Sold The Bus

We've owned our Toyota Coaster bus for two years and have had two years of trouble free motoring, along with many adventures. During that time we made a few changes - a new diesel heater, new flooring, changed the upholstery, added a vent & fan to the bathroom, plus other bits and pieces. Although we're sad to see the wee bus go, we know the new owners will enjoy it.

So, why sell the bus? Motor-homing is more my thing and Bernie is keen to buy a few acres of land to develop over on the West Coast. So while Bern is busy making and creating, I'll be out cruising around in a little camper with the dogs. 

Isn't life funny? Before I met Bernie I owned a Mitsubishi L300, which I adored. I sold it because it was too small for the two of us. Then we bought an American fifth wheeler, and after that the bus. Now I'm looking at getting an L300 again or something similar. Seems I'm back to where I started!

Now I need to get cracking and write some blogs on our recent trip down south before I begin blogging about adventures in camper number four.

FOMO

FOMO - Fear Of Missing Out
Honestly, it's a thing. FOMO exists, or at least in my world, it does. Especially when planning a trip away. I don't want to miss anything when visiting an area ... walks, special spots, unique attractions, views, etc. Leaving a place and learning later that I've missed something drives me nuts.
Next week we're off to the Catlins via the east coast. 

I have some time before leaving to research places to visit, walks to explore, tracks to bike, and spots to stay. I love the planning stage and thanks to Google, NZMCA Travel app, Facebook groups and peoples' blogs there's lots of information at my fingertips.

The black lines are where we've travelled in the South Island, you'll notice we haven't been explored the Catlins (yet!).

After the Catlins, our plan is to travel through Central Otago and the MacKenzie District. I love those districts and in this season the autumn colours are always spectacular. We're hoping to bike sections of the A2O (Alps 2 Ocean cycle trail). Oakly and Boo will be joining us on the bikes in their buddy riders. 

Tick Taxi

Boo is one of those dogs that seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time! If there's grass seed around, she's the one that'll get it! If there's a random splinter hanging off something, she's the one that'll get pierced.
So, I'm not sure why we were surprised when we collected the dogs from the groomer to be told Boo had two grass seeds sticking out under each arm pit (despite Bernie thoroughly checking her after every walk). 

Also, Lynley (the groomer) had discovered a tick. I didn’t know anything about ticks before this ... so when I was shown this little black thing attached to Boo’s inner thigh my instinct was to scrape it off with my fingernail – which I did – and then later learnt that was the wrong thing to do. When a tick is scraped away as I'd done, only the body gets removed, leaving the head attached, which can cause an infection.

Unlike fleas, ticks don’t have their life cycle on their host’s body. A tick will attach itself to an animal as it passes through long grass. Once on an animal it’ll feed off its blood for 3 to 4 days and afterwards detach itself and fall to the ground, where it’ll lay its eggs.

Photo supplied by google.

The vet was surprised Boo had a tick and told us sometimes dogs were called ‘tick taxis’ by vets because ticks travel around on a dog feeding for a few days until they're ready to jump off.

We were given an oral product called 'Bravecto' to rid the dogs of fleas and ticks. Two tablets (one for each dog) cost $130. But when I got home I thought I'd read somewhere about an oral flea treatment that had had bad reviews. After googling the product we decided not to give it to our dogs, as comments stated it had caused seizures and sometimes deaths.

 Thank you google, we will now look for a natural and safe flea deterrent.

Weekend at Ward Beach

Ward Beach is a wild, deserted beach with interesting rock formations about 50kms south of Blenheim. Bernie and I have stayed there before and were looking forward to spending a weekend relaxing with the dogs. 

Once parked we opened the back doors of the bus to be rewarded with magnificent ocean views.

Oakly found an ideal spot. Lying on the bed he had the perfect view to watch and wait for any sign of movement.

 

Beside the bus, beneath a large macrocarpa tree is a pile of decorated stones. Previous campers have left a memento of their Ward Beach visit.

As the sky darkened, it looked like the forecasted rain wasn't far away, so we set off for a walk before the weather closed in.

Old tide marks on the rocks show the rise of the sea bed due to the 7.8 magnitude earthquake in 2016. 

Due to fault movement the change in the seabed level has had a big impact on local commercial fishing. Before the earthquake several crayfishing boats were launched from Ward Beach with the aid of bulldozers. Nowadays it's not as busy because the Environment Court issued an injunction order to stop fishing companies from launching off the beach. This was due to the concerns of Forest and Bird that bulldozers dragging boats would disrupt the habitat of the banded dotterel and the variable oyster catcher. 

