Top of the South

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Our last day in the south island, Anthony wanted to show the girls an interesting feature: a swing bridge over the Buller Gorge - and wanted us all to walk the bridge.

Anthony and Paua both have challenges with heights, but Ant thought the occasion worth a few nervous moments. The bridge was a narrow steel grid, bordered by steel netting waist high on each side, suspended on cables in in an arc, and it bounced and wobbled as one crossed it. The bridge is only wide enough for one at a time, so people wait on opposite sides until the way is clear to cross, and then several will cross at the same time. This increases the bounce and sway.

Paua found herself barely able to look down, and screwed up courage to do a both-hands-in-the-air wave with Graci for a picture. Mentally, Paua nominated herself for an Oscar for best performance on a swing bridge this year. Graci, on the other hand, was pleasantly surprised to discover that she was not as afraid of heights as she formerly thought.

While in the Gorge, we also met a very nice young woman from Canada - Vicky, and her English partner Brian who works for the BBC, with whom we exchanged email addresses. And then we had to get out of there - finally routed by sand flies, which are our choice for pest of the century! Graci thinks that there should be a concerted effort to find a natural predator for these beasties, as their presence certainly changes the quality of one's visit. If some entrepreneur could come up with a way to eradicate these blood-thirsty creatures, they would be rich beyond measure overnight.

Now, the rumor that New Zealanders don’t know how to build straight roads is true. Oh sure, they have run a few straight practice roads through valleys, and, of course they have small stretches of straight-ish bits connecting the curves on winding roads, but in New Zealand, the shortest distance between two points is a hairpin turn.

Graci and Paua have ground their teeth down considerably and have practiced, frozen smiles on their lips from Ant’s vigorous navigation of the many curly, twisty, windy, rolling variations on a curvy thoroughfare that lace through this beautiful country.

It had been great to meet people in their own environment. We met some real characters, saw some of the greatest places and Graci even managed to lose some weight in the process. Paua is not so sure she lost an ounce what with all the “fush and chups” and fantastic ice cream. Yum!

Actually, we would have stayed in the south quite happily. The scenery is magnificent, of course. More than that, it feels to Grace like parts of Vermont, with its sparse population, and colourful characters. The sky is wide open at night, with little light pollution in many places, giving a brilliant show.

The colour of the water we found here seems almost indescribable to the girls, and the way that light plays across the hills is delightful. And then there is the damp and moss of the rainforest in the West and South. It is a raw and wild place, with many faces. But we had to leave it, for now.

North of the Buller Gorge, we return into the Marlborough region, where our first stay in the South Island had been, in the Awatere Valley. There are miles of more vineyards to pass, then we reach Blenheim, and beyond that, Picton.

Now we had another sea voyage to get us back to the North Island.

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