We are both exhausted. We spent the morning drinking coffee before heading on about 11am. We wanted to find somewhere nearby to chill out for the day. We drove down to a freedom camping spot at the beach, but it didn’t have the vibe. The plan was to have a quiet day, then race past the tourist hot spots of Fox and Franz josef glacier.

But we didn’t find anything and ended up camping in the middle of Franz Josef. But it’s a really nice spot at the NZMCA park here. I was worried about mike’s elbow that he scraped on his fall yesterday, so I made him go to see the nurse. She cleaned it up and said it would be fine, so at least that’s something we don’t need to worry about. 

We spent the afternoon relaxing. I finally got my next video finished, now I just need to find somewhere to upload it.

This morning we had to go to the hospital. But don’t panic, all is ok.

We had a great night sleep at the Greymouth freedom camp. We headed off about 9am as Mike needed to go to the hospital for blood tests. With this new medication he is on, he needs to have fortnightly blood tests. And they don’t have pathlabs in the south island, so we had to go to the hospital for it.

It’s quite different here going for blood test. In Hamilton, every sits in the waiting room, ignoring eye contact with anyone else. In Greymouth, everyone is chatting, making small talk about the weather, and joking and laughing. It was kinda cool.

After that we headed to Lake Kaniere. Some YouTubers we follow invited us to visit, so we did! We’ve been following each other for years, and they are the best NZ channel we follow. They are @LeopardsGoWild and they live full time in their caravan with their 3 kids. So, it was so cool to finally meet them. 

We didn’t feel like staying at the doc camp they were at, so we continued on towards the hokitika gorge, taking the gravel back roads. On the way was an incredible waterfall, which of course we had to photograph. Except Mike fell over on the slippery rocks and grazed his elbow rather nastily. I put a plaster on it and hope it will be ok.

We continued on to the Hokitika gorge, arriving just before 5pm. It was a great time to visit, the rou buses just leaving and not too many people. And the water was just unreal! We’d been here before but the water wasn’t this blue. Last time it was like a murky floury blue, this time it was a bright turquoise, almost fluorescent. It was so beautiful I couldn’t stop looking at it.

After that came the time to look for somewhere to camp. I had the NZMCA park in Hokitika lined up, but it was absolutey chockers. So we continued on. We were both feeling really tired. There was a park over property in Ross. We drove up, saw the gate across, and decided we didn’t like the look of it, so turned back. Then I realised how tired I was, so we did a double take. I suggested we just look at it, and if we still don’t like it, we move on.

It was actually a beautiful spot surrounded by trees, and was already very full with motorhomes. But we found a spot, and for $10 a night it felt safe and was very peaceful. (Incidentally, Jenny and Barry checked out this spot the previous day and turned away too!)

Today Jenny and Barry did the Pancake rocks, but we’d done it 3 times before and skipped it. All the cars in the carpark put us off too, and you now have to pay to park. Instead we walked the Truman track down to the bottom where there were amazing views of the sea rolling in and smashing against the rocks.

By then it was lunchtime, and we turned off onto a gravel road  and found a beautiful spot overlooking a swing bridge to have our lunch. It is also the start of the Pike river memorial walk, but it was about 16km there and back and decided against doing it.

The drive down the west coast was incredible. There were plenty of pull over stops, just to stop and admire the wild waves crashing on the shore.

We arrived in Greymouth about 2pm. Barry had to bid at an auction here. Jenny said they saw dolphins down at the point, so we went down to check it out and there was an amazing freedom camp at the end with flash toilets (flushing with water and hand soap). We grabbed a park at the freedom spot for just in case, then took a walk to the end of the pier.

We watched a guy catch a kahawai off the end of the wharf, but we didn’t see any dolphins. When we got back to our van, the freedom camping spot had filled up. So we decided we would stay as it’s such a beautiful spot.

That  night we sat on the beach watching the sunset. It was unreal how pleasant the evening was. There was no wind and the temperature was very mild. There was this cool structure on the beach made from driftwood. It was quite elaborate with different rooms and a firepit. We met the guy who built it, and he’s been working on it for 5 years. He had a warm fire going inside and music playing, and the views of the sunset through the driftwood walls were unreal. It was the sort of thing you might expect to see at a festival, but here it was, right on the beach. It felt surreal!

Ooh, it was chilly this morning. We waited for the sun to hit the van before getting out of bed, and then it warmed up nicely.

