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.

A Couple of Firsts!

After a great sleep, we woke early as I wanted to get to Riverland's Truck stop so I could fuel up and empty (for my first time). I was keen to get there before anyone else so I wouldn't feel pressured to hurry.

And with relief, it did turn out to be as easy as Bernie said it would be. It probably seems silly to seasoned RVers and no doubt by the end of this trip I won't give a second's thought when it comes time to empty, but because I was on my own, I admit, I was a little apprehensive of how the procedure would pan out. Thank goodness it was simple, nothing splashed back up at me (phew - haha), and everything went as planned . It gave me a little boost of confidence.

So we were on the road again.

Destination - Kaikoura.

Our first stop was Kekerengu, a stony beach about 60kms north of Kaikoura. Its dog friendly, with a wonderfully wild foreshore and easy parking. There's a decent size area for self contained vehicles to camp, and close by is the popular Kekerungu Store, which is known for its delicious meals and fabulous views.

The dogs did what they always do - Oakly dug holes and Boo rolled in the sand!

And, I admired the many driftwood huts. I love how people create these!

Looking north, the weather wasn't looking promising. It's a good thing we left that behind!

The wind on the beach was icy-cold, so we walked through the shelter of some pine trees, which turned out to be much warmer.

I can imagine kids on holiday, would've enjoyed making and playing in this hut, which was nestled among the trees.

On our return to the bus, this classic motorhome, was about to leave, I would've liked to have chatted to the owners to find out more. It had such character.

Back on the road, I was reminded of the the 2016 earthquake that had struck the area, with the many roadworks we stopped at.

Eventually we arrived at Kaikoura. It'd be easy to be entertained for several hours, by the colonies of fur seals (kekeno). There were pups with their mums, seals basking in the sunshine, pups playing in the pools and many others just doing what seals do. So good to watch.

Our next stop was along the Esplanade. There, the dogs could get out and explore, while I sat back and soaked up Kaikoura's ambience.

After a tiki-tour of the water front we were ready to move on.

We set off to South Bay, which as the name suggests is a little south of Kaikoura, there's an NZMCA park, at the race course. Luckily, we found a spot to park (the last couple of times we'd tried staying, it had been full). After parking, I was keen to walk up the stairway beside the race-course before the weather turned against us.

The view was great.

At the top we had an option of heading towards Kaikoura township or to South Bay's Peninsula. We chose the Peninsula. 

The track followed a farm fence, along a grassy path, before meandering down through a pine forest. The dogs were forever hopeful a rabbit might appear and I was forever hoping that one wouldn't ! And luckily for me, no rabbits were seen (on this particular walk)! More about that scenario coming up, in future blogs!

Made my day, finding a toadstool.

Walking out from the shelter of the trees, I noticed a big drop in temperature. The wind had picked up and it was cold. Time for home/the bus.

After an hour or more of walking we found ourselves back at the bus. Both dogs found a cosy spot in the sun and settled in for a nap ... what a great idea - who was I to disagree?

It turned out to be the calm before the storm ...

Two Firsts

Last night, Dan, the weatherman, forecast severe winds for Canterbury. We knew if things got too breezy we could bring in the slide-ins and lower the TV dish. However the mechanism to lower the dish is activated when the truck moves, so we needed to hitch up to the truck.While we were hitching up, we decided we might as well pack up and move on. After all, we’d only planned to stay a week at Weedons and 14 days later we were still there.

A few people had suggested ‘Wakanui Beach’ as a nice place to stay. It’s east of Ashburton, near the mouth of the Ashburton River - right on the foreshore. It would be our first taste of freedom camping.

About an hour down the road we were there. This time we took our time choosing a spot. We checked where north was so we were facing the right way for TV reception (not that we’d put the dish up for the first night with the predicted severe winds). Secondly we found a level spot that was facing the correct way for the expected wind.

That done, we set up. With breath-taking sea views and not a living soul in sight, we sat down to enjoy a relaxing cuppa. It was then I realized we had no cell phone coverage. Eeek, would that mean no Internet too?

So, not only was it to be our first freedom camping experience, it was also the first place we’ve been without Internet. Bernie didn’t think I’d last long.

The view from the dining room windows.

The beach was definitely inviting – isolated with crashing waves. So I took the dogs for a walk. We stumbled across a seal lazing on the grass bank. He didn’t seem too bothered by us and the dogs knew to leave him/her alone.

 Roundish flat stones covered the beach, so there was no rolling in the sand for Boo.

While we were getting dinner ready, a Chilean tourist with limited English appeared. He had parked further along and locked his keys in his car. He said he hopped out of his car to shut the passenger door properly and as he did the wind slammed the driver's door closed. The keys were in the ignition and all the doors had locked. So it was Bernie to the rescue.

As I’m writing this, I’m sitting on the couch with a view of the Pacific Ocean. The sky is cloaked in dark grey cloud with small patches of white. I’m hoping for a stunning sunset but it looks to be too cloudy.

I can hear the sea. Every few seconds it seems to be louder as waves thunder against the shore. I wish I had a way with words, like poets have. This place would be paradise for anyone wanting time alone, time to think, to write and/or to have a break.

And to compliment the sound of the sea are birds twittering as they settle in for the night. I’ve seen ducks in a tiny lagoon beside us, and have noticed swallows and sea birds. But I’m yet to identify which ones are chirping up a storm.

And speaking of storms … there isn’t any sign of the predicted wild winds. In fact there’s hardly a breeze. Or could it be ‘the calm before the storm?’

Fast forward 24 hours …

The severe wind has past, and it’s still darn windy and cold outside at the moment.

I woke at 4am and decided the wind must have gone around us, then half an hour later, boom, it hit. Once we had pulled the slide-ins in, the noise lessened and we were able to sleep until sunrise. By then it had eased and we were in for a sunny day.

The sea was rough but other than that there was no evidence that a storm had blown through. And that night we were treated to a stunning sunset.