We headed to the Marlborough region to the flat town of
Blenheim. Blenheim doesn’t have any
tasty waves but it definitely has some tasty wines. It was the first region to grow grapes
successfully on the South Island with world class results. Seemingly endless rows of grapes sprawl out
around this wine lovers paradise.
Although, you’d have to be a little buzzed up to want to live in
Blenheim or take a job there because for NZ standards “it’s pretty much a
shithole”. We were offered a job making
wine for two months, 12hrs a day, and 7 days a week working the graveyard
shift. We took the job. We thought about it. And then we said, no
thank you. We’ve been enjoying our
freedom too much here in New Zealand to work like that.
So back to Kaikoura we went in search of some tasty waves. Tasty waves and fantastic weather is what we
found. We camped on the beach for free
right in front of the surf spot for a week.
Eugene was in heaven!! After enjoying ourselves we returned to Blenheim
to finish off the vehicle requirements for Ol’ Frenchy. We had to get a new windshield and new tires
with an alignment; so now Frenchy is flasher than ever with her new Warrant of
Fitness.
Voluntarily jobless we decided to go for an overdue kayak
trip for Katy’s Birthday. We stocked up
on supplies and drove to Elaine Bay where we met Neil who rented us a beast of
a double kayak for our trip. The next
day we set off into the sounds to paddle from Elaine Bay to Okiwi Bay via
D’Urville Island. We spent the first two
days in the Outer Pelorus Sound where we saw Gannets dive-bombing for fish;
found a sunken kayak that we tried to revive to no avail; and caught our first
Blue Cod.
The third and fourth days were spent on D’Urville Island, where
we had our own private bay with Fur Seal and Penguin friends to keep us
company. On D’Urville we caught three
more Blue Cod; went snorkeling for Green Mussels; and paddled the clear waters
while looking across the Cook Straight to the North Island. On our last day we woke up early to time the
low tide so we could safely paddle through the French Pass. It is a narrow crossing which can be
treacherous at times. The waters were
calm and our timing was smooth to make the slack tide. With the worry of the trickiest part of the
paddle behind us we dropped in our line to hook one more Blue Cod to have on
our last evening at Papawai Bay. They
are so delicious!! We ate better on our
kayak trip than we do normally in good Ol’ Frenchy.
The Marlborough Sounds kayak trip was a definite highlight
of our New Zealand adventure. After Neil
picked us up in Okiwi Bay he let us shower and recharge before we headed out to
the next adventure. Which is less
exciting…….picking Apples!!!!? So we now
find ourselves set up to pick apples for 4weeks in the Tasman region. So be on the lookout for those imported
Braeburn Apples from New Zealand picked by us truly!!!!