We had showers before leaving the Gentle Annie Campground. We drove up past Karamea and went as far as we could. At the end was a DOC camp and the start (or finish) of the Heaphy Track. We took a short walk across the swing bridge and along part of the Heaphy Track, through beautiful nīkau palms.

Barry lost his hat on the swing bridge. It blew off and into the water far below. Mike thought it was absolutely hilarious and kept heckling him about it. But karma’s got him: he’s now lost his own hat.

Afterwards, we headed to the Oparara Arches. They’re down a narrow, windy, very rutted dirt road. It was only 14 km, but it took us almost an hour! On the way, a 4WD had slipped off the road and broken its CV joint. We stopped to see if we could help, but we had limited tools, so we continued on to the arches.

The first arch was a 15-minute walk along a bush track, the path winding through dense greenery. I had to climb down through a cave to the most magnificent arch with a river running through it. There was a sandy beach on the other side of the river, but i didn’t feel like swimming to get to it.

Then we backtracked, and took another walk. This walk followed the river which looked like a strong cup of tea. But it was super clear and it looked unreal. At the end of the walk was a massive limestone arch, which towered precariously over us. It didn’t look safe.

There was a scramble down to the bottom of the arch, but I didn’t want to tackle it and chance putting my back out again.

We rattled our way back along the rough dirt road, and  the tow truck had only just arrived to retrieve the unlucky 4WD. 

After that, we had to backtrack through Karamea and Westport. I hadn’t noticed how windy the road was on the way up, but on the way back it felt long and tiring.

Jenny and Barry were staying at a freedom camping spot at the Fox River, so we asked them to save us a place as we wouldn’t be arriving until after 7pm.

While they were holding our spot, a couple of foreigners pulled in and parked very close beside them. That is typical of foreigners, they don’t have the sense of personal space that we do. It’s normal in Europe to camp like that. Anyway, she asked them to move over a bit so there was room for us, and they left. So they placed their chairs there to mark the spot.

Thankfully, by the time we arrived, our space was still there! It was a beautiful spot, right across the road from the beach and on the banks of the fox river. We strolled along the beach to watch the sun set, the sky turning bright red as the sun set over the ocean. It was gorgeous!

It was a really busy free camp, people crammed in all over the place. There was the usual cacophony of the swoosh of sliding doors followed by the slam of van doors echoing all over the carpark, but it died down about 10pm, and I was able to sleep.

This morning we took it easy in Murchison. We went to a quirky little cafe for coffee and I managed to upload my video. The drive to Westport today was incredible, through the Buller gorge. Towering cliffs on either side and the river running through the middle.

Barry had to get some medication from the chemist, and we did a small shop, then we headed up to Denniston. It was a windy steep drive, but incredibly scenic overlooking the wild west coastline. We were really lucky to have such a clear day as the views from the top were incredible. We tried to find some of the old buildings that were in the book, but not sure they are still up there. We did find Ellens house though and the school where the accident happened.

We had lunch at the top with a stunning view over the coastline, and little wekas wandering around. Afterwards we headed north and stopped at a quirky little campground called Gentle Annie. We have a beautiful spot overlooking the river and the sea, but it’s very windy, and it’s gotten quite cold.

This morning it rained, so we packed up and left our perfect spot. We had to backtrack to Takaka, but we stopped off at a little hippie town of Collingwood and had a look around and through the museum. Then we stopped at Takaka and got rid of all our waste and filled up with fuel.

As it was raining we decided on a driving day. It was a gorgeous drive along the backroads of the Buller river and into Murchison.

We stopped at the Murchison NZMCA park and it’s right in town, and only $5pp. It had been cold all day but when we stopped the sun was out and it was overbearingly hot and humid. Then it rained again and cooled it down.

We mooched around the town, checking out the second hand stores. Then a few sandflies came out and we retreated inside the van where I managed to get my video finished. My back is feeling a lot better now, bit still not 100%.

We left out camp early today as we had a bit of exploring to do. We drove up the stunning Takaka hill. I thought we hadn’t been here before, but we drove up here on our Apple maps driving job. We turned off at Takaka and followed the coast up to Totoranui. It was tarseal for some of the way then turned to a rutted gravel path. As I always say, the best things are at the end of the gravel road.

