A record for the shortest time spent in a hotel, in and out in under 12 hours!  By 8am we had ordered an Uber and were on our way to the airport weirdly enough to collect our motorhome which we have called Mabel the Mercedes Mauri Motorhome.

The handover was fairly swift and just after 10am we were making our way to the supermarket in Mabel to load up on some essentials and goodies.  

We were heading over to the west coast via Arthur’s Pass over the Southern Alps, the weather wasn’t great, very cloudy and overcast to begin with and at our first stop at a viewpoint as we ascended the mountains we really couldn’t see much and thought the weather was set for the day.

Unbelievably only two turns later the sun came out and all the clouds disappeared, the temperature steadily rose to 24 degrees, our first stop – Castle Hill – unusual limestone rock formations. Then we stopped at a cave and clambered down to it and then back up.  Next stop was Arthur’s Pass, where we did two walks, the Devil’s Punchbowl and Bridal Veil Falls, to see two waterfalls, after making our first lunch in Mabel. A final stop at an amazing road viaduct built in 1999. The scenery along this pass was breathtaking and so different from that on the north island. 

Just before 6pm we arrived at Hokitika and checked into the campsite (or rather parking lot!) that I had prebooked.  We unpacked one of the cases and made the bed and then went out to explore.  We walked along the beach to sunset point, admiring all the driftwood sculptures. A walk back along the main high street and we found ourselves in ‘Stumpers’ for a pint and dinner.

A final walk back home to Mabel via the glow worm dell.

Distance for the day 249km (155miles)