New Zealand: A Caravan Experience
Written By: SUSANNE LOMATCH
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Kaikoura
Day 15-16
Our rearranged route required an early start on the road back to Blenheim to retrieve the
lost passport. With the next planned destination of Greymouth on the west coast, and with
two routes to get there, we opted to drive south to Kaikoura, and then cross the SI on R7.
Kaikoura was not on our original itinerary. However, it is a most amazing place, and one
only knows that when arriving from the north to view the spectacle of it all (a clear day
helps). A few waypoints along the way on R1 are worth a stop: the vineyards south of
Blenheim, with a mountainous backdrop, and a series of streams near Hapuku.
But the
Kaikoura coastal scene near Wharanui, where majestic snow-capped alpine mountains
meet the sunlit green seas of the Pacific, intersected by volcanic black sand beaches, is
breathtaking and likely the best shot of the trip. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything quite
like it. And luck of the weather and late afternoon lighting influences the mood.
Kaikoura is a popular destination at any time of the year. Many of the caravan parks were
close to capacity, including the one we chose, Kaikoura Top 10 Holiday Park. This is a
good time to warn readers that all caravan parks in NZ have a checkout time of 10am.
This is almost unheard of in the U.S., where the norm is 11am or noon, and easily
negotiable. But in NZ, campers are expected to exit promptly at 10am, especially at
popular destinations or during the high season. While at every place we’d stayed we let
that rule slide (the places were mostly empty and the management lenient), at Kaikoura
we were warned. So it was up and out for us night owls.
The first order of business was finding breakfast, having been thrust out of our usual
lengthy morning caravan ritual. The Kaikoura tourist trap sucked us in. We found a full
service restaurant on the Esplanade offering seafood, including local lobster. Kaikoura in
Maori translates to "meal of crayfish," so eat cray we wished. Wish we could offer kind
reviews, but the lobster didn’t taste very fresh. Despite the roadside stalls and hype
selling the local tail, it was either a poor yield or it was generally poor, as we were told it
was ‘relatively fresh.’ The other dish of NZ scallops fared far better. NZ scallops, which
have a distinctive orange lip, are consistently great everywhere, alas, even in a peppery
cream sauce. Let’s just say there is a reason for cooking your own food in the caravan
and not leaving it up to chance (think British food with terrible service).
After coffee at the local Internet café, we were on the road again.
West Coast – Greymouth
Day 16-17
South on R1 and then a turnoff onto R7 and we were headed into the center of the SI.
After awhile we started to realize just how much NZ resembles Idaho. Ascending the
first summit into Lake Sumner Forest Park, we disappeared into the clouds and fog and
soon came across a light snow. The ascent and decent of passes continued through the
Victoria Forest Park, until we reached Reefton, then a steady decent to the coast and
Greymouth. Wanting to stay close to a beach, we found such a park a few miles south,
South Beach Motel and Camp. A rocky path through tall coastal grasses and there we
were: a tempestuous salmon and grey blue sky meeting a swelling, thrashing slate blue
sea, lined by a granite stone-strewn beach. The Wild Westland Tasman coast, a perfect
flipside to the Pacific at Kaikoura. We watched as the sun set and the colors faded to
darkness and called it a night. Kaikoura-West Coast Photography.