Happy one week vanniversary to us! Since we were in Lake Taupo, we have covered some serious ground. We won’t bore you with naming every little town we have gone through because there’s too many to count (and honestly a lot look the same, beautiful! but the same). Either way, prepare for a lengthy recap below.

Paekakariri: Yes, we had to say this name ten times out loud to get it right. This was a very cute little beach town on the southwest side of the north island. We splurged and paid for a campsite (about $23 US dollars) which was worth every penny. Free hot showers, beautifully maintained property, and right across from the beach (not to mention a playground, two trampolines and a giant blob thing you could jump on… needless to say, we were equally as excited as all the children at the campsite).

We went for a fantastic long, and hot (so hot) run along the Queen Elizabeth running path, experienced our first actual sunset over the Tasman sea, then concluded the night (as always) with a game of cribbage (which Taylor most likely won, but who’s keeping track?).

Jumping on the blob at the campsite:

Wellington: Then it was off to Wellington! Although we flew into Auckland (another main city) we left soon after getting our van. So Wellington was our first experience in a big city and it was a blast. It was rainy during the day so we went to the Museum of New Zealand (which has free entry!) then went for a run along the board walk which has a ton of great parks, restaurants and bars.

Instead of sleeping in the van on a city street, we decided to hit up another hostel. We met a lovely woman name Melinda from Australia and a very friendly kid named Howard from the UK. We had dinner together in our hostel then we went out to the bars with Howard to finally get some dancing in and some pitchers of beer aka “jugs” as they’re referred to here.

We may have had a few too many “jugs” because the next morning was a litttttle bit rough. Not to me to mention the 3 hour long ferry we took from Wellington to the south island of New Zealand that morning. Oh, and the fact that both of us get seasick (even when no hangover is involved). So it was quite the ride but we officially made it to the south island!

Views from the ferry ride:

Nelson: One of the first towns we stopped in was Nelson and wow was she cute! The population is similar to Portland, Maine, and there were a ton of cute streets, shops, and restaurants. It also felt a bit like you teleported back in time because we saw the following: a K-Mart, a Kodak store, and multiple travel agencies. Who uses travel agencies in 2019!? The people of Nelson, New Zealand, that’s who.

Kaiterieri: Then it was off to Kaiteriteri (yes we had to say that names ten times as well) which is just south of the Abel Tasman National Park. We pulled the van right up to the water for oceanfront coffee, then we started on the most physically demanding day we’ve had so far!

Coffee with a hunk and a view:

We started by renting mountain bikes and spending 3 hours biking through the Kaiteriteri mountain bike park which was insane! First of all, neither of us had actually been or seen or heard of a mountain bike park that was elaborate enough to have multiple trails for all skill levels. Second of all, mountain biking is such a good mix of physical activity and fear (though it might lean more towards fear for some people, cough cough Taylor). Though she blames her initial fear on the fact that Tristan decided they should do an intermediate trail first (not remembering that Taylor’s biking experience consists of riding a Trek bicycle around her very flat cul-de-sac as a child). We quickly decided to go on the beginner trails instead, which ended up being fun for both of us.

Rippin up the mountain bike trails:

After, we drove a little farther north to the start of the Abel Tasman National Park and went for a 3 hour hike along the coastal trail. Although it was relatively flat and not too strenuous, it was incredibly interesting landscape because it looked different around every corner. We walked along a metal bridge through a marsh, through dark, lush rainforesty woods, through crispy meadows, and ended up on a fantastic beach in an area called Apple Tree bay. With six straight hours of physical activity under our belts, we decided to find a campground and spend the night.

Abel Tasman coastal trail:

The place was called Canaan Downs. The driveway to get to the campsite from the main road was 11 kilometers, which isn’t that bad on flat, paved road… which this was neither flat nor paved. All in all it took our van about 30 min to reach the end of the driveway and where we could park. There was probably ten other campers there (some in tents and some in vans) and the stars were incredible.

Flash forward to 11pm, about an hour after we went to bed. We were jolted awake by a large truck parked in the middle of the camp, high beams blaring, music blasting, and the driver(s?) yelling belligerently at a man in a tent about 30 yards from us. We still don’t know exactly what was going on but it appeared the truck was a drunk local who either didn’t like out-of-towners, or was just looking for trouble. Either way, we stayed in our van and did not get involved.

Tent man asked truck man to turn off his lights/turn down the music, which resulted in the truck man turning his truck to face the tent man and revving his engine and yelling for a good 15 minutes. It was definitely terrifying especially since we were about an hour from the closest town and no one around us had phone service. Not quite the scene you want to wake up to in the middle of the night.

Truck man finally leaves. We are laying in our van, feeling super anxious and still kinda scared but trying to fall back asleep. Then about 30 minutes later, truck man comes back and does the same thing. He casts his high beams directly on tent man’s tent and keeps yelling. Eventually he left and everyone was fine, but still. It was definitely an unsettling experience. One day it’ll just be part of the story, but for now, we are happy we won’t be staying there again tonight. Now we venture farther south to Greymouth for some more hiking, a friendlier campsite, and most importantly some cold beers.

Taylors exact face after last night’s experience:

Love and hugs from New Zealand!

-T&T