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.