South Island Bound

The Lure of the South Island

We’re bucking the trend and heading to the South Island as winter descends.  It’s okay though, we will hang around the top half of the South Island. It is slightly warmer in those cold winter months than in Central Otago and we have some housesitting assignments in the top half.

Farewell Martinborough

Well, the Wairarapa certainly treated us well.  If you haven’t already done so, check out our Part One, Part Two and Part Three blogs all about Discovering Wairarapa.

Across the Rimutaka Range

With the homeowners now back and our handover completed, we hitched up, completed the Check List and we hit the road.

We planned to stay the night at the Petone Workingman’s Club.  It is only a 12-minute drive (on a Sunday morning) to get to the Bluebridge Ferry for our crossing across the Cooks Straight.  

If you are a member of the NZMCA (#5313), you are able to park in their parking area behind the club for $10 per vehicle.

Before we reached there, we needed to traverse the Rimutaka Ranges.  The narrow and winding State Highway 2 crosses the ridge towards the Hutt Valley from Featherstone.  There is a lookout at the summit which is 940m (3,080ft) at the highest point.

Handling the Rimutaka Ranges like a boss, the Petone Workingmen’s Club and waiting in line at Bluebridge

Our Ford Ranger didn’t miss a beat as we climbed, climbed and climbed!  Being a Saturday afternoon, the traffic wasn’t too bad.  There were plenty of layovers and passing lanes so that we weren’t holding anyone up too much.

We arrived at the Petone Workingman’s Club at around 2.30pm and managed to find ourselves a spot in the large metalled fenced area behind the club.

If anyone is planning to stay overnight, just be aware that it gets very crowded on a Saturday night if a live band is playing at the club!  The carpark quickly filled up with patrons cars.  Any campervans/caravans arriving early in the evening would have been completely out of luck for a parking spot.

Bluebride Ferry Crossing – Hello South Island

Another bonus of being an NZMCA member is being able to book on either the Interislander or Bluebridge Ferry at a discounted price.  It is all dependent on the time of the year you travel and the length of your vehicle as to how much it will cost you.  The website is easy to navigate and you can research costs before you book.

When we compared prices, they were very similar so we decided to go with Bluebridge.  The sailing timings were slightly earlier and we were keen to cross the straight as early as possible.

We left the Workingmen’s Club at 5.30am and drove the short 10 minutes to the ferry (bonus with it being a Sunday morning and no rush hour to contend with).

The ticketing office was open so I was able to check us in.  I got our boarding passes and took our place in the line ready to board.  NB: if you arrive early before the small ticketing kiosk is open, you can park up and pop inside the main building to complete the check-in process.

The friendly staff directed us to which lane to follow.  We easily turned around in the hull of the boat in one swing.  We lined up with rest of the trucks, trailers and a handful of campervans.

It seemed fitting to toast the departure of the North Is and our arrival in the South Island…..even though it was 9.30am!!!

Despite having a less than favourable weather forecast, the sailing was smooth across Cooks Straight.  As usual, it was magical cruising through the glorious Malborough Sounds.  It was good being back in the South Island for sure.

Hello Picton……we heard the call to ‘head to the hull’ to start our engines.

One Night in Blenheim

Our first priority was to visit the homeowners of a house sitting assignment that we are booked for in August.  It is always nice to be able to meet up prior to the sit.  Especially to sort out the parking for the caravan while we are there for the duration.

We decided to try out a CAP (Charges Apply Parking – #7034) through the NZMCA which is close to Blenheim.  Rita’s place is very close to town and for only $5 we could park up in a large paddock she has set up beside her house.  There is the option to pay extra for power and she also has potable water available.

Our one night at Rita’s place

It was the perfect location for us and it was only a short drive to our homeowner’s property.  Our housesit in August is for 6 weeks.  There was no reason for us to hang around Blenheim.  We’ll have plenty of time to discover the area in full when we come back.

The next day we decided to head back to Picton.  We wanted to explore part of the Link Pathway cycle trail.  Where we stayed, what we did and what we saw is in the next instalment. 

Click on the link below to see a video of our highlights.