Day 5, Vanlife, bit of an epic on the bikes and going off grid again

Published on 26 January 2023 at 19:21

Day 5, Vanlife, January 24, Anatori River Mouth, West Coast, South Island New Zealand

This evening we are freedom camping at the mouth of the Anatori River on the West Coast. To get here though, it is not the traditional route to the Coast. There is no through road here connecting this part of the West Coast with the rest of it. We will need to go back the way we got here via Golden Bay.

The road out here has to be one of the most beautiful roads in the country as it winds its way around the Whanganui Inlet. Don't tell anyone though, as at present there is almost noone here and the beaches, bays, islands, rivers and inlets remain pristine and undisturbed. Just how we like it.

Before we headed down this 44km backroad, we did the Aorere Goldfields ride. It was a bit of an epic! The first half followed a well formed farm track, but eventually the directions sent us into dense, overgrown bush along what became an impassable track. So back we went to skirt round it. That didn't work all that well either but eventually we made our way up to the Aorere Caves. Not quite the loop we planned but ultimately pretty good fun. 3 hours on the bike and whoever said e bikes are cheating has clearly never ridden with us before! We're both knackered!

We are now camped in a stunning spot beside the river, BBQ set up, sun shining and dinner digesting. Dinner tonight is worth commenting on too. I mixed up some pancakes and stuffed them with bbq'd bacon and veges, cheese and spinach.  The last couple we knocked back with chopped up apricots and yoghurt for dessert. Yum!

We plan to spend a couple of days camping here, exploring the beach and river.

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