We left our very comfortable Holiday Park at Carter's Beach (NZD44 per night for powered site) around 8.30am and headed in to the Buller Gorge. The River Buller at this point is quite majestic as it has been fed by many other rivers along its route from Saint Arnaud and is nearing the sea. However, it was a great contrast to the chaotic, crashing, seriously scary, grey glacier melt rivers we crossed in the rainforest. The lower Buller Gorge was very scenic with the Buller flowing gently through steep-sided, forested hills, the SH6 hugging the gorge sides, at times the road down to single lane, and occasionally passing below limestone overhangs.
At this early hour there was low cloud lying in the interlocking spurs giving it a ghostly effect. The river meandered in wide bends, depositing grey silt which crated many mini beaches.
I struggled with creeks again today, partly because so much of the journey was twisty and I needed to focus on tom-tom to give Tony heads up on tight bends, nevertheless I spotted: Cockney Creek; Dough Boy Creek; Hawk's Crag Creek; Little Deep and Big Deep Creeks; Doctor's Creek; Handrail Creek (one for the orienteers) and Washout Creek.
Higher up the Gorge the mountains occasionally gave way to flatlands with those familiar poplar trees and homesteads or stations. We stopped for a break at Murchison and, turning round to reach the cafe, I spotted the 'Dust and Rust Vintage Store' correct in every aspect. It was a real Fred Dibnah place and the huge bard probably held all the dusty and rusty staff some patient wife has told him to get rid of!
North of Murchison we held on to the mountains but now the valley floor opened up to farmland with several herds of farmed deer. The earlier low cloud had now burned off and it was becoming a lovely day. The foothills of these mountains were covered in short grass and scrub causing me to wonder if, at some point, they had been de-forested. The exposed hills gave the impression of pleated cloth with the pleats tightly demarcated at one end of the valley, becoming gentler and less easy to distinguish further down.
The Motueka Valley must be particularly suited to crop growing, in particular fruit and nuts. There were several 'honesty stalls' at the side of the road selling blackcurrants, apples, pears, plums and we also identified hops and one field/paddock of tobacco plants! Several Harrier Hawk flew above the valley floor, they have been a special feature of our holiday to date.
We passed through Tapawera, which I saw as Tupperware, who must have had the smallest museum ever. You had to hope they didn't get a lot of coach parties! The final few miles to Motueka seemed interminable and we were relieved to finally park up and find some good lunch in a cafe bar called Evolution on the main street. Tony couldn't see anything he liked and the manager went out of his way to see that we ate there (short of barring the door!) making Tony an open chicken sandwich and me the salmon quiche.
We drove on to Fernwood Holiday Camp which reminds me a bit of Methven. It's full of fruit pickers in big buses, very friendly. Before night fell we took a walk around the bay reserve and spotted several waterfowl fishing in the pools left by the receding tide: oystercatchers; grey and white heron; cormorant and spoonbills.
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