Motorhome South Island Trip 2018
We arrived to Timaru, the second largest city in Canterbury, late afternoon on 6th July.
It was our last overnight stop before our trip on the way to Christchurch Airport.
The main concern for freedom campers is where to stay overnight, to be precise - where are the Freedom Camping Sites. We spoke to a couple of locals, which were really happy to chat and point us in the right direction.
As we've noticed (or maybe it was "our luck") Freedom Parkings are usually around ports.
Thats one helpful tip where to find them, at least thats where we found ours in Timaru and Dunedin.
We parked at Caroline Bay. So basically by the time we parked, it was already pretty dark and other motorhomes slowly were crawling and parking next to us to stay over nigh. The place was bright enough (being next to port) and had public toilet, however pretty noisy, so if you are not tired enough after driving, make sure you've got earplugs!
It is free to park and you don't need to book, which is great. The downside (for a peak season) is its only fine for 10 motorhomes max and you have to vacate the area between 10am and 4pm everyday, with maximum stay of three nights.
The rules didn't bother us, as we were only staying one night, but imagine if you there for a couple of nights and its overwhelmed with other cars, not the most ideal situation.
Even though you've got port behind you, you've also have pretty gorgeous view of Timaru.
In the very early morning if you are lucky enough, you might see a penguin colony (unfortunately we woke up either too early or too late, so we didn't get a glimpse). The morning walk on the beach was very refreshing and it was a gorgeous start of the day. Still it was a little bit chilly, but absolutely perfect for a morning walk.
To see the town a little bit more, we decided to have a breakfast, the only thing we forgot is - coffee shops are not open there as early as in Auckland (7am), but it was even better, as we had a chance to go for a drive around Timaru and take a few photographs of empty, but welcoming town.
Rainbow at the end of street attracted our attention to a Sacred Heart Basilica - Catholic church. The initial building cost £23,000 and was practically completed and paid for by the time of the opening and consecration, on Rosary Sunday, 1 October 1911.
We've found first Replenish cafe which was open early on one of the streets, so decision was made to get a cuppa there :) (I'll definitely write a separate little post about it!)
After beautiful little breakfast we went to see the most gorgeous waterfront we've ever seen!
Spacious field full of fresh sea breeze, and the view, just breathtaking!
Trevor Griffiths Rose Gardens located here as well. It says that roses here flowering from November until July. I guess in July starts their "sleeping" period, we can't even imagine how gorgeous this place is when flowers are blooming.
Timaru stayed in our hearts. It's an absolutely gorgeous little town which we'll definitely suggest anyone to visit, no matter if you tourist or kiwi. It definitely worth your time ant attention. Absolutely gorgeous unique little place!
