We drove from Invercargill to Nelson, from one end of the island to the other end, about 1030 km. Two days of driving and mostly on twisty roads. Through stunning scenery and in beautiful weather.
We left Wallacetown, said our goodbyes to Shona and Richard, and drove up the road to Ryal Bush, where I lived for the first 19 years of my life, in a house that seemed huge when I was a child, but tiny now. And very dilapidated.
Then on through Winton, a farming town, looking very smart and prosperous. My parents are buried in the cemetery there, also my sister's ashes are there, just a stones throw from our parents' grave. So many memories.
We continued up the road, mostly flat, except for the occasional hill. Lots of green fields, sheep and cows. Then the Lumsden hills came into view with fog surrounding the tops.
And it was very thick too, dense fog.
And the surrounding mountains began to get closer and closer. We passed the turnoff to Lake The Anau, and the small settlements became more rural, and alpine in appearance. The lush pastures disappeared, replaced by tussock grass.
When we reached Kingston, we caught our first glimpse of Lake Whakatipu. We stopped at a cafe for coffee and cheese rolls. Cheese rolls are slices of bread filled with cheese, rolled up, butter spread on the top and baked in the oven. Delicious.
We drove around the lake, on a road called 'The Devil's Staircase' but which is very tame now. Once it was an extremely narrow gravel road. Very dangerous.
Fantastic views
The Remarkable. A mountain range which changes colour during the day. There are ski fields behind the peaks.
We drove past Queenstown, Frankton, and Arrowtown without stopping, due to the large number of tourists, and over development of once picturesque and quaint towns. We drove around more winding roads, and over the Shotover River where the bungy jumping business is well developed.
We stopped at Cromwell for more cheese rolls, a fresh fruit ice cream and to buy some Gala apples, $5 for a large bag. Fresh from the orchards.
We set off again, towards the Lindis Pass, where we stopped for a photo shoot at the summit.
The countryside is very stark here, as it is well above the snow line, with tussock grass covering the ground.
Once through the pass, we carried on to Omaramara, a small settlement in the middle of the valley, where there is a third road which leads to Oamaru. I once turned left here, instead of travelling south, and it took sometime before I realised I was heading in the wrong direction. Embarrassing.
The valley, called McKenzie Country, a dry area with tussock grass, has now been ploughed and planted with non native grasses which require irrigation. All this effort to turn the area into land suitable for dairy farming. Too bad if this project turns out to be an environmental disaster.
On through Twizel, with salmon fishing and man made channels, until we arrived at Lake Pukaki, and a superb view of Mount Cook.
More winding roads, past Lake Tekapo, over more passes, until we came to Geraldine, our favourite little town, with a garden cafe closed in the evening. We stayed in a very comfortable motel, and after a good nights sleep we set off early in the morning to take the inland route which bypasses Christchurch. At first we drove along a very flat and straight road on the Canterbury plains, with the Alps on our left. After stopping at a delightful cafe in Oxford, we drove on through the next set of mountains and national parks.
The surrounding area around Raikaia River was very steep and hilly. Not much water in the river, but no doubt a torrent after heavy rain or when the snows melt in the mountains.
After arriving at Amberley on Highway 1, we turned off towards Hanmer Springs and the Lewis Pass. No time to stop for a soak in the thermal pools at Hanmer, so we quickly passed the turnoff and drove through the Lewis Pass.
In New Zealand, people maintain that tourists cause most of the accidents due to careless driving or driving on the wrong side of the road. However we notice that many of the locals are pretty awful drivers too. Tailgating, cutting corners, passing when it is clearly unsafe. Well we were very pleased to see a New Zealand driver, who had been tailgating us, being pulled over by the police for speeding. We gave the driver a big wave when we passed him.
After many more kilometres of winding roads, and beautiful green bush, we arrived at our favourite cafe in Murchison,
where we ate huge hokey pokey ice creams.
We thankfully arrived in Nelson, late in the afternoon. New Zealand is such a beautiful country, and we never tire of driving there, but the winding, twisty roads are very tiring and require much concentration.
I forgot to mention the one way bridges, and forgot to take a photo. Very unique to New Zealand. They work well too.
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