WEEKEND DRIVE
THEY SAY THAT A CHANGE IS AS GOOD AS A HOLIDAY. SO, THOUGHT WEEKEND DRIVE COLUMNIST DAVID COXON, WHY NOT HAVE BOTH!
T his Christmas trip was going to be a first for us in many ways.
It was our first time exploring the Marlborough Sounds, our first time remote camping plus the longest ever camping holiday at nine nights. It was also going to be the first time I had used a roof bag I won quite a few years ago.
With an early start for the ferry, we were fully packed the night before, and with all the extra room in the roof bag I was hoping that I would remember where I had put everything when it was time to unpack.
Once under way, the trip across Cook Strait was very pleasant, although some passengers were unhappy about the gentle swell. Luckily there was plenty of time in the shelter of the sounds for stomachs to settle.
After a brief shopping stop at Picton to stock up on some of the more perishable items, we took the scenic route around the sounds, turning off at Linkwater for our final destination, Titirangi Bay.
As we headed up the increasingly narrow and windy, but still sealed, road along the spine of the peninsular, gaps in the trees gave us the occasional views of the blue water and lush green hills of the sounds, although the clouds started gathering over the hills as the day progressed.
It was mid to late afternoon when we spotted a totally unexpected sign for a café down a narrow access road to a small cluster of houses. Ashley went down to investigate and was soon radioing back asking what we wanted to drink? Sitting on the outside deck right above the sea enjoying coffee and cake was so relaxing and pleasant that we just wanted to stop for the night.
Kiss ‘n tell
Talking to the waiter we discovered, in fact, that there was a campground at Mistletoe Bay only a kilometre up the road. This was the perfect opportunity to take advantage of the fact that we had deliberately made no bookings and no firm plans for the holiday – we didn’t even have a return ferry booked!
Mistletoe Bay turned out to be a very pleasant campground with a cluster of cabins and a lodge near the communal facilities and powered and unpowered sites in slightly more remote areas.
We ended up with an unpowered site on an upper plateau, where we stayed for three nights. There were three other groups there when we arrived but two of them left the next day, so we expanded to two sites at no extra cost. Our only remaining neighbour was a couple who were professional musicians and folk singers and after a very successful first camping dinner it was amazing to be serenaded to sleep by a guitar and harp duet. That is the first time I have seen a full sized harp on a camping trip!
Converseley, being woken up at 5: 00am by Weka honking as they tried to get into the tent meant for an interesting, if somewhat early start to the day.
The only inconvenience with the campground was that despite being a commercial operation, they offered no provision for rubbish disposal. With the nearest transfer point being a coinoperated facility for large household rubbish bags about 20km back towards Havelock and the nearest ordinary rubbish bin being at Havelock, even further away, we ended up coping with our very smelly food scraps being a major attraction for the Weka by the end of our stay.
Views to Titirangi… Bay (of course!)
Our first day of real exploring was a trip to the top of the peninsula to visit Titirangi. The weather was fine but partly cloudy with a southerly breeze that kept the temperature down as we continued to the head of Kenepuru Sound where we found a DOC campsite that made a very pleasant morning tea stop.
With the clouds slowly clearing we continued, taking Titirangi Rd, a well-graded gravel road through tunnels made by the lush largely native forest, with the odd opportunity for a view across the outer sounds. Eventually we came out of the forest onto farmland for expansive views of Titirangi Bay and the campground right on the beach far below us.
By the time we finally reached the campground it was well and truly time for lunch, confirming that we made the right decision in not attempting the full trip the previous afternoon. We took the short walk to the beach and enjoyed lunch on a beautiful sandy beach populated by only three other groups. After lunch and a wander around the beach it was time to start the return trip.
Although I was hoping to explore a couple of side roads marked on the map, most of them ended up being private farm roads or, in the case of the road to Anakoha Bay, a nice drive with a spectacular view from the top of the hill, but ending at gates onto private properties just before reaching the coast. We did, however, have a couple of other events to keep the interest up on the way back to camp.
Halfway back along Titirangi Rd we spotted a bloke on the side of the road working on his vehicle. Stopping to check on him, we found that the bash plate had come loose and he was trying to find a few suitable bolts to fix it. Luckily both Ashley and I had a spare bolts box and were able to provide a couple of suitable bolts.
May day, May day!
Then, when I got back to the car, I found that May had been grabbed by bush lawyer while trying to get a photograph through the trees, and was trapped a few metres down the bank from the car. Luckily, I had a knife handy to cut the offending branches and get May back on the road, then there was the slow and careful job of peeling the thorny remains off her clothing.
We had time for a final coffee break at the same campsite we had used for morning tea, which also gave me the chance to marvel at the difference in the view at high tide from what we had seen at low tide that morning. Back at camp had a leisurely break before tea and another relaxing evening before the cold started to make a warm sleeping bag an attractive option.
This was the break I needed, and this was only the second night of our holiday. Could it get any better?
Find out next month.