From a distance it looked as though white paint had been splattered across some rocks. These white markings are what's left of the kelp and sea life which were once attached to rocks before the coastline was uplifted. Now that the remains have rotted away all that's left behind is a white substance.

The different rock formations make great photo subjects. Not only is it a great place for photographers and sight seers, I'm sure geologists would enjoy this area too.

Just a short walk from the Ward Beach reserve are some large spherical boulders. Their cannon ball appearance makes them similar to the popular Moeraki Boulders on the Otago Coast. Although not as big as the Moeraki Boulders they're the same type of formation.
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With rain approaching, we decided to turn back.

Looks a bit like a moon landscape.

And just as we got back to the bus the first drops began and before long rain was hammering on the roof. It was cosy inside, listening to the sound of the storm raging. The bus groaned and shook as each wind gust hit. Falling asleep to the sound of the blustery weather around us was bliss. 

When we woke the next morning the sky was blue and the air still, there wasn't a breath of wind. Such a contrast to the night before.

I decided to take the dogs for a walk southwards along the beach. We started by following the Flaxbourne River running out to sea.

Upstream the river provides irrigation for stock and is named after the large Flaxbourne sheep station. Currently the residents of the nearby township 'Ward' have a plan in place to rename their town 'Flaxbourne'.

A white-faced heron took a break from searching for its breakfast and obligingly posed for a photo. The white-faced heron (matuku) has some interesting ways of feeding. At times it slowly stalks its prey (small fish, frogs, insects and other aquatic creatures), while other times it may give chase. Another technique it uses is called foot raking, this is when the heron stands on one leg and uses the other leg to rake the underwater debris to stir up small creatures, which it quickly spears and eats.

Oakly and Boo merged into the environment well, they even had a camouflage look going on.

This large black and white shag known as a pied shag didn't seem at all bothered by us walking by. Worldwide there are 36 species of shags, which are also known as cormorants. New Zealand has 12 of these species living mostly near the sea, however they can also be seen near lakes and rivers.

The end of the Flaxbourne River - where the river meets the sea. 

The rocky outcrops that have appeared since the earthquake made an interesting walk, there were a few rock pools but not a lot of life in them.

The only splashes of colour seen, were clumps of bright orange kelp, a few random shells and a handful of hardy plants. The barren, rugged terrain created a unique beauty. I found it therapeutic looking at the different rock patterns and shapes, with the sound of the ocean nearby.

From a distance I thought the birds (in the above photo) were penguins, however they turned out to be small shags, which quickly scarpered into the sea as we got closer.

One of the bonuses of this walk, were the seals we met. Each one was basking in the sun. Perhaps they were taking a break from foraging for food or maybe they were having time away from the demands of their pups.

Although it was tempting to walk to the next peninsula I knew Bernie was waiting for us back at the bus. That walk would have to wait for another time.

Oakly Gets A Seal of Approval

Recently while walking along Ward Beach we came across a seal and Oakly was totally captivated. 

He approached it calmly and cautiously. The seal was equally fascinated and appeared relaxed in our company. After posing for a few photos he/she lay back down to continue snoozing in the sun.

Afterwards Oakly kept a look out for more seals. At times pieces of seaweed had us both fooled. From a distance they looked seal-like, and Oakly would sit and watch, waiting for movement.

Maybe Oakly and I need to make an appointment with Specsavers?

Eventually we were rewarded with the real deal.

I think Oakly's face sums up how he felt about his seal encounters.

Glacier County

There's a nice NZMCA park in Franz Josef. It's surrounded in native bush and handy to the village. There were two other campers already parked, so finding a park was easy. I chose a spot at the back of the park. The door opened to a lovely private area between the bus and the bush.in

Once, we had parked, we were off for a walk.

On this particular trip, I wasn't planning on visiting the glaciers. But I enjoyed hearing the helicopters buzzing overhead as they took tourists to see the glacial landscape.

After a walk around the side streets of Franz Josef we went back to the bus for dinner. 

The next morning, I emptied and filled up with fresh water and carried on north.

We'd only been driving about 10kms up the road when I spotted a stunning lake with mist rising above it.  

Lake Mapourika is the largest lake in Westland and is fed by several small streams that run down from the hills. Because the water drains through the forest floor it collects tannins which give it a dark colour. Tannins are a natural organic material that are by-products of decaying vegetation. It made the lake a rich tea colour.

Lake Mapourika, is a kettle lake and was formed when a large block of ice was left behind when Franz Josef glacier retreated (14,000 years ago). 

Mapourika roughly translates from Maori meaning ' Flower of the Dawn'.  

If fishing interests you - Lake Mapourika is a popular spot for salmon and trout. Each year in February, for three days, the Lake Mapourika Fishing Competition is held for professional and amateur fishermen.