We packed up early this morning emptied the waste, filled the fresh water, topped up the diesel, and hit the road again. The sky was calm and clear, the kind of start that makes you think the day will be smooth sailing.
Our first stop was a quick shop in a small-town supermarket. Dotty found herself a mini trolley which she promptly rammed into the back of my leg while Georgia helped fill hers with snacks and essentials.
Then the open road called again. The scenery was all deep valleys and twisting rivers swollen from the rain, and we quickly found out just how much rain had fallen. Ahead of us, the road disappeared beneath a brown, glassy flood that stretched from forest to forest. A local ute went through first, its wheels sending up muddy waves, and then it was our turn. The Mighty Camper rolled slowly through, a white van turned boat for a few nerve-racking moments.
Once through, the skies opened wide again sunshine, blue sky, and that familiar South Island freshness in the air. We stopped at Maruia Falls, which was thunderous after all the rain. The river didn’t so much flow as charge, roaring down in a spray of mist and raw power. It wasn’t the calm postcard kind of waterfall it was nature showing off, and we loved it.
From there, the road wound higher into the hills until the sign appeared: Reefton The Town of Light.
Rolling into Reefton felt like arriving in a living museum. Weatherboard buildings, wide verandas, gold-rush charm. It’s small but brimming with character, a town that feels proud of its past but still full of life.
We wandered into the visitor centre, where the girls were handed maps for the Gold Fairy Trail a fun little walk linking old mining landmarks around the town.
We wandered back down the main street. We passed Steptoe’s Café, but it was the Dawson Hotel that called our name. Inside, it was all warmth and wood, a couple of locals wondering about and rugby on the TV Canterbury 15, Hawke’s Bay 14 at halftime. Ali grabbed a hot chocolate, the girls made off with marshmallows, and I just sat back taking it all in sipping my coffee, it was an old 80s style place and it felt easy!
After we parked the camper and followed the fairy trail through quiet lanes and past heritage sites, including the Original Reefton Power House the site of the first public electricity supply in the entire Southern Hemisphere. Hard to believe this tiny riverside town was lighting its streets in 1888, decades before most of New Zealand.
The old Power House still stands in part, a simple red shed against the green hills. Standing there, you could almost feel the hum of history the spark that put Reefton on the map.
Reefton’s got that kind of magic you don’t find often not flashy, not touristy, just quietly confident in what it is. A bit rugged, a bit nostalgic, and completely genuine.
By late afternoon, the sun was dropping low behind the hills, what we saw that is brhind thick clouds. Back at the camper, we finished the day with pasta and garlic bread, the girls in their bunks as the last light faded from the valley.
From flooded roads to golden trails, it’s been one of those days that reminds you how much adventure can fit between sunrise and dinner.
About the Author
