Secret Seal hideaway and the Abel Tasman

After reluctantly leaving the Hot Springs we drove to the coastal town of Kaikoura and then started the drive northwards. Along the road we saw the unusual signs “beware seals next 7 kms” . The road was running right alongside the coast only meters from the sea and rocks, and sure enough we soon saw dozens of seals right on the beach and playing in the rock pools below. The larger ones just looked at us as if to say..dont disturb my sleep, but the younger seals were really curious. They can climb right up the bank and get onto the road. We saw a baby seal sleeping under a bush just next to the road but when it saw us it gave a little yelp and slithered down the slope. Some locals told us about a secret place up the road which we visited. The sign could easily be missed and I don’t think many people even know about this enchanting place!

We followed a little river rushing over rocks in a dim forest for 10 min to a waterfall. The baby seal pups come up the river during the day and play at the waterfall till evening till their parents came back from fishing and then they all returned to the beach to be fed. As we walked along the ferny forest and looked down at the river we saw many baby seals slithering over the rocks. But what a surprise to get to the pool and the waterfall...the pool was teaming with baby seals, frolicking in the pool, lying on the banks and sitting on the rocks only feet away from us. They looked at us with their huge eyes and little whiskered chins as if to say “what are YOU doing here?” we could not believe what we saw..they played like little pups ( scuse the pun) , chasing each other in the water, jumping off the jutting rocks into the pool, doing flips and dives, and of course head butting and practice fighting as all baby animals do. The signs said not to touch them cos they could bite, but it was so tempting cos they were obviously curious and wanted to sniff us out. Unfortunately the light was dim so the photos don’t show the numbers in the water or how they were playing and swimming. What a special experience we will always treasure.

That night we stayed at a DOC campsite along the coast, parking a few feet from the beach with towering cliffs behind us. So peaceful and not a light near us. We drove though a small town of Blenheim ( some of the names are So Olde English and others are completely Maori) where we refuelled and stocked up. From there we drove to a ski resort in the mountains called St Arnaud and stopped at a DOC site on the edge of a postcard perfect lake with mountains surrounding us. We were the only people in this huge, beautiful natural camp, although I could see in Summer it was very well used for boating and fishing. Driving on we finally reached the northern side of the country. On looking at the map we thought that we could make it to our destination by afternoon tea because we only had 40 kms to go. So ,we set off across Takaka “hill”.....and we climbed, and we climbed and we climbed. The GPS showed hairpin bends that looked like seismagraph, and we saw valleys below that seemed like they were from an airplane. But still upwards we climbed, thro the clouds, and finally an equally nerve wracking decent. If the New Zealanders call that a “hill”.....

We were now in an area called Golden Bay. We drove to the furtherest point of the West Coast ( yes we had crossed over to the West Coast again!) and the longest spit in the world reaching out into the ocean...37 kms. The west coast here is wild and windy with huge rocks in the sea with intriguing shapes and holes. The geology is amazing showing rocks of all sizes imbedded into the limestone, large caves, folded rocks etc.

The north coast is famous for its wonderful Hike along a stretch of very wild and beautiful coast line called the Abel Tasman. It takes several days to hike end to end with huts at various bays, tidal crossings and wonderful rainforest vegetation. There are some endangered species that thrive here so isolated and dense is the bush. For those wanting to do just parts of the hike there is a water taxi which can take people to various stages, and drop them off/pickup in other parts. We decided we would stay in the DOC campsite at the most northern end of the hike. Once again we saw a gravel road 12 kms on the map, but again had to wind our way through narrow , winding and climbing curves with steep precipices to get there ...but later found out that a BUS service did the trip too......!!!!!! The Campsite was idyllic....natural rain forest right onto the golden beach, total privacy because there were only a few of campers ( in summer the camp holds over 800 sites allocated on a ballot basis ), showers and toilets, and best of all for Paul...a FIREPLACE. He loves to have a fire when he is camping but most places don’t allow fires anymore. Imagine his delight when the ranger pulled up and gave him a whole pile of wood! It was such a special place that if the weather had not turned nasty ...rainy and thick mist...I could have stayed there a week. We did do some of the Hike track and it is one of the most beautiful.

The next day the rain and thick mist covered the whole area..the “killer” hill had no views, and as we drove along the coast of Nelson we only got glimpses of the coast line. Because it was predicted to last the next few days we decided to carry on thro the Sounds and go to Picton and the ferry. The last night on South Island we used a DOC site on the banks of Charlotte Sound overlooking the wonderful bays and mountains...covered in thick cloud. As the ferry travelled through the Sound the mist lifted for a short while and we said goodbye to the lovely scenery, promising to come again one day. After 3 hours the ferry sailed into Wellington with rain and cloud, but still very impressive...the next leg of our journey.