EXPLORING Marlborough Sounds, NZ // VAN LIFE

Hello, welcome to the weekend van adventure with Nick in the van. Yeah, the van is fixed. We are going on a little weekend adventure to the Marlborough Sounds and we don't really have any plan, except we know we want to go there, to that area. So it's really an adventure, we don't know what we're going to get up to yet. But we're prepared for everything, so the van is chock-a-full. True, we've got heaps of stuff, we could survive it for months probably, the amount of stuff we have. So we are prepared, ready for adventure and it's just nice to be on the road. We're in Catecora, we just stopped off for lunch at this place that I've wanted to go ever since I first came to Catecora. It's like on the side of the road and it's crayfish. Crayfish is like lobster. Looks really good. We got half a crayfish and some blue cod. It's fresh. Delicious. Now our journey continues. Tonight we're going to camp down there, by the beach. Beautiful. We just went to Blenheim, we went to the grocery store, stocked up on supplies. Now we are scouting out a good campsite. We checked out one at Whites Bay, pretty cool, but this one will save $10 if we stay at it and it's also just as nice, plus there are better trees to put our hammock up. Go check out the beach. I didn't see the hills at all. It's a little 10 minute walk over to Monkey Bay. I'm putting up the hammock for the first time for summer. This is the life. The sun went down and it got chilly and it's super windy, so we moved to the other side of the van and we had to take the hammock down, but now we're going to eat dinner. Nick cooked up this good looking potato bake thing. We cooked it last night and then we brought it and then we have some leftover veggie chili. Good little sunset on the beach. Now we're going to set up the bed in the van because that takes a little bit of work. It's pretty early still, but we're just going to do some reading and maybe play some cards, I don't know. It's so cozy now. I love it in here. It's been so long since we've slept in here. I'm so excited, although we forgot our pillows, so we did bring sleeping bags, so we can use sleeping bags as pillows. Good morning from this beautiful campsite. G'day, g'day. Whatcha doing? I just ripped the coffee bag open. I was too eager. Had a really nice sleep in the van. It's so cozy in there. Did you sleep well? Yep. Yep. I was also going to show you, you guys always ask where do we go to the bathroom when we stay in the van. We're at a dock camping site. It's $8 per person per night and there's little toilets over here and there's showers and stuff, so yeah. That's how we do that. Always really nice going to sleep at the sound of the ocean. Waking up to the sound of the ocean. When I was just in the US, I got this little stainless steel filterless pour over coffee thing. It's been working really well. We use it at home too, but it's perfect for camping. We are driving over to Picton now. They're like way right along the coast, so there's all these really cool, beautiful little bays. Really teal blue water. Super windy roads and a lot of gravel roads. Be careful if you drive this way. Go slowly. We've stopped off at Ocean Bay. Look how gorgeous. They're so cute. They have eight little ducklings. We made it to Picton and now we are going to do the snout walk. It's like an amazing day. It's so nice out. I feel like I could go for a swim after this. Look how nice that water looks. I think it's like a three hour return walk. It's so gorgeous out here. There's the ferry coming back from Wellington. The ferry connects the two islands. Nice long sweaty walk and now we've come to Bob's Bay. It's kind of windy and chilly, but I think I want to jump in. Haha. That was a good swim. What did you think? It was chilly. Chilly, but worth it. Now we're going to find a campground somewhere we can put up the hammock and chill. We have ended up at Aussie Bay Campsite. It's another dock site. $8 per person per night again. Very relaxing. Nick just went to go get cheese. Unfortunately, there's no place to hang up the hammock. But we have these chairs and we're on the beach. Look at this view. What? So, I mean, no complaints here. None at all. Oh, he's got hummus too. Hummus and books. I'm reading Shantaram. It's good. Have any of you read it before? I've been wanting to read it for years, so happy to be finally reading it. Good morning. Good morning. Strawberries and muesli. Second day. We just stopped off in Onekiwa. Just having a little chill out time by the beach. Pretty nice. We are now walking part of the Queen Charlotte track. It's like a 4 to 5 day walking track if you do the whole thing. You can camp along the way. But, yeah, we're just going, it's like 3 kilometers to the first little beach just for a day walk. And it's really gorgeous. Just like... I'm loving this so much. It feels all cool and jungly. Over there is the beach where we stayed at last night. Now we're on the other side of the water. We made it to Davies Bay and we found a real epic spot to put the hammock up. What's going on, Mary? Just relaxing in paradise. That's all. That was a wonderful little relaxation time in the hammock with a gorgeous view. Can't go wrong. Now we are headed back and then we're going to go head out back on the road and find somewhere else to camp tonight. And here is where we're camping night number 3. Right along the beach. We've got some risotto. It's salmon dill and pumpkin. Did you say risotto? Yeah. Wait, what do you call it? Risotto? Yeah, risotto. We've got some bread. We've got some cheese. We've got a nice view. Good morning. What a beautiful spot to camp in right by the beach. So good. Last night was chill. We played a little card game in the van and read. It's really nice just for relaxing. Today we are going back to Christchurch. G'day. Hello. What are you doing? Making coffee. Yes. It's so peaceful. Nothing like four-wheeling on the beach. It's the only weird thing about if you come here. Be prepared. So we didn't end up going to any vineyards up in Murrell Burrell Sounds. So on our drive back we decided to stop off at a little winery. We are at Greystone Vineyards. It's gorgeous out and we're having a little tasting. What have you got there? It's a Sauvignon Blanc. That was a really nice little treat. Nick picked this up. A bottle of wine for summer. They waive the tasting fee if you buy a bottle of wine so it just seemed worth it. Anyway now it's back home but it's been a great adventure.