Rotokura/Cable Bay, NZ

Tuesday, February 18

Today marks a week since we’ve been in New Zealand. Hard to believe! It feels like we’re been here a long time already, and yet only scratched the surface of all there is to do and see.

Tuesday morning, we packed up our things and hit the road, leaving the Blenheim area heading toward the north side of New Zealand’s South Island. Next stop: Rotokura/Cable Bay. Cable Bay is a small community just outside of Nelson, NZ. Its rugged, rocky beach and secluded bay are rich in NZ history — with evidence the Māori once used this bay for fishing and camping, then later when the first telegraph cable linked New Zealand with Australia (connecting NZ to the rest of the world) was laid there. After spending the past week in more populated towns on the South Island, Andi and I were looking forward to visiting this more remote, peaceful place.

Along the way, we stopped in the town of Havelock so Andi could visit a pharmacy (his allergies are in full force) while Tory, Aden and I sat inside the RV and did school work. It was raining, and locals everywhere were rejoicing. Today was the first time there’s been any precipitation since December. The entire eastern coast is in a total fire ban.

The rain stopped just before we arrived in Cable Bay, and the scenery there was breathtaking. Andi parked the RV on the rocky beach and we had lunch there. Tory and Aden searched for unique rocks on the beach while Andi flew the drone overhead to check out the view. It’s so interesting how the temperature changes by driving only a short distance — when we left Renwick this morning, it was hot and dry. In Cable Bay, just 90 minutes north, the air was cool and humid.

Andi reserved us a campsite at the Cable Bay Holiday Park which is the only camping option available in the area. The kids bee-lined it to the trampoline while Andi parked the RV and I packed a backpack for an afternoon hike. There’s a popular walk through area farmland that leaves from the campground and provides gorgeous overhead views of the bay. The minute we set out to go “tramping” (as the local kiwis call it), it started to rain pretty hard again. “I don’t want to go tramping,” Aden said. “I want to stay here and go tramp.-olining!” The kids were already wet from jumping on the trampoline and Andi and I were already dressed in our rain jackets, so we decided to go for the hike anyway… only to discover that the trail was closed due to the total fire ban. Bummer!

The four of us decided to hunt for pretty rocks along the cobblestone beach instead. The bay was so peaceful, we had the whole spit of land to ourselves.

After a while, we walked back to the campground and hung out there for the rest of the evening. Tory and Aden jumped on the trampoline with some other kids, and then Tory helped Andi cook us hamburgers for dinner in the campground community kitchen. Later, I showered the kids and did laundry.

Tomorrow, we’ll leave Cable Bay and continue on toward Nelson and Abel Tasman National Park.