Thurs, 5th Mar, 2026 (part2) Ingrid’s place, Rangiora to O’Neils Reserve free camp, near Cave, NZ (Rakaia, Pharlap & Caroline Bay)

Back to Lincoln then on to the SH1 (Main South Road) at Rolleston. I had put fuel and weather apps on my phone for NZ. Found a servo that had Ad Blue but when we got there the bowser wasn’t working. Another couple were trying to get some too and had already tried another servo. I rang the company and they said they would send a technician. Doesn’t help us out. In the end we had to buy a 1 litre bottle for $18 from the servo where it was only $1.99 per litre from the bowser. Took a photo of the receipt to email to StarRV. We will fill it up when we find a servo that has the Ad Blue bowser working.

Continued southward on SH1 through the Canterbury Plains. Passed lots of diary cows. Southern Alps on our right - I think that is Mt Hutt that had the snow on it after I checked my maps.

Over the longest bridge in NZ over the Rakaia River. Wide open river with clear blue mountain water in the many channels.

Into Rakaia where we found a self serve servo that had Ad Blue for 194.9c/l so we filled up and I sent off an email to StarRV with both receipts.

Back to a park with a big salmon for a cuppa.

Great aerial view of the river and lots of history info.

Drove around the block and found a great mural.

Continued south on the Main South Road to Ashburton through open farming country. In 1982 I went to Erewhon Sheep Station with the tour and took a photo of a Deer Thar - rare mountain goat at the time.

Through Ashburton township then across the Ashburton/Hakatere River.

Roadworks everywhere so we have been doing a lot driving at 30kpm. A nice deer sculpture for sale.

They used Poplars for wind breaks too.

As the sun goes down late and the added hour for daylight saving we kept heading south. Straight road, hedges and farms. Pacific Ocean over to our left and the Southern Alp mountains to our far right - like the Great Dividing Range I suppose.

Over another wide river - Hinds River.

Road turns towards the coast as we cross the Rangitata River.

Crossed the railway line. Through the little township of Winchester then Temuka which is a bigger town.

Mostly rocks with a small channel for the Temuka River then another wide river - Opihi River (didn’t take a photo of that one either).

At Washdyke we stopped to check out Pharlap’s statue at the Pharlap Raceway. Great display of Pharlap’s story.

Lovely tribute to all the horses of WW1.

Continued on through Smithfield - fancy that, same as in Cairns.

Into Timaru, bigger town. Turned off to Caroline Bay which has a fantastic playground, lots of things to do and big aviary. I thought we might get to see a Kiwi but it was mostly Australian and birds from other countries. Free camping in the skate park car park too.

Great photos from the past too. It has always been a fun place to visit apparently.

Drove along Marine Parade to the penguin nesting area by the beach - you can smell it. As we have to wait till well after sunset which isn’t till 9pm we won’t be staying to watch them come in. Have seen plenty over the years in Phillip Island and Tassie.

On the opposite side of the street is the big port area with lots of containers.

Walked onto the beach, no seals or sea lions today.

Back out and north back to Washdyke again. Turned left then and headed along Pleasant Point Highway to Pleasant Point township which is situated on both sides of the railway line. The railway station is now a museum.

Continued on parallel with low hills on the left. Heading towards the Southern Alps and Mt Cook tomorrow.

Past a piggery with lots of different sized ‘homes’ for the pigs.

The hills are getting bigger on our left.

Through a gate into O’Neils Reserve where we can free camp for 72 hours.

Nice grassy area to park up for the night. A few other travellers are here too.

Went for a wander. The sun is just going down behind the mountain at 8pm. Information about the river, Te Ana Wai and the village further on called Cave. Named because of the limestone caves around here. Clear water and amazingly not very cold.

Chatted with a lady with a bright old van. Didn’t fare too well in the heavy rain recently!

I have a great map of both islands so will mark our travels on it.

Time for dinner, shower then bed. Unfortunately the shower is instantaneous but it only gave hot water for a few seconds then went cold then hot again so we wasted a lot of water. We filled up the hand basin with hot water from the kettle and had a sponge bath instead. Worked just as good. Nice and warm in the camper from the sunny day.