22 January 2017 - Marchwood Park, Motueka, Tasman Bay

Yesterday morning we were woken to the yapping of dogs and voices of their owners, none of whom considered those camping across the low fence may like to sleep in beyond 7am on a Saturday morning. Such attitudes arise from this 24/7 world we live in these days! I had thought it might be entertaining to wander about the pre-show, to observe these obsessive folk grooming their dogs and exhibiting other eccentric behaviour, however my attitude toward them had soured. 

And so we were breakfasted and ready to leave before 9am, heading away from our disastrous camping experience, unplugged this time, detouring up into Richmond centre to shop, then back up the road to Stoke to refuel before heading west along Tasman Bay.

We detoured yet again to Rabbit Island, the flat 15 square kilometre mostly pine covered island joined to the mainland by a short causeway across the Waimea Inlet. This and the narrower Rough Island which sits between the mainland and the larger island are part of the Rabbit Island Recreational Reserve,a public reserve since 1908. Most of the island is fenced and gated off to vehicular traffic, although there is a great network of cycle routes all over the island. The formed sealed roads lead to the north side of the island and to expansive well maintained picnic areas. From the shore one has equally expansive views across to the Richmond Ranges, Nelson and across Tasman Bay. Sadly the gates are closed at dusk and there is no allowance for sneaky camping; it would make for an excellent freedom camping spot. I suspect that has something to do with the fire hazzard that such campers might become.

Further along the coastal route to Motueka is the charming little village of Mapua, a spot visited nearly a decade ago, but now so changed our memory banks had trouble recognising anything. The jewel in the crown of this spot is the wharf area at the end of the road. We easily found a park and would have even if we had come much later on a bright sunny day. The developers have gone all out in considering the future needs of visitors – attractive well designed toilets, a variety of parking to suit all needs and well landscaped areas, both green and seaside.

View up the Waimea Inlet and across to Rabbit Island

Mapua Wharf began its days around the mid-1870s as a simple jetty to facilitate transport of flax bales and manuka stakes from wagon to boat and out to sea. But Mapua’s first little flax industry was soon eclipsed by the growing apple industry which kept the wharf busy until 1965. By then the roads had improved and more fruit was being trucked to Nelson in preference to shipping from the local wharf.

The last coastal traders visited the wharf in the 1970s and the chemical plant and lime works at the adjacent site shut down in the late 1980s. The Nelson Harbour Board planned to demolish the old wharf structures however the “The Mapua Boat Club” took over and it was redeveloped as it is today. Today the old cool stores have been turned into cafes, bars, boutiques and art galleries, all very attractive and particularly appealing to the weekend brunch crowd as we observed today. I suspect it was under-development when we came this way last and as such, not accessible.

We lunched at a lovely little camping reserve further toward Motueka, the McKee Memorial Domain, a long slip of land at the western end of Ruby Bay beneath the cliffs. Here there are toilets, water and a dump point, and today dozens upon dozens of campers who, unlike us who travel rather randomly, looked like they were enjoying their annual camping experience. The camping fees are nominal, $6 each per night and under-16 years free, which makes it a great spot for a family camping experience. We might have considered staying longer if rain was not forecasted and there were one tenth or fiftieth of the campers already there.

Mapua Wharf

Soon we rolled into Motueka and came on to the camping site open to NZMCA members beside the airport. No sooner had we set up than the rain arrived and we spent the rest of the day holed up glad to have mains power for the heater (and television and computer, of course). And yes, we do have our own off-the-grid power supply, but when it rains the solar panels do not provide much in the way of power, nor is it a whole lot of fun getting outside to set the generator up.

The rain arrived in torrents during the evening, so much so that we gave up watching television when most of the time we were treated to a rain-fade induced psychedelic screen. But the storm was not isolated to this region; I spent some time text-chatting with our youngest in West Auckland who was concerned about his roof and his sunflowers as the wind howled about his house.

We had plans for today but delayed, waiting for the rain to clear. Instead I attacked a pile of laundry and darted about the camp in my wet weather gear. Then after lunch the rain seemed to have eased and we set out for a walk, soon to return when another heavy shower began. So the rest of the day has been spent indoors, cooking, reading, watching television and observing neighbouring campers clean up after the deluge.

Tomorrow we will head away and revisit some of the delightful attractions about Motueka. We cannot let the weather delay us forever!