Picton to Blenheim

 Pink highlight is where we stayed & the blue highlight is places we stopped at,clicking on images will enlarge them

We left Picton at 8.30, temperature 17 degrees,beautiful outside,although a bit overcast.

The scenery after we left Picton was mainly wineries which then gave way to some pretty boring scenery,especially after all the greenery we had seen.

Made our way to the tourist information at Blenheim only to find out the Riverboat Cruise I wanted to go on for lunch was canceled due to clearing the weeds from the waterway,just our luck.Decided we would go back to Picton which was about a half hour drive.Once back in Picton,we decided we would go over to the Lachmara Resort to have lunch.

We had a bit of time to fill in before our trip so went for another drive stopping at a few little rest spots along the way.

Karaka Point,Interisland ferry in background

There was a rest area here,I decided to go on the walk while Peter waited.

 

Waikawa Bay lots of pretty Bays like this in the area

Time now to get organized for our trip,once again we are waiting for people who are running late,we waited for about 1/2 an hour, because they were guests staying at Lochmara ,this was particularly annoying as we were a day only trip,so that took that time off our stay....really annoyed me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our water Taxi for Lochmara

I thought the place was nice ,it combined art & sculptures throughout the resort,bit of a maze actually.

Some of the many sculptures scattered throughout the resorts grounds

 Not for the faint hearted or unfit...Queen Charlotte Track

 Grumpys camp

BBQ area & pizza oven

Couple of the locals

Peter relaxing on the trip back to Picton

We got back to Picton around 3 pm 22 degrees,lovely. We went back to Blenheim ,found where Ray worked & we organized to meet up for tea at the Corner Stone Pub.

We were going to stay at a camp ground,but decided to stay at The Blenheim Palm close to town & a close walk to the pub.The pub had a nice atmosphere ,our meals were nice  & we enjoyed our catch up with Ray.

Havelock to Picton

We left the Havelock camping ground around 9.30am it was 20 degrees,looked like we were in for a nice day. Decided to have a bit of a look around the Mariner,then took a walk up the street,slight drizzle.

Mussel Pot Restaurant

By the time we actually left Havelock at 10.55,there was only the odd spot of rain.The sun was out 21 degree ,beautiful,there was even a rainbow to complete the view.

 Somewhere over the rainbow...Havelock

We headed over to Kenopura which looked like dairy country,once again we are on a very windy road which seemed to go on forever.Stopped at Te Mahia for coffee,started drizzling again 11.45am & 19 degrees.

We arrived at Picton around 12.50 the temperature was now 21 degrees  & the sun was out with the odd spot of rain still.

View from the lookout showing Ferry Terminal for the Inter Island Ferry which travels between  Picton & Wellington,three ships are used for this service.

Had lunch then booked into theTop 10 which has been the most expensive place so far $40,was quite nice,it was about a 15 minute walk to town.

This is where we had lunch the "Flying Haggis",the sign below was hanging near the bar.

 Old piers

A.S Echo 1905

We had a look at the Mariner,had missed all the cruisers,but the day ended up being nice.

Leaving the sandflies behind

Time was 8am when we left Murchison & 15 degrees,lovely morning,although there was fog on the hills.

As we are traveling along we noticed a crop of some sort,turned out it was hops,seemed to be a prevalent crop for the area we are traveling through,Tapawera.

A bit further along we actually came across someone harvesting the hops,so we stopped & watched for awhile
.

  

Hop

As we passed the Mc Leans Recreation Area we noticed quite a few Gypsy style vehicles there,later heard on the radio there was a Gypsy Fair in Nelson.

Took these photos through the window as it was raining

 There were fruit trees & more hops in the Ngatmoti area then vineyards in the Motueka Valley,very picturesque area.

 They look like they train the fruit trees to grow a certain way

Types of fruit seemed to be Nashi pears & apples Motueka its self had a lot of  Nashi pears,apples kiwi fruit &  hops that we passed on the way to Takaka.

