And we’re back…
…and way behind. We just left NZ and are flying to Melbourne permitting me time to catch up with the posts. It’s also pleasant to reflect back on the South Island days. Thankfully I jotted some things down as we went along because I seem to have forgotten a fair amount, like some of the random campsites where we stayed. It’s a little worrisome how my memory is slipping.
We winged it quite a bit on the South Island, made many changes, and had some great surprises along the way. It’s very bittersweet leaving Jeff. Even though we’re all excited to get on to Australia, NZ was an awesome adventure and our cozy home on wheels treated us well.
Anywhooooozle…where were we…?
Last we left off we were taking the ferry from Wellington to the South Island. We arrived in Picton in time for lunch and the gray skies were now blue. After a quick bite we drove out to Marlborough’s wine country. While Harry and I enjoyed a tasting at Cloudy Bay, the kids played on the swings and ran around the beautiful countryside.
That evening we stayed at Smith Farm Campsite. One of my absolute favorites. It’s perfection. So perfect we stayed a second night because we all loved it so much. The owners greeted us with a basket of muffins – we consumed 2 dozen more during our stay – and bags of food for the sheep, goats, and pigs. We could enter the paddocks whenever we wanted to hang with the animals. The sheep would wander over looking for snacks and nibble out of our hands.
That first night we waited until after dinner to venture out to find glow worms. Sunset is very late so we started our hike around 9:30. We crossed the sheep pasture, past the cattle, over 2 fences, into the spooky forest and through the Lincoln Tunnel… to get there. Hiking at night is very exciting and scary. The kids wore headlamps and we crossed over a river and found a waterfall. Then when the sun was completely gone the headlamps went off and we could see the glow worms hiding in the trees. Spectacular sight. This beat any guided tour.
The next day we cycled between feeding farm animals, trampolining, homeschooling, yoga’ing (for some), reading, and of course playing ukulele. No wifi to distract us just a long, slow day. Since we did not account for the extra night here we also did not account for extra food. Aside from the gas station down the road there was nothing. We were looking at toast and cereal for dinner. That is until an angel descended upon the Smith’s Farm in the form of the pizza lady and her wood fire oven. Thank you, pizza lady.
