Life…

 

 

 

We have now headed off the to the South Island.  After a couple of hours delay we boarded the ferry to the South Island.  It was a smooth passage and the views were stunning as we left the North Island and as we arrived in the South Island.

 

We travelled down the Queen Charlotte Drive – it was a beautiful drive with great lookouts on the way.

 

We headed to Nelson where we climbed to the top of the centre of New Zealand.  i am not sure whether it the centre of the land mass plus sea – all I know is that is a long way up!!! Nice views from the top!

 

   

We headed to Maupa – a lovely little seaside village where we enjoyed attending the local multi denomination church and on the ministers recommendation some lovely fish and chips over looking the sea.

 

 

Over the Takaka hill which is very steep and little tinny had some difficulty getting up the hill as it was extremely windy and there were some sheer drops.

 

Next stop was Waikoropupu Springs – here you take a walk and then you get to the water where it bubbles up from the ground – quite a strange site a natural spa pool.  You couldn’t go in as it as sacred site.

Then on to Cape Farewell – nearly the most northerly part to South Island – if you want to go to the end of farewell spit you have to take a tour which costs $185 each just to go on the sand – rip off.  We went on our own little tour to Cape Farewell instead.   It was still blowing a gale and trying to rain but had a good view at the end.

 

 

Back over Takaka hill again – only one road in and one road out! and off to St Arnaud and Lake Rototiti.  Here we were entertained by students jumping off the end of the pier into the freezing water, then wondering why it was so cold! I wouldn’t have jumped in as we saw a number of more than a metre long long finned eels swimming under the pier!

 

Next stop Murchison for the night.  Not much here apart from the caravan site and a few houses and the river.  Very nice host in the caravan park and a lovely wood burner in the kitchen.

Over to Westport on the West coast and off to the seal colony at Cape Foulwind. Still very blowy here but a lovely walk to the lighthouse along the coastal path – it’s much like Cornwall. We did seven Geo-caches along the path so Phil was really happy…

 

Punakaika was our next stop.  Had a lovely evening in the pub listening to the locals in their band, very relaxing.  Next morning off to see the Pancake Rocks and Blow holes.  The rocks are fascinating how they have been formed and we were lucky to see the blow holes performing just the once while we were there.  You needed to be there at high tide and it to have a good swell as well.

 

Greymouth next on the route – big town.  Apparently the drive from Punakaika to Greymouth is in the top ten of coastal roads – we were not that impressed to be honest – it was ok but nothing special.  A short trip to Arthurs Pass was next on the list – very very windy, very steep, very dramatic, river beds flowing with glacier water – very blue and a very long viaduct crossing.  It looks like a bomb crater with a bridge over it. Even though it was cold and there was still snow around the KEA which is a kind of parrot were around begging to be fed.

 

Hokitika was our next stop.  Nice little town.  Walked to the glow worm dell when it got dark – an amazing little place – once your eyes had got used to it, you could then see the worms glowing in the dark – very pretty.  Hokitika gorge was our next port of call.  Amazingly blue water and very swingy bouncy bridges! Wonderful peaceful place.

 

Franz Josep was the next place – it was raining and the clouds had come in.  We had booked a helihike for here but we were disappointed.  The clouds were so low you could only just about see the tops of the trees so no helihike for us.  We stayed a very nice motel and the rain continued.  There is not much to do when it is pouring with rain so carried on down the west coast.  It poured the next day and night and we stayed by the Wanaka Lake that night and it thundered and lightning all night. The next morning we arrived in Wanaka and decided that we should stay for a couple of days so booked into another motel.

Here are some pictures of the end result of the rain and glacier melt…

We enjoyed the area of Wanaka – the wind was blowing very hard on the first day we were here but it calmed down after that.  There are plenty of walks round the lake and we took a visit to Puzzletown and completed the maze.  Phil beat Bob round to find all the corners and then back home and we both had a fun doing it.