32. The Road to Hobbiton - Day 3

Day 3

The day in numbers:

481 km driven.

Wrong turns taken: 12.

100+ Rented camper-vans overtaken.

Trees seen: >1,000,000,000,000,000.

1^st outing for the Lord of the Rings soundtrack. 

It has been suggested to me to include maps showing where I have been, because many of you will not have a clue where the places I mention are. This hadn't occurred to me and in hindsight seems very obvious! So here is the latest map showing where I traveled on Day 3. I have updated the previous two blog entries to include maps also. 

Map of Day 3:

E - Greymouth. F - Westport. G - Nelson. H - Picton

I set off from Greymouth late on in the morning, it was pushing 11am. I had allowed myself a lie-in, a leisurely breakfast and plenty of time to do some blogging on the cheaper than usual internet that was available at the hostel.

Ahead of me was the drive up the rest of the West Coast and then the drive across the top of the South Island to Picton, where I would stay the night before my ferry trip across Cook Straight to the North Island.

The drive from Greymouth to Westport was pretty warm, and at times downright too hot. Again, the sky was cloudless, and in places the tar in the road was looking and smelling a bit melty. As can be expected there were the usual suspects of spectacular sights and great roads to drive.

Something which is a massive deal to everyone travelling in NZ, not just geologists, is having a look at interestingly shaped rocks. Along with what seemed like thousands of tourists, clogging up the road with their rented camper-vans and motor-homes, I stopped at Punakaiki to have a look at the famous Pancake Rocks. They were interestingly shaped yes, but did not immediately remind me of pancakes. Maybe because when I am around, pancakes very rarely exist stacked on top of each other in piles. They are usually out of the pan and down the gullet too quickly to gather in an organised fashion on one’s plate.

Here are the rocks anyway:

And here is a 'blow hole', also shaped by the elements:

It was all very dramatic and impressive.

At Westport, I stopped to refuel the car and for the first time this trip, succumbed to the snack aisle in the petrol station shop. It was a bad idea, as I knew it would be. Eating sweets, crisps, chocolate etc. whilst driving on a hot day not only makes the gear stick sticky but also makes me thirsty and therefore causes the number of piss-stops to double. Never useful when you want to crack on to your next destination.

The next destination was Nelson, the thriving town at the top of the South Island. But Nelson itself, a nice enough place, was nothing compared to the drive there. Motoring along through numerous national parks along the spectacular Buller River was great. There was less traffic on the road and the weather was gorgeous and for the first time I reached into the glove box and pulled out 'The Lord of the Rings Complete Soundtrack'. The ideal accompaniment to the awesome landscape surrounding me. 

I stopped off once or twice to take some photos of the river. 

As you can see there are a lot of trees.

At Nelson, after a short stretch of the legs and a refilling of the water bottle, I set off straight away for Picton. I don't have much to say about Nelson because I didn't really hang about. There was a good looking beach though. 

The road between Nelson and Picton had even more trees. This time instead of indigenous bush, it seemed to be the centre of a pretty serious logging industry and lines of pines covered the hills. There were some more testing corners and steep hills to negotiate, resulting in a lack of photographs. Gavin the Avenir continued to perform admirably though. 

Every time I stop for a leg stretch, food or to fuel up, I tend to have a look at my map and check I am on route and to look ahead at where I am going. It has all been very simple so far, I have been on basically the same road since I started. Nearing Picton though, I either missed a few turns or took a few that I wasn't supposed to because I ended up driving by no means the most direct route through the famous wine area of Marlborough. 

With hundreds of different vineyards and producers, it is one of NZ's major wine producing areas, Hawke's Bay being another, and central Otago (near where I am based) also produces some top quality grape juice. 

Eventually arriving at Picton at about 1900 hrs, I was pleasantly surprised to find a delightful little waterside town complete with a small port, although dominated by the ferry terminal. Picton is situated looking out to the mysterious and very photogenic Marlborough Sounds, a collection of rugged spits of land and interesting inlets. 

I took a few photos of the harbour area, the last one shows the ferry that I would be on before sunrise the next morning. 

It was a beautiful evening with a warm wind and a peaceful atmosphere over the town. So I went to the pub. 

Seamus's Irish bar is a great little pub that did a good stew and served beer in a proper pint glass, not a kiwi style one with a handle.

I wanted to stay there longer but I had to check in for the ferry at 5:25 am. 

Which is where the next blog post will pick up from...

Please, keep on telling your friends, family and colleagues about my blog. The more people that read it, the more worthwhile it seems taking a few hours to update the world on my exploits.

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