Day 17 Nelson - Westport 25-02-16

Today we have another drive day on our trek across New Zealand. But before we start Paul & Trev tackle the cleaning of the inside of the front window ! A job they have been threatening to do since we got the van !! We are now on the South Island having crossed over on the ferry and had a very enjoyable evening last night with Dickie & Pru on our whistle-stop visit to Nelson.. It was a great evening and to our surprise and enjoyment Dickie turned up this morning to see us off on our journey from the motel and to wish us well for our trip !! Most unexpected but most appreciated, thank you Dickie & Pru ….

We set off at about 09:50 with about a 3 hour drive along what looked like fairly straight flat roads… Although the clouds were beginning to build the forecast was for a good clear day so we were not too worried about rain. Along the way there were a few small hills with the odd curve but nothing with the severity of yesterday !! Traffic was fairly easy and we spent a lot of the time on the road by ourselves ! At odd intervals we managed to find road works in the wilderness with temporary traffic lights. Sometimes this happened at single lane bridges that were possibly being refurbished. The big problem here was that we could not get past the slow moving lorries or cars towing caravans that struggled up the hills !! A couple of times this happened on the "passing places" so no one could get past ! On one occasion the road works finished half way up the passing place and we all went for it to get past as many slow vehicles as possible !!! At the top we did cut it fine as there was one very sharp turn on the crest of the hill just as the overtaking lane went back into one lane.. Amazingly we got past a slow car towing a caravan with meters to spare, but so did a small silver Mitsubishi and a battered old van towing a small boat which had the outboard motor slung so low it was almost touching the road !! Once past though it was a fairly nice run all the way to Westport !! We followed a river all the way. Sometimes on our left, sometimes on our right but always there. As before the amount of water was very low because of the lack of rain recently but it was obvious from the distance between the banks that it would be quite some river when full of rushing water..

About half way along we decided to stop for a "cuppa" and a leg stretch and found a one street town called Murchison !! No problems parking, so out we all jumped and spied a "Pie shop" right behind us.. It was decided though that we would walk around a little first to see what the town was like.. As we walked around a corner we saw a shop/café slightly off the beaten track that looked good for a snack !! Even better, they did Pies and Chips !! Bonus…. While we were waiting for the food and drinks to be delivered to the table we spotted what looked the oldest domestic fuse panel known to mankind !! This thing was ancient !! Paul borrowed Trev's camera to get a snap of it and as he was returning a lady was walking across with some of the drinks.. We asked her if the fuse panel was real or just for show and she looked horrified and confused, "For real" was her reply and as she looked at Paul (making a face of utter disbelief) she thought he was a Health and Safety officer as she initially looked rather worried !! When we explained that it was considered extremely dangerous back in the UK she said "welcome to the