We woke to a dreary old day in Reefton and it was even a little cool. So we headed off early, wanting to explore the Nelson Lakes. By the time we got to Murchison, the weather had cleared and it was hot! 

We took a little detour to Lake Rotoroa, and it was a beautiful spot surrounded by mountains with a doc camp beside it. But as soon as we got out of the car we were attacked by sandflies and bumble bees. So we jumped back into the car and quite a few sandflies came with us. Bloody things were hungry too, gnawing away having a good suck. I killed a few on the windscreen and wondered if it was my blood or someone elses.

Then we stopped at St Arnaud and looked at Lake Rotoiti. This was another spectacular spot, with slightly less sandflies. Under the pier were loads of big black eels. They were really cool to watch and they were friendly too.

It was an absolutely stunning day, but we both felt a bit over it. We were covered in bites and felt like we were ready to go home. So we continued on to Picton in the hope that we could catch the 2pm ferry. It’s pretty normal to do this in Europe, but apparently it doesn’t work like that here. We rocked up at 1.25 pm only to be told we were too late. So they put us on standby for that evenings ferry.

In the meantime we had a look around Picton. We had some fish and chips in the main street and wandered around the foreshore which was beautiful and clear. We even enquired about water taxis for the Queen Charlotte track. It’s $129 each and thats for drop off and pick up. And we don’t need to book anywhere if we take our own tent. We might come down and do that another time.

We only had an hours parking so we headed back to the Bluebridge terminal as it was free parking and they had airconditioning and toilets. I decided to check again to see if anything had come up for the evening’s sailing. Mike said I was stupid as we’d checked earlier. But people are changing their bookings all the time, so I was hopeful. And sure enough, we got onboard the evening’s sailing.

Then we went and popped Poppy’s top to get some airflow through and had an afternoon nap. I was just so tired for some reason, and fell asleep through the constant truck noises coming and going. Mike had the foresight to make the bed before we got to the other side. Then again on the ferry, I basically slept the entire way. It was a really calm crossing, and not too busy.

We arrived in Wellington at 11pm, but didn’t get off the ferry until 12pm. They really are slow to load and unload, it is ridiculous. We drove to Mana freedom camp, and drove around following two other campervans who were also looking for spots. Then I saw a spot, on a slight slope between two campervans. It was perfect. We popped our top and crawled into our nicely made bed and passed out. It was the perfect ending to our South Island holiday.