After a week on the North island with Andy and Kelsey, we ferried across to Picton, which is a small town whose main purpose is to provide an overnight stay to ferry passengers.
I can recommend the Green-lipped mussels.
We picked up our hire car the next morning, had a quick look round the shops, then stocked up with supplies for breakfasts in Blenheim.
A quick pit stop in St Arnauld for some lunch, we spotted this huge sculpture. Andy had warned us of the mosqitoes along the west coast, and the tiny garage come cafe come general store had 3 whole shelves devoted to insect repelents, so we headed the warnings and sprayed up.
A few stops to capture great views which abound in New Zealand, then on to Punikaiki.
We stayed in The Treehouse, set right in the rainforest.
Our balcony, overlapped with tree ferns and palms.
A short walk through the forest brought us to a delightful beach.
The only downside to this beach was that it was entirely tiny little gritty pebbles, so a pain to walk on.
Monday we drove the short distance to the Pancake Rocks and Blowholes.
A 10 minute walk through these Phormiums took us to the views.
The tide was not high enough for the blowholes, but the wonderful rock formations , created by a process called stylobedding, were magical. The walkway took us round the headland and over rock bridges with the waves crashing below.
Back on the main road we stopped in the cafe, and I succumbed to buying a gorgeous outdoor Scribbler coat.
The coffee shop had a tame Weka quietly plodding between the tables.
After a leg stretch and lunch in Greymouth we continued on to Hokitika, where Kelsey had recommended the pie shop. When we got there the shelf was almost empty, but another batch was just about to come out of the ovens, so we purchased 2 for dinner to check their quality. I can confirm that they are delicious.
Hokitika beach is scattered with bleached driftwood, and there is always a sign spelt out of the wood, but I think its time this had a refresh.
Next we stayed in the Rainforest Motel in Fox Glacier. The town is very small, just a couple of bars and some sports wear shops, plus helicopter rental offices galore, and due to the glacier melting, it is a long walk up to view it these days. However there is a delightful path through the rain forest just on the edge of town, that also has glow-worms if you visit in the dark.
As we did not intend on climbing up to see the glacier, we did the next best thing. By driving 10km away from the glacier, you reach a viewpoint.
The road continues down the coast with routes around river estuaries. If you’ve never travelled NZ roads before, they are a delight. Hardly any traffic, speed signs to tell you how fast you can take the bends, and passing places every few km.
We called in Haast for lunch before starting the journey inland to Lake Hawea, stopping to view waterfalls en-route.
As we arrived early we carried along to Wanaka, and visited Puzzling World, where we last called 19 years before. There are crazy rooms that distort perspectives, and make you doubt your eyes, plus a 3D maze that is almost impossible (we cheated after 45 minutes and escaped).
Looks easy, doesn’t it?
A short visit to town and then back to our hotel, which I chose because it has great views across the Lake.
Sadly, we were disappointed by the hotel. The chair on the balcony collapsed when I sat on it, the replacement chairs they brought us were covered in black soot, and then we found out that the hotel did not serve breakfast in the restaurant, and there were no facilities in the room to make our own.
Definitely not worth the extra money this hotel cost. Luckily the evening meal was good, and they gave us a free drink.
Our next drive took us across to the east coast, stopping in Clyde to capture the wonderful Karearea recycled-metal sculpture.
I will continue the trip at Dunedin, I hope you’ve enjoyed sharing this trip so far.
Shardlows Highs 