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Published: February 27th 2009
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Hi again
From Arrowtown we drove over several valleys and ranges of hills to Wakata. On the way we had to stop to see the Kingston Flyer, a 1927 steam loco which had just finished a trip when we got there. Then on alongside a very long lake to Wakata where we stayed the night. Weather not great here so we did not do a great deal that evening. Dull again the following morning so we went to the Puzzle World. An amazing place, we spent over a hour there before we had to pay anything for using the puzzles set out in the coffee area. Altogether we must have spent around 4 hours looking at the displays standing on floors at crazy angles and trying to work out the visual effects created in the multiple illusions. Oh, and the Roman style toilets too!
It was early afternoon when we set off again heading towards Mount Cook and hoping that the cloud would clear so that we could see it. We found a free campsite overlooking Lake Pukata, with water an amazing turquoise colour, as a result of the dust from the glacier in suspension. It changed colour all
the time, depending on the sky overhead. But we did not get to see Mount Cook as the cloud never cleared.
Sunday morning we were on the road again heading for another beautiful lake, Tekapo. Again the views were spoilt by cloud, but we enjoyed looking into the Churcb of the Good Shepherd, which has amazing views through the altar window over the lake and the distant hills The churchwarden here has to keep the crowds of tourists away while the service is on, especially those who want to walk behind the altar window. Unfortunately the service was well through when we arrived as we would have liked to have joined the locals for their service.
We moved on again, with the target of being in Christchurch for Monday morning. The skies cleared as we went east and the afternoon was much better. The Canterbury plain was flat and not very interesting, but we arrived in Scarborough in beautiful sunshine and had a long walk on the beach before supper, overlooking the bay there.
We stayed overnight and I was awake in time to see the sun rise over the bay. We
had a quick breakfast and then got to the camera repairer in good time, before they opened. While they were repairing the camcorder again, we spent the morning by the beach at New Brighton. A lovely beach, with a modern, concrete, pier. Instead of the amusement arcades at the end they had a public library and cafe. Thankfully the camera was repaired and tested, by them and by me, and we were on the road again soon after lunch. This time we headed north for Kaikoura in the hope of seeing some whales. We stayed on a site by the beach again and I got up early and booked for a trip at 1.15. There was snow on the hills when we awoke, but we don't know if it came in the night or was left over from the winter. We walked around in bright sunshine on the headland and saw a few seals, but the wind was picking up and all the trips out were deemed too dangerous, so they were cancelled. There was little prospect of any trips the following day, so we set off inland over a very winding road to a place called Hanmer Springs, a
thermal spa town with Harrogate Street and Bath Road etc. We decided not to go in because it was drizzling, but hoped for better things the following day. No luck again so we headed over the Lewis Pass to Greymouth where we found bright sunshine. The beaches were rather grey sand and covered with driftwood of all shapes and sizes. People were collecting it to turn into artwork, presumably.
After more freedom camping, this time on an official site like the ones in France, we headed north to the Pancake Rocks and another National Park. They are everywhere in NZ. The rocks were amazing limestone structures and were continually being eroded of course. Lys found the vegetation quite unusual, being almost a rain forest area, with huge palms, up to 10ft tall abnd very dense undergrowth everywhere. How they penetrated it originally I don't know. Walking through these forests we could hear the bellbird calling; a very distinctive sound and lots of cicadas chattering away all around.
Moving on from there we had lunch near a beach just south of Westport. The guidebooks are not very complimentary about the town and we agreed, so we drove in and
out again and alongside the Buller River which is a very scenic drive. The road was pretty good, although the drops into the river at the side of the road were a bit disconcerting. They only put barriers where they think it is really dangerous. In spite of this being the SH6 and an important through route, there were 2 places were it was single lane, with give way signs, because there was not room for a 2 lane road. I mean 2 lane not dual carriageway! AFter a very steep climb we had a good long run down into Nelson and found an excellent little site just by our main road into town.
Friday was bright and promising so we headed for Nelson itself. Then sun really came out, so we detoured for the beach for the morning. Then we went west to a beach which Margarat and John had told us about on Rabbit Island. It was totallt unspoilt with about 10 people on a beach a few miles long. The water was warm and shallow and even tempted me in for a dip.
Saturday is wet so we are blogging in the hope that it
will clear up. We have heard about some Stock Car Racing, but it only happens if it is fine, apparently. Plans uncertain, may go west to Abel Tasman National Park or East to Blenheim. In spite of poorish weather we are really enjoying ourselves and relaxing. Lots of reading in the evenings, no tele, getting stuck into cryptic crosswords now.
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