Motueka, NZ

Wednesday, February 19

We’re making our way along the north part of New Zealand’s South Island toward one of the most popular areas — Abel Tasman National Park. The sun was shining this morning when we left Cable Bay. It was going to be a hot day!

Secluded Cable Bay is about 12 miles from the city of Nelson, but Andi and I hadn’t planned to visit there. RVing in busy areas is stressful. Roadways are tight, there’s lots of traffic, and parking is hard to find for our big rig. Throw driving on the left side of the road into the mix and things turn intense quickly! However, we seem to have misplaced the SD card for our camera and Andi thought we could probably find the one we need in Nelson. So— into the city we went. Andi saw there’s a downtown farmer’s market in Nelson, so we thought we’d check it out while we were passing through. What can we say? We’re a sucker for punishment.

Nelson is situated on sunny Tasman Bay, and was really stunning for a bigger city. Once we arrived, we drove our RV downtown to hit up the farmer’s market first. It was almost lunchtime and we were all hungry. Unfortunately, Andi circled the streets for over 30 minutes looking for parking. We were unsuccessful in finding any, but we did get a good look at the downtown area. I’m glad we had the chance to see it, even if we never got out of the RV.

We continued on past Nelson about 45 minutes to the town of Motueka. It was almost 2:00pm by this point and we were all starving, so Andi stopped at the first restaurant we encountered called TOAD Hall. We knew nothing about this place, but decided it would work.

Did we stumble on quite the interesting place?! Inside the doors of TOAD Hall was a small fresh-foods market which opened up to a giant outdoor garden, patio and playground behind it. The menu looked fantastic — Andi ordered a salmon poke bowl and I selected the falafel platter. We also ordered a plate of homemade hummus and pita bread to share. 

When the food came, our portions were enormous and the flavors were out of this world delicious. Andi and I were not expecting that at all. How did we get so lucky to stumble on this place? Actually though, we’ve yet to have a bad tasting meal since we’ve been in New Zealand. There’s a huge focus on fresh ingredients, chef-driven menus and healthy (but realistic) kids food options. There’s also a big emphasis on sustainability — all restaurants use reusable dishware and charge extra for take-away cups, boxes and silverware with a simple message of “let’s do better.” I really like that.

After lunch, we continued down the main street in Motueka to the local Warehouse (aka: the NZ version of Wal-Mart) and to the grocery store. Per usual, Andi did the shopping while the kids and I stayed in the RV to do school. 

It was so hot outside! A beautiful sunny 30 degrees C/80 degrees F so after schoolwork was done, we decided to spend the rest of the day swimming to cool off. We drove to the well-known Kaiteriteri Beach about 20 minutes away. 

One word when we rounded the last s-turn along the roadway to Kaiteriteri — WOW! The turquoise blue water and golden sand beach in Kaiteriteri was nothing short of breathtaking. 

Andi found a parking spot right along the water which was perfect because we didn’t have to carry our chairs and beach gear very far. We pulled on our swimsuits, slathered ourselves in sunscreen and hit the beach for the next few hours.

Tory entertained herself for two hours building sandcastles and sand displays for the seashells she collected. Aden splashed in the refreshingly cold, crystal-clear blue water while Andi and I sat in the sand and people-watched all the action on the beach. Kaiteriteri is a launching place for trips into the Abel Tasman National Park so there were several tour boats returning to town after a day of exploring.

Around 5:30pm, Andi and I tore Aden and Tory away from the beach (they did not want to leave!) so we could locate our camping spot for the evening. We planned to stay by the river at another farm stay.

When we arrived at the farm stay, we were immediately taken back by the quiet peacefulness of the property. There were a handful of campsites available, situated on flat gravel with soft, green grass and picnic tables. The grounds overlooked a fast-flowing river below. 

The owner of the property invited all the campers into his garden to pick fruits and vegetables for dinner. We picked salad greens, beets, onions, carrots, green beans. The farm stay owner also gave Tory and Aden a small watermelon.

We ate dinner outside on the picnic table by our camper, accompanied by a bottle of White Haven Sauvignon Blanc that we purchased the day before on our wine tour in Renwick, and enjoyed the beautiful summer evening. After dinner, Tory and Aden walked around to the other campervans on the property sharing slices of watermelon.

Thursday, February 20

Andi and I liked this Motueka farm stay so much, we decided to stay for a second night. Sometimes it’s nice (and much needed!) when traveling from place to place to slow down, relax and enjoy the spot we’re in without having to think about what’s next.

Thursday morning, Andi sat by the river engaged in a long conversation with the farm stay owner and another camper also staying on the property while Tory, Aden and I laid in the soft grass nearby and did school for the day. It was such a beautiful morning — too nice to sit inside the RV. Tory and I learned about the effects of weathering and erosion in Science while watching a beautiful river flow just beyond where we laying. Hard to find a more perfect example than that! After a while, Tory and I found a shady spot underneath a picnic table to finish up our schoolwork. The sun was getting hot! It was going to be another beautiful summer day.

After school, Andi and I decided to take Tory and Aden down to the river to swim and relax on the giant boulders near shore. We had the entire river to ourselves.

Evidence that it was a hot day because I actually got into the icy cold river! The water was so clear you could see right down to the sandy bottom.

More brave than I, Andi and the kids swam out to the big boulders in the center of the river to climb and jump.

After we swam for a few hours, the four of us walked back to our campsite. The sun is so intense here, and Tory and Aden wanted some downtime. They watched a few shows on their iPads in the RV while Andi and I sat outside in the shade and talked to another camper.

For dinner, the four of us walked down to the farm stay garden once more and picked a few more leaves of lettuce for a salad. Andi grilled a local butter fish he bought at the market the day before which we ate with salad and potatoes. Whenever we’ve stayed at places with a garden, Tory and Aden are really interested in helping us pick and prepare our food. They helped wash the salad greens, dice potatoes and trim green beans. It makes me want to start a garden of our own at home.

Tomorrow, we’ll head off to another spot along the northern coast of New Zealand’s South Island — Golden Bay.