 First time I've seen Kiwi Fruit growing

Now that was a steep windy climb in the rain up into the mist & over the Takaka Hill (more like a mountain).Really ended up being a waste of time as the rain was quite heavy & you really couldn't do much,had a bit of a look around , had lunch,then went back over the hill.Would have been so much nicer without the rain,but you can't do much about the weather except make the most of it.

Decided we'd stay at Havelock $24 clean,tidy & friendly.Mussels seem to be their claim to fame in the area.

Pancake Rocks & a Flying Fox

Left Hokitika around 8am it was drizzling, we had a coffee then headed off hoping it would clear, the temp was 15 degrees not cold at all.

We stopped at Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki, it was still drizzling so we put on our coats to go see the rocks, very busy stop. It was a nice walk through the rain forest to the rocks, such a beautiful area, the rock formations were amazing.

These were formed 30 million years ago from fragments of skeletons & shells, these limestone rocks have been sculptured over time by mild acid rain, wind & sea water.

 Back to the car onwards to…well we hadn’t decided, anyway the scenery once we left the rocks was simply beautiful, the coast line had vegetation of flax & ferns to name a couple( because I don’t know the others lol.)The vegetation went right down to the stony beaches & the rocky outcrops. The right hand side had the same as well as numerous palm type trees.

 There were also a lot of little shacks tucked in amongst the bushes, thought they may be whitebait shacks. Any flat areas of land seemed to be dairy farms; we also saw paddocks of deer. We stopped at Greymouth to get a few more things being the last biggish town.

Went to the seal colony at Tauranga Bay, it was a short 500m walk which took us to a viewing platform, we had a good view of the seals & some pups, plus there was one swimming around just below us.

Flax seed pods

 Flax that someone has taken the time to plait on the track,there were a few of these done

Just in case you get lost

From here you could continue on till you got to Foulwind Lighthouse, we went back to the car & ended up stopping at the lighthouse anyway. Bit of a bonus as there were a couple of Wekas in the car park not phased by us. I had to keep moving back when trying to get a photo as the Weka kept coming closer.

 Weka

 By the time we arrived at Charleston the rain looked like it was gone & the temp was 19 degrees at 11.40am.We stopped at Westport for lunch, I had a smoked fish pie ,very nice & Peter had a bacon & egg pie, it was 21 degrees now & started to rain again.

Westport was first a gold town, and then a coal town with New Zealand’s only bituminous coal mine still operating.

Kilkenny Lookout was one-way because of a huge over hanging rock called …Hawkes Crag a distinct landmark in the Lower Buller Gorge where the road is actually cut into the cliff that drops into the Buller River.

  Of course I stopped to take a photo of it. We were now following the Buller River on our right going through the Buller Gorge.

 Bit of Trivia...In 1955 uranium was discovered in the Buller region for first time and the site was about 1 kilometer from here.

They have the annual Buller Gorge Marathon in February, attracting about 3000 people & is one of the world’s most impressive marathon courses. All I can say is they must be mad, like all the people we have seen on push bikes pedaling around this country, not like its flat, especially the Westcoast.

We were getting close to Murchison when we came across the sign for the Longest Swing Bridge in New Zealand, thought we had gone past it. The bridge is 110 meters long & 17 meters high crossing the Buller River taking you to various walks & points of interest which we were going to do.

The moment I stepped onto the bridge, I was attacked by sandflies. I was slapping away like a mad thing it was awful, we had left our protection behind…big mistake.

  Disappointed about not being able to do the walk unless we were in a balaclava & boiler suit, we decided to take the flying fox back.

 Mind you, we were still being attacked while we waited to go on the flying fox, I enjoyed the ride, probably would never had done it if it wasn’t for the sandflies. I guess you could say that was a bonus then.

We stayed at Murchison for the night, the Campground was a little way out of town, ran into the couple who were parked near us at Hokitika, they weren’t happy about the sandflies or the facilities where they were parked. We were nearer the camp kitchen because we were in a car, but they were right about the sandflies. We spent most of our time in the camp kitchen to keep away from them, so I downloaded my photos, Peter read his book, then we cooked tea, prawn risotto.