21/05/2018 - From Bay to Bay

05:30 am - the alarm clock rang. Although Tobi didn't need it at all, he was so excited. Thanks to a somewhat stable internet connection, we were able to receive a livestream of the German Cup final. As the sun slowly rose outside, Tobi quietly rejoiced over the first goal scored by Eintracht Frankfurt - I hardly noticed it. As the other campers slowly woke up, the connection became increasingly unstable. I decided to take a shower during halftime. Tobi went to the lounge where the wifi router was installed. After my warm shower, I joined him and we watched the end of the game together. When Eintracht scored again in the 82nd minute, the joy was immense. The idea of beating Bayern Munich in the cup final after all the previous stories was unthinkable until that point. But now we were close! With trembling hands, we watched the small screen. Stoppage time began... When the last corner was taken and Gacinovic carried the ball over the goal line for 3-1, the joy was boundless. It was like a belated birthday present for Tobi. ;) The minutes after the final whistle were celebrated with family and friends from Frankfurt.
It took much longer to start the day on this morning. The excitement in the early hours of the morning and the video calls to Germany took up a lot of time. When we left the campsite and restocked our supplies, there was nothing standing in the way of continuing our journey. Our next destination was "Cable Bay".

The bay owes its name to the first telegraph cable connection from New Zealand to Australia. It was installed on February 21, 1876 and ended right here.

Today, there is nothing left of the installation, but the "Cable Bay Walkway" starts on site. It is known for its incredible views. But before you can catch a glimpse of them, a bit of hiking is required. The trail leads through green sheep pastures up a steep, high hill. From the top, we looked out over a picturesque bay and a narrow road leading to the opposite peninsula.
The next destination was another lookout, which could be reached within two hours. We followed the trail and passed high cliffs. We also encountered various animals. In addition to many coastal sheep and adult cows, we came across a small herd of mountain goats in the forest.
The rest of the track only led through forested areas - the coast was no longer visible. After two hours of hiking, the thicket cleared. We crossed another sheep pasture and then reached the viewpoint. In addition to the fantastic view, which stretched as far as Nelson, it was blessed with an outhouse and a large wooden bench. We took a seat, enjoyed our snack, and then made our way back to the car. After a total of 3 hours and 45 minutes, we caught another glimpse of Cable Bay. It was a beautiful place - the overall picture of green hills, blue sea, and bright stone beach looked simply outstanding.
Since it was already 4:00 pm, we decided to stop at the nearby campground. We quickly realized that the reception was closed and no one could be reached by phone - perhaps due to the limited mobile network!? In any case, we had to act quickly and make a decision. We decided to endure the drive in the dark and continue our journey to "Okiwi Bay", which was two hours away. We arrived at the campground in complete darkness. Normally, a check-in would not have been possible anymore, as the reception was already closed here too. Fortunately, we were able to contact the owner during the drive and he waited for us, and the paperwork was done through the back door. Relieved, we wandered to our campsite and prepared a warm dinner.

After a restful sleep, we took a closer look at Okiwi Bay in daylight. We let the scenery sink in during a leisurely walk on the beach.
Back in the car, we made our way to "Elaine Bay". The small town is halfway to "French Pass", where we will be heading in the coming days.
Our Sam bravely fought his way up the hilly country road. But as often happens, we soon went downhill again. We soon arrived at Elaine Bay and briefly inspected today's sleeping place.

This one belongs to the DOC and cost us $16/9,50€ per night. It included two outhouses, a water faucet, and a view of the sea.

Before we settled into our final parking position, we went for a hike for a while. The "Archer Track" started not far from the campground. We agreed on the 90-minute walk to "Deep Bay". Although the hike was nothing extraordinary, we enjoyed the good weather to the fullest. There were beautiful views time and time again - sometimes of the coast, sometimes of the New Zealand bush.
After a little over 1.5 hours, we reached the bay. Unfortunately, it was very overgrown. So we didn't stay too long and set off again a few minutes later.

For the first time, we didn't encounter any other hikers on a trail! An indication that we had actually arrived in the off-season.

We were much faster on the way back. After just one hour, we not only reached the car, but also the current campground. On site, we parked with the rear facing the sea and spent the rest of the afternoon outside, watching the passing stingrays, enjoying our snacks, and taking pictures of the beautiful sunset.