The South Island Adventure - Part 1

As the time for the great South Island adventure drew near we had time to have another walk down to St Heliers Bay. Darting across our path was the Auckland jet boat. The pilot did his stuff of swamping the passengers as he drove the boat under the water. He then continued for some distance to the west before returning.

Sadly, a would-be sailor near us did not seem to able to get under-way.

It was a glorious evening and so we borrowed a car to drive off to Point England. It is a recreation area bordering on to the Tamaki River. From here it is possible to walk down to the Spit. However, it seemed to be a good walk, judging by the distance between us and the red Waiheke car ferry.

 A decision had been made to get up at 6.30 am in time to leave at 8.00 am. This we barely managed to do. Ian drove and chose (there are a good number of routes to the airport) to take us via Sylvia Park Road. Unfortunately the drive to the end of the road did not take the usual 15 minutes. It took more like an hour. Thanks to some skilful driving by Ian we made up some time and arrived with a few minutes to spare.

It was not long before we were aboard and taking off. The last time that we flew from the Jet Star terminal we had time for the whole family to have a relaxed breakfast. Not this time. However, we were able to buy coffee and muffins on the plane. They were surprisingly good with the muffins being about the moistest we have had.

From the plane we could see the mountains to the west and the large, very precisely shaped fields to the east. We could also see brown, river shaped patches.

Once we had taken possession of our cases we rang the car hire office and we were directed to the free shuttle bus. While we were on the bus we spoke to a New Zealand couple. They were on their way south to visit their daughter who owned a herd of 8000 cows.

The car turned out to be a 2 litre Ford Focus. It had air-conditioning. I was a little disappointed that the remote key did not work. As expected it had a manual gear shift. But, to my surprise the indicator stalk was on the UK side. As I write this I am, on occasion, wiping the screen when I intend to be signalling. I will need to be re-educated into driving an automatic when I return to Auckland. Driving in the UK will be a nightmare.

Eventually we made our way out on to SH1 (State Highway 1). I still have not gotten used to fact that these major highways run through towns. There is a strange phenomenon when the speed limit suddenly changes from 100 kph to 50 kph. The car is suddenly quiet and almost seems to be gliding along. Along the highway we came to some parking bays just next to a church. Here I pulled over for lunch. At the time it seemed very rural, but on the way back we saw it to be just another marker on a busy road.

Irene continually referred to a pretty poor road map. On the map there was, what looked to be close to our destination, a simple, short loop out to the sea at Gore Bay and back. It was also marked as a place where we could see ‘Cathedral Rocks’. 

To get back to the main road we had to get 
down to the sea and back up again.

The detour turned out to be much further than the map showed and of course, more difficult to drive along. The trip turned out to be well worth it. We pulled into a little car park and opposite were the rocks. This is a limestone area and it appears that columns had formed from stalactites and stalagmites joining and then the cave roof falling in [citation needed].

Like almost every few kilometres of our journey there was a ‘wow’ at every bend. Once more we pulled up near to a guano covered rock, and it was beautiful. All along this section of the journey a rail line kept popping in and out of short tunnels. We almost made a mistake of assuming the tunnels were only train tunnels until we were confronted by two road tunnels which were painted to show which one to take.

Once through the tunnels we were in the Kaikora area and on our left was the vivid blue of the sea. A large flock of sea birds circled near an island which was obviously one of their favourite places.

Having checked in at the first 'Motor Lodge' of this tour we walked back to the supermarket. Although we were walking along the main highway crossing was not a problem. Our first evening meal of the holiday consisted of chicken rice (me) lasagne (Irene) finished off with Danish apple slice.

This repast was followed by a drive to see the sites. First we got to the whale watching centre. Although they say they will refund 80% of the fee it was a bit too much for my purse. 

Mountains,sea and cloud 
from the whale watch station

As always there was a hill to drive up to watch the sunset. Cleverly, the town folk had built a viewing platform on top of the water tower.

Two views from the top at the same time.
 It is quite surprising how light varies with direction.

Our car shining in the sun outside our room at
 Willowbank Motel, Kaikora

Bright sun and blue skies was on order to start the day. At this stage the car is quite clean and shiny. By the end of the journey it would be covered in dust mixed with rain and sun tan lotion decorating the side windows. Our own appearances would start to deteriorate as the tour went on.

Another road of twists and turns started us off with the sunlight glinting off the blue sea. It was not long before we just had to stop to take it in. A sign said 'View Point' and so we took a right turn into the car park. At first we just stared over the rocks and glorious sea. Then Irene noticed that on the rocks there was a colony of New Zealand fur seals. Among the resting adults a pack of seal pups romped on the rocks and in the pool. I wish that I could post the video that I took. Back on the road we found the sign saying 'Ohoa Bay Seal Colony'.

On we travelled passing grassland in which the sheep were well camouflaged and through vineyards which were on an industrial scale.

 For much of this part of the journey Irene took the wheel. I had fun making movies of the road ahead (see facebook). She found the driving easier than me because she had not been driving an automatic car with the indicators on the wrong side of the steering wheel.

By the middle of the morning we reached the town of Seddon which was just south of Blenheim. Opposite our parking bay was the 'Cosy Corner Cafe' which served a good Chai Latte.

Blenheim was next on the list of places to see. There is actually very little to see in Blenheim so we headed for Pollards Park. It is a very colourful garden though which a waterway runs. At one time it completely filled with the usual ducks.

Having parked we walked into the centre. We deliberately headed for Seymore Square which had a waterfall not unlike that at Mission Bay. It also had a tower which served as the war memorial.

Following, what would be our usual practice, of snack and drinks at the nearest cafe we were back on the road.

We headed towards Picton. This is a small town which is the harbour for ferries crossing the Cook Strait from Wellington. From a vantage point on the top of the Queen Charlotte Domain we could see the Interislander at the terminal and  also something of the waters of the Sound.

Queen Charlotte Drive connects Picton to Havelock which is on the route to Nelson. She (the SATNav lady) took us south to Blenheim, west to Rapaura and north to Havelock. I recently looked at Google maps which shows that the short journey is actually much longer due to the many bends.

Along the route there were mile after mile of vines for just one grower and the rows stretched back as far as the eye could see.

West of Havelock we came to a sharp bend. It appeared to be a good place to park. There was a sign pointing us to a historic bridge, so we followed it. The bridge was a wooden plank bridge which was capable of carrying very heavy vehicles. The one we saw certainly shook us up as we walked on to the bridge. Visible from the Pelorus Bridge was a bathing area. People on the rocks below enjoyed the thrill of diving into the ice cold, very clear, mountain water.

Next followed a climb up the Rai valley. This was followed by a switch back ride down into Nelson.

Admirals Motor Lodge was, once more, positioned on the State Highway. Our reception was very friendly and we were shown into a block of rooms. The accommodation was roomy, consisting of a large bed/sitting room. This was separated from the kitchen, which was across an entrance hall from the bathroom area.

As we were going to be here for two nights we did a proper unpacking. After this we walked down the road to pick up our evening meal of chicken and chips (Irene did not have the chips). Then we had cheese cake. The evening ended relaxing to watch 'Oblivion' on Sky TV.