Motor Caravan Touring

Reproduced from December 2006 Motor Caravanner

Courtesy of NZ Motor Caravan Association

On The Road .... Time to enjoy the summer travelling through the South Island. Lots of places to see, lots of things to do. Some of the most fun can be visiting the host of festivals held by almost every community and region.

To best be informed before you depart have a good scan of the internet information to be gleaned via the computer. We also usually stop by most tourist information centres to pick up the local tourist newspaper and festival information available.
Many of the smaller festivals do not make it to the internet or to the major news agencies.

Quite a few of the festivals are nationally known such as the Marlborough Wine and Food Festival. This year it will be held on the 10th of February and will showcase over 200 wines from over 40 Marlborough wineries. The complete information can be found at: www.bmw-winemarlborough-festival.co.nz/.

Another extremely well known South Island festival is the Bluff Oyster Festival to be held this year 21/22 April. This is one to book early if you want to get in. The event has been held indoors the past two years so weather is no longer a worry.
You can find all the information at: www.bluffoysterfest.co.nz.

The other festival that is well known is the Hokitika Wild Food Festival to be on March 10 this year. Adventurous eating at its best but there is plenty of very good regular food for those who aren’t ready to experiment. The activities throughout the town of Hokitika are worth going for. Booking again is advised as they limit the numbers.
Full information at: www.wildfoods.co.nz/wildfoods.

We think one of the finest festivals in the South Island is the Arrowtown Autumn Festival. It is a great time of year to celebrate the weather in that part of the country.
This year it will be 20th April to 29th April 2007 with the main parade Saturday the 21st.
Their website is at: http://www.arrowtownautumnfestival.org.nz/.

The Rural Art Deco Festival also is one of those we truly enjoy. We like the region and the town of Ranfurly so this gives us a good excuse to be there this time of year.
They haven’t given out dates yet but it is usually held sometime in February.
Here is where to check: http://www.ruralartdeco.co.nz/

We make it a point to be at the Havelock Mussel Festival since it opened two years ago on reason Paula has designed a range of mussel jewellery she sells there and I am the Festival photographer. We would go anyhow even if we weren’t involved since it has been a good day out to date.
More information at: http://www.musselfestival.havelocknz.com/

Published 14th Feb 2007

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