Waikouaiti Beach

Waikouaiti Beach has a Holiday Park that also functions as a POP (Park Over Property), meaning that NZMCA members can stay there for free and not use the camp facilities. Or . . . use the facilities (no power) and leave a donation.

Just a short walk from the camp is Waikouaiti Beach. Horses exercise along this beach—these ones were just leaving as we arrived.

Dogs are allowed off lead as long as there's no wildlife around (e.g., seals) and they're not bothering nesting birds.

Waikouaiti Beach has beautiful white sand.

This gull was flying up high and dropping its shellfish onto the sand to break it open. I was thinking it wasn't going that high and the beach wasn't really a hard surface to drop it onto . . . but it worked, and he reaped his reward.

Near the north end of the beach, there was what appeared to be a river meeting the sea, but Google maps show no river there—just what looks like a small inlet. I was a little surprised.

It was flowing water, and too deep for Lucy to want to cross. Dave waded through and it was only up to his shins. However, it was a cold day, and I was not dressed for wading through even shallow water. So we didn't venture any further in that direction.

The beach has a wide strip of pine trees along the shore. You can drive through them a short way, but the road stops at the inlet.

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Ealing NZMCA

Ealing NZMCA Park is just off Highway 1 south of Ashburton, and not far from Geraldine. Another spacious grassy area, but no facilities other than clothes lines.

Between the highway and the park is a railway line.

And just before you take this right turn corner towards Ealing NZMCA Park, there's a glimpse of snow on the mountains in the distance. It was cold last night!

At the next corner, a tree has been planted as a memorial to a local hero—a 24-year-old Lancaster bomber pilot who died over Germany during World War II.

The entrance.

This building on the property that acts as a common room and a place to gather indoors was once a church. And yes, that's a gravestone to the left of the building.

Inside, you can see the built-in lectern in the corner.

This wonderful yellow bus caught my eye at Ealing. The next day we met the owners: Ruth & Nev.

As you know, we travel with Lucy. These caravanners had three small kittens and a bird. It's the first time I've seen anyone travelling with a bird.

Just over the fence, new neighbours.

And nearby, a paddock with a few sheep in it. These ones had plenty of wool on them—they looked a bit overdue for a shear! In spite of seeing sheep here and there, there seem to be a lot of dairy units around this region.

There we are! Towards the left . . . and Dave's off chatting to the man from the motorhome next door.

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Akaroa in the Rain

Today was very wet and misty—there were weather warnings that Cyclone Gita was due to come through later that night, so this rain was the beginning of it all. We dropped our rig off early this morning at Heatspace as we'd arranged to have a diesel heater installed. They needed it overnight, and so we booked into a motel. With nowhere to go until the motel room was available, we decided to take a drive out to Akaroa.

Akaroa (Maori for long harbour) is a small town on Banks Peninsula, about 75km (1 hour 20 minutes) from Christchurch. Although it's a very windy road to get there, it's worth the effort. As you come over the hills, the first glimpse of Akaroa Harbour shows Barrys Bay in the foreground and Duvauchelle Bay beyond that. There's a narrow piece of land between the bays.

Akaroa is situated on the east side of the harbour. It's a beautiful town that has retained a strong French colonial theme from its 19th century French and British history.

What strikes me most about Akaroa is the colour and character of the town. Although the rain makes it a challenge to take photos while trying to keep the camera dry, hopefully I've managed to capture a taste of Akaroa's beauty and personality for you to enjoy.

This is where we had brunch. We bravely sat outside with Lucy for a while . . . long enough to finish our coffees. But it was so cold, even Lucy was shivering! So we put her back in the ute and retreated to the warmth of an indoors table to eat our meals.

On the way back, we paused at Duvauchelle to photograph these colourful boat sheds.

For the previous four nights, we'd stayed at Weedon's NZMCA Park. It's a big place. When we first arrived, we saw the huge number of mobile homes already there and wondered if there would be a space for us. But once we were in, we found there was a lot of room to park—spoilt for choice, really! The foreground is not part of the park. It's a large area fenced off that appears to be planted with young trees.

As we took Lucy for walks around the perimeter of the park, we found this neighbour through the fence enjoying the setting sun . . .

. . .  and this visitor was hopping around behind some of the motorhomes near the edge of the park.

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Tokomaru Bay

Te Puka Tavern at Tokomaru Bay allowed us to stay for free as long as we had a meal or drink in their establishment. No problem!

We were parked alongside a container in their car park that looked like it had been decorated by some of the local children. This photo was taken looking out of our window.

Although it was a lovely sandy beach to walk along, offshore was very rocky which was more obvious at low tide.

There was a long concrete wall that seemed to have been placed there to protect the road from the sea, although at full tide, the sea did not appear to reach it. In places the concrete walls are crumbling, threatening the road above.

I dragged myself out of bed early the next morning to capture the sunrise. At the time I didn’t think it was all that amazing, but the photos turned out better than expected. Obviously, I was half asleep at the time.

Later that day there was some activity: a lot of people on horseback rode up the beach to near where we were with a four-wheeled bike and dog in attendance. 

Look at the age of some of these children . . . in control of huge horses.

That night, there were interesting cloud formations, but no spectacular sunset.

Before leaving, we went down for a look at the Tokomaru Bay Wharf.

It is closed off and no longer used due to its poor condition. This was a close up of the far end, where much of the wharf has completely disappeared.

This is a photo on a board that showed how the wharf was once well used.

It is a Heritage Site, and there are plans to restore it one day. 

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