08/17/11 – 08/19/11 Lake Titikaka & Napier / Hastings / Woodville / Picton Ferry

We’ll start this blog off with the phrase “If we didn’t have bad luck, we wouldn’t have any” Since our last update we left our beautiful campsite at Ohiwa heading towards Napier.  This drive should have been about 4- 5 hours total, however the drive was so beautiful we had to stop to take pictures and also made a picnic lunch and stopped at this beautiful rest stop in this Gorge alongside a stream with an old wooden bridge going over it.  It reminded me a lot of Sequoia or Yosemite.  It started getting late so we changed plans to drive all the way to Napier and found a rustic campsite on Lake “Titikaka”.  The real name is Lake Tutira but I’ve renamed it Titikaka due to the muddy campsites and toxic algae plum in the lake.

There was one other campervan parked to camp, which made us feel better.  We didn’t want to intrude on their space, so we passed them and kept going looking for our own spot.  After realizing there was really nowhere else to park, I attempted to flip a bitch, which resulted in getting stuck in the mud.  The other campers, Johnny & Keri from Ireland, came over to help, but it was getting dark as well as spurting rain and we didn’t make any progress.  We decided to camp there, no other choice really, and try again in the morning.  After utilizing the mulch pile of wood chips from the farm next door and digging the tires out for 3 hours we were FREE!  Good thing too because we had no cell reception so not sure what we would have done.  We treated Johnny & Keri (who by the way have been together about 8 years and just got engaged as well) to a home cooked bfast of eggs, bacon & sausage in our van to say thanks.

After leaving Lake Titikaki we made a plan to drive all the way down towards Wellington so we could camp close and hop on the Ferry the next morning to the South Island.  Well fate had other plans, and after about a 2-hour drive we ended up in Napier with a busted clutch on the campervan.  We called up our friends at Wilderness and they were very apologetic and put plans in motion to get it fixed and us off on our way ASAP.  AA (triple A in the states) came and picked us and the van up on a flat bed, and brought us to a European mechanic shop the next town over in Hastings.  After a quick assessment the clutch needed to be replaced which required a part to be ordered and an over night stay in Hastings.  Wilderness is being very understanding with the problem and is refunding us the cost of 1 day for the van and compensating us for the hotel. 

It’s now Friday Aug 19^th and at around 12:30pm and the Van won’t be ready till 3.  We had a nice eggs benni breakfast and a few cups of great coffee and are going to catch a movie in town while we wait for the van.  Unfortunately (for me) the only movie playing in our time frame is Cowboys and Aliens…bleh! [Christian – Yipee!] Our hope is to really make it down towards Wellington tonight, even if we have to drive all night, and then catch the Ferry tomorrow morning for the South Island!  Unfortunately this only leaves us about 8 days to see the South, but we will make due and I’m still hopeful we will see Mt Cook & the Milford Sound, which were on the top of my list for this trip.

08/20/11 **** Update*** We made it to Wellington this morning and we are literally on the Ferry NOW to the South Island.  We stayed in a parking lot last night in a small town called Woodville, paid $10 to "camp" and have access to the toilet & dump station.  We got up at the asscrack of dawn around 6:30 and got on the road about 8.  Due to a road closure we had to take the long way down, passed a bunch of filming sites for LOTR including Lothlorien, Minas Tirith, Rohan River & Orthanc Garden / Orc Tree.  AWESOME!  Wish we could have gotten some pics, but a lot of it was off the highway and unmarked on the road.  Also passed by Rivendale too!