At the end was a stunning golden sandy beach. There was also a doc camp there, but it wasn’t overlooking the sea so we decided not to stay. So back to Takaka we went. Jenny and Barry were still there as Barry had to go to the doctors. He’d not been feeling well, so Mike gave him his blood pressure monitor to check it. It was very high. So he went to the chemist in Takaka who told him to go to the doctors. He’d already decided to double his dose and by the time he got to the doctor it had lowered to a safer level.

After that we headed up to farewell spit. They didn’t allow dogs, so we just pulled up, took a photo, decided it looked boring and smelled like rotting seaweed, and left. Some Aussies we met said we must to to Wharariki beach as it was beautiful. So we followed another gravel road. But when we got there the overflow carpark was overflowing, and in my experience, if there are that many people, it takes away from any beauty. And it’s just another beach. So we abandoned that walk as well.

But all was not bad. We found the perfect campspot at the back of a farmers farm, overlooking the ocean and the spit. It was another NZMCA Park over property and was free. And only a handful of motorhomes there. A perfect end to a not so perfect day

We did not want to leave our perfect spot at the French pass. The morning was gorgeous and I would have loved to have spent the day there swimming and chilling out. But I had a Physio appointment booked in Nelson.

The drive out of the French pass was even more stunning than the drive in. We explored a few more bays along the way and arrived in Nelson mid afternoon.

My physio was really nice. She worked on my back and loosened it up a lot and has given me some exercises to do. Still not sure if I’ll be doing the Routeburn but will know more in a week.

After that we got stuck in Nelson traffic and eventually got out the other side. Thankfully Jenny had found us a nice spot at a park overlooking property. It was only $5 per person, and even had a toilet and shower!

We also took a drive up to Kaiteriteri but freaked out at all the people there and got out immediately!

Wow, what a day. My back is still pretty sore, but I’m sure it’s better than yesterday. I made an appointment in Nelson for the physio for just in case.

We didn’t drive far today. We wanted to go to the French Pass, but Jenny and Barry didn’t so we dropped them off at a little place called Okiwi Bay where they were able to stay at a park over property for just $10 a night, right across the road from the bay. At that stage we didn’t know whether we’d be back that night or not.

Then we continued on up to French pass, ignoring all the scary signs. Narrow road, drop offs, gravel, 4WD recommended. We decided it was for tourist and didn’t apply to us. It was about 1.5 hours drive from Okiwi bay. It was a windy ole road on tarseal for most of the way, then it turned to gravel, and this is where it got interesting.

The road surface itself was fine, we’ve been on way worse. The views were incredible. Blue water, islands, little bays, and the feeling of remoteness that we love. We were both grinning from ear to ear as we drove, absolutely loving it. 

We knew there was a doc camp at the French pass but we didn’t know what to expect, or whether we’d even stay or not. But when we arrived, the doc camp was overlooking a perfect little bay. There was no doubt, we would be staying here. We parked up and that was that.

There were large stingrays patrolling up and down the beach. They were really cool to watch. I put my feet in the water and they swam right up to me. I think they’re used to people feeding them. And then we went for a swim. It was freezing but refreshing. There are cold showers here too, so it was nice to get clean, especially with my physio appointment tomorrow. I also got our laundry done.

The people camped next to us were really fun. A couple of women travelling in their motorhome were hilarious. The lady lives in her motorhome all year round and her cousin was visiting from Cairns. And then a guy on a motorbike turned up and camped on the other side of us. It was the perfect spot. 

If my back is screwed and I can’t do the routeburn, I think we will just come back up here.

Today didn’t go as planned. I woke up with terrible back pain. It started a couple of nights ago, and it was even worse today.  Mike had to help me put my socks on. We spent the morning at Aussie bay, lazing around then walked 1km to a pier to watch jenny and robyn fish. No luck.

My plan was to spend time looking around the sounds. I’d seen a nice campground at Kenepuru heads that sounded nice. But when we drove that way, there were big signs saying, dangerous road, slips, we don’t want you here, etc. Jenny and Barry decided to head to Havelock, but we wanted to see if we could get through. The road wasn’t bad, but we eventually came to a road closure. We could wait an hour and they would let us through, but we decided we couldn’t be bothered. So we turned back too and met Jenny and Barry in Havelock. We restocked there, and filled up with water.

Tonight we are staying in a POP (Park Over Property.) It’s free, and it’s at the back of an old gold mining pub and surrounded by hills and it’s really picturesque. We’ve got chickens behind us to make us feel at home.

For dinner we made zuchinni soup to share (I knew my blender would come in handy), homemade garlic bread, followed by smoked salmon and coleslaw.