New Zealand Explorer Motorhome Tour - Days 18-19

Much to our tour leaders’ relief, we all made it safely to the ferry and enjoyed a calm 3¼ hour crossing. It is a shame that it rained for most of the trip, but as we neared Picton the cloud tried to lift and we caught glimpses of the tree-filled hills and inlets of Queen Charlotte Sound.

Rather than head straight to our campsite at Blenheim, we detoured along the beautiful Queen Charlotte Drive coastal road and gradually the sun broke though the clouds.  We stopped at several viewpoints along the way to take in the views of blue and turquoise water and pretty jetties. At one stop we identified the invasive Banana Passionfruit and inhaled the floral scent from great swathes of rambling jasmine.

The following morning dawned bright and we teamed up with another couple to experience an Early Bird Eco Cruise departing from Picton. The atmospheric fog soon burned off and our Captain made a couple of stops en route giving us a fabulous view of some very fine boat-only accessible properties.

It was thrilling to be dropped off at the jetty of Motuara Island Sanctuary and see the boat disappear with the hope that someone would be back for us after a couple of hours! Motorua Island has historical significance as the location where Captain James Cook declared sovereignty over New Zealand’s South Island. In the 1900s it was cleared of all vegetation and used to farm sheep and goats.  The island that we explored was 70 year old regenerated forest where in 1991 all introduced pests were eradicated and it became a predator-free wildlife sanctuary.

Along the way we spotted the birds on our flyer, the easiest of all were the Little Blue Penguins who were huddled with their young in nest boxes, allowing us a quick peek before leaving them in peace. The South Island Robins lacked the red-breast of their UK cousins but they were equally inquisitive and photogenic.

To our relief the boat returned as promised and whisked us to our next stop at Resolution Bay. We hiked (or tramped  in Kiwi) to Furneaux Lodge, 10.5km of the 71km forested coastal Queen Charlotte Track and arrived just in time to enjoy a cold one before catching the boat back to Picton.