After leaving the St Arnaud district, we returned to the beauty of Buller Gorge, with the sun on it today!
It was due to be a long day of driving for Tony so we were going to have plenty of stops en route. Lorraine had suggested the Arthur's Pass route as it was particularly scenic, but it would also add more miles to the journey, and trickier driving, so we opted for the 'direct' (!) route. A blipper I did not know, Teejay, had commented on my blip of a rusted truck in Murchison when we passed through there a week ago and so we arranged to meet on our way back through today, at the Red Barn Cafe.
Teejay (Tina) was much fun and very welcoming. She had brought along friend Adrienne then, moments later another local blipper, FarmerGirl, arrived so we passed an easy hour of laughter and conversation on a range of subjects from mobile phones to possum poisoning! It turns out Tina is also an ex-English teacher though sadly we didn't have time to compare notes.
All too soon we had to be on the road again and, after a brief stop for some supplies in Murchison, we turned south towards Springs Junction and then the Lewis Pass.
Only three creeks of note for this day: Speargrass Creek, Gravity Creek and Pea Soup Creek as this part of the country favours streams and their names aren't as evocative.
When we left Murchison, Tony pointed out a young man standing at the junction wearing a large cardboard box advertising a local market. Well done that young man! I imagine he made lots of people chuckle, including us, and hopefully pulled in some customers for the market too.
As we drove in to Lewis Pass, the morning light through the several varieties of birch trees was a lime yellow/green and magical.
We stopped for a cuppa at Maruia Springs Thermal Resort and it was in to Lewis Pass proper.
The views down the various valleys from therein were truly wonderful. On Tina's advice we pulled over just after the summit to walk a short way to a small, very pretty tarn which reflected the surrounding forest and mountains perfectly. Sadly, the sandflies were out so we beat a hasty retreat to Oscar the Van and continued onwards to the Hope Valley.
Both the Hope Valley and then the Waiau River Valley afforded fabulous views.
We passed by Hanmer Springs and suddenly we were out on to the long, straight roads of Culverden, north of Christchurch. The traffic today, being the last day of the Easter holiday weekend, was very heavy and Tony had to pull over almost every few minutes in places, which made for tiring driving for him.
Eventually we reached a road we had travelled before from the opposite direction when we had stopped at Waikari to look at the Maori art. The skies were clear today and we were able to see more of the impressive slabs of limestone in this area. We decided that when we reached the coast north of Christchurch we would look for a campsite, and found a place at Waikuku Beach.
We pretty much have the site to ourselves as it cleared out today after a busy Easter weekend. It's basic but clean and has all the facilities - the tv room being housed in a truck container!
Having sat in Oscar the Van for most of the day we put the laundry in and took the bikes through the local wildlife reserve which reminded me in places of Culbin on the Moray Firth, being forested sand dunes. We cycled as far as Woodend and took a look at the beach from there before making the return journey, taking in Tutaepatu wildlife lagoon on the way.
Now we are fed and showered and I'm going to enjoy my last glass of Roaring Meg. Tomorrow we will arrive in Christchurch and have to sort Oscar the Van before his handover on Wednesday. Our holiday/adventure in New Zealand is almost done.....
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