bill with Christmas on the horizon adding a little pressure. Two thirds of the decking was finished, just in front of our bedroom to go. But there was always time to go fishing and this season was a good one for Rod and his scraggy crew, whether it was Bill & I, Bruce & John, John & Bill, and other combinations - Rod never had an issue getting a crew! Or catching snapper. It seemed everyone knew it was a good season by the amount of cars and trailers in the carpark, but we saw very few actually out on the sea. Plenty of room and fish for all.
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| Rod teaching Bill some special fishing techniques π |
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| Kathryn on Bill's trail/tail! |
Neighbours Kathryn & Simon organised a weekend for us to meet up down the West Coast at Simon's place in Hector, just north of Westport. He bought a 100-year-old Villa back in 2018 as a restoration project. Not sure he realised how big a project it was going to be π, we saw it when over halfway through being restored and weren't expected to contribute to the hard work. Our weekend was about Bill joining K&S on a section of the Old Ghost Trail - the beginning from the Seddonville end. They did 18km returning from Anderson's Creek. Bill loved it but realised he does need a new bike - his isn't up to the ruggedness of such trails. It was a stunning day through the beautiful bush.
While they were galivanting through the bush, I walked into the Rough & Tumble Cafe near the carpark at the trail entrance, and bought a coffee (had to make my own instant coffee from a jar on the counter π) and sat outside in the beautiful sunshine and read my book.
On their return, we drove back in our own vehicles to Gentle Annie and ate our picnic lunch. And as we were in the Bus, we could make our own hot drinks. Very pleasant beside the Mokihinui River. That evening we had a BBQ with Simon's sister and family. A lovely, relaxed evening.
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| Bill's happy place π₯ |
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| Kohaihai Doc Camp |
After a morning stroll around Hector (you have to be careful not to blink or you will miss the town) and along the beach, we packed up the bus and headed north to Kohaihai. Another favourite DOC camp. We love the beach front camping spots and the fact you can have a fire on the beach, but not the sandflies. We called into Karamea for a sausage roll & pie for lunch on the way through. There were only two other campervans at Kohaihai on our arrival. We love off peak travelling. We walked our sausage roll / pie off with a walk through the Nikau walkway - the Nikau thrive in this area, giving beautiful frond lattice foliage above our heads. We got back to camp in time for Bill to light a fire on the beach. Beautiful starry skies here without any light pollution.
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| Nikau Walkway |
The next morning, we walked over to Scotts Beach. It was too early in the season and the sea too rough to even think about a swim. But very pleasant for a walk. Once we got back to camp, Bill checked out what was making the noise under the bus in the last part of our drive to the beach. Unfortunately, it wasn't good news, discovering it was a broken spring. The good news (hopefully) was that we should make it back home, with careful driving.π€π€ As the gentle rain came in later that afternoon, we settled in with our books. Very relaxing and so peaceful.
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| Kawateri Trail |
We travelled carefully back to Westport the next morning. Things didn't seem any worse, so we thought we'd have the night in Westport before carrying on to Charleston to have a night with friends Sarah & Shane. We parked up at the NZMCA camp on the Beach Front and got our bikes off for a ride into town along the Kawateri Trail, via Westport's harbour. We found the trail from Westport to Carters Beach was closed due to earlier flooding, so our plan the next day was to drive to Carters Beach and ride south from there to Tauranga Bay and return - 23km. Earned our lunch at Donaldo's before heading onto Sarah & Shane's in Charleston. We had an enjoyable evening catching up with S&S and their friend Vi, and the gossip of Charleston.
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| Poor Bus with two broken springs |
It was a slow trip back to Nelson the next day, nursing our Bus home and hoping nothing more would break under the bus. Thankfully we made it safely home. With further investigation, Bill found there were two broken springs on the one side! After dropping out the water tank, he had better access under the Bus but unfortunately needed to call a mobile mechanic to give a hand with special gear to drop the springs down. Together they got the springs down, packaged them up and sent them off to Christhurch for two new ones to be made. We were hoping for a quick turnaround time but sadly it didn't happen, so we were unable to make it Totoranui with Kathryn, Simon and Co.
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| My biggest snapper ever! |
Bill has got involved back with the Nelson Canoe Club and become the maintenance man for repairs etc. There is talk of a rafting trip coming up which he is keen on, I leave him to those adventures these days. Too much adrenalin for me.
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| Rod cheating with the size of his fish π |
He has continued finishing the deck, almost there.
I water blasted pathways and continued in the garden. The backdoor got a facelift after 30 odd years.
We had a few more days out fishing, one on which I caught my biggest snapper ever!! It was a quiet 41st wedding anniversary but lovely to enjoy the evening on the deck watching the sun set. Bike rides and lovely walks along the beach when time allowed it whilst getting ready for Family to arrive for Christmas - the first Nicholas gathering since Rocky's 30th in 2018.
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| Back door reno |
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| Happy 41st Wedding Anniversary π |
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Renovated with Aldi
doorhandle |
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| A stunning day at Nelson Marina |
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| Poor Big Blue |
We got on the road reasonably early the next day to return to Nelson on the longer leg of the trip (6.5 hrs) through the Molesworth Station. The Molesworth Station is New Zealand's largest farm, a high-country cattle station. MΔori travelled through here in the summer from the East Coast to the West Coast. The road is a connection for Nelson/Marlborough with North Canterbury. 
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