Retreating to Marble Hills

Tuesday 6 January

Time to move on a wee bit closer to Abel Tasman - so we packed up slowly, chatted with our neighbours then hitched up and headed up to Motueka (NZMCA to dump rubbish and fill with fresh water then dump station to, well, dump) then on to the base of the Takaka Hill where we hung a right across Sandy Bay Hill which proved way steeper and twistier than we anticipated, causing consternation and an overheated transmission.

It was all worth it in the end as we rolled into Marble Hills Retreat - two and a bit large level paddocks on a working farm that also has accommodation at the farmhouse. We had it all to ourselves so picked our spot, settled in, made lunch then realised we were being watched… by a small herd of curious cattle!

Louis had a siesta and I met Elaine who owns the property, then early evening we dropped into Marahau where the tide was out (and very muddy across the estuary) then Kaiteriteri for a dip at the beach (our first of 2026) and a sandy walk round the bay for me, while Louis swam around it.

The golden sands were stunning an quite crunchy underfoot - it was a good workout for my knees!

Quick dinner (Deborah approved salad for me), plagued by sandflies, back at Banjo - where we now had several neighbouring campers - then I went for a wander before we settled in for an evening of blogging/videoing/itinerary planning.

So quiet here - just the sound of the birds… Tui, kereru, bell birds, chaffinches, fantails, kingfisher, weka, thrushes, blackbirds and as night fell, the cry of the ruru from the forest nearby “more pork! More pork!” ❤️