On the Road, Heading South...and breaking down

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On the Road

OK, let's start with an admission. What I did not tell you about day one is that at the end of a very long day (the excuses start) and not really understanding how the gas pumps work (as in, any of the pumps work no matter which fuel selection you make, another excuse) I did mange to put 14 liters of diesel fuel into the tank of our gas powered little van. When I realized my mistake I fortunately did not start the van. Rather, the very friendly and helpful owner of the station (he regaled me with the story of the last guy who did this--it was his second time in a row) helped us push the van into the lot. The next morning the local fix it guy, Dave, showed up with a tow truck, took it to his shop, drained it, gave me some fuel, and, a few dollars poorer and two hours later than planned, we were on the road.



But Dave did explain to me a few things about dairy farming here. First, they only milk from August to May, then the quit when the 'winter' comes and the pastures are left alone. The pastures are all intensively grazed, with the cattle moved every day or two from small plot to small plot. They do water their pastures as well as fertilize them. Sheep are handled the same way. The herds are pretty large, usually the farms have a milking team that handles several herds and several parlors. Prior to current methods they had a 'town supply' system of dairies with several dairies around each town providing that community with milk all year long. The larger herds and part milking ended that.



Due to the late start we decided to head straight to Wellington where we had booked the 5 p.m. Ferry to Picton. On the way we stopped and grabbed some delicious meatpies--chicken and mushroom for Marcia, steak and kidney for me. The trip was a combination of two lane and the new four lane road--the new road made us wonder what the Kiwis would be losing as it detours around all the small towns. Will they wither like American ones have? Surely the road is better, faster, but at what cost?



We took the Interislander ferry across the Cook Straight, a beautiful sail on a beautiful day. The views across the Straight were stunning, none of our photos captured them. We we arrived in Picton we headed for a campground and spent the first night in our home away from home. Generally it worked well, but still some bugs to shake out.



On Friday we 'packed up' the van and headed for Blenheim which is in the center of the Marlbourgh wine country. It is a neat little town, we wandered the street market and picked up some fresh strawberries for the journey on to Kaikoura on the coast. From Blenheim to the coast we drove through wine country, high rolling dry hills, covered with brown grasses, with acres of vineyards positioned wherever wells could bring up water for irrigation. We came down from the hills and past a large salt operation, dozens of pools of ocean water evaporating in order to become the mountains of salt that the place was harvesting. Despite the guide book's claim there were no tours and no public sales. We then followed the coast road, #1, south until we came to Oahu where there is a large seal colony. We watched as the seal pups romped in the tidal pools while the moms sunned themselves on the rocks nearby (reminded me of the family trips to Sunset Beach, NC).



On to Kaikoura where our first stop had to be for crayfish, the local delicacy that is much like our lobster. Had a half one, we picked it from the cooler that a truck had just dropped off, and they grilled it along with some mussels for a great lunch. Today's trek was the Kaikoura peninsula walkway. We choose to only do the part that runs along the coast, the rest of it runs through the town and a nearby woods. For two hours we trekked along cliffs overlooking the sea and then cut down to the rocky shore for our walk back. Tonight we have found a funky little campground that features antique rail cars as lodging, as well as a place for our van...whose name is Bongo by the way.



Dinner tonight in Ameberly, the glasses of wine while checking out the southern stars, including the Southern Cross, not visible from the Northern Hemisphere. (Don't forget to check out the extra photos below.)

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Photos

Don't fill up at Mt. Doom
Diesel, in a gas engine, not a good idea.

Crossing the Cook Straight
First close ups of the South Island.

Mom's and pups
Pup seals frolic in the water while the moms sunbathe.

Comments

[Greg]

Perpetual source of ammunition
Continue to enjoy New Zealand. We loved it. But, the fuel snafu, George. In the reality of sexual politics, you have provided Miss Marcia with something to bring up whenever she wants to get your goat. I hope she was gentle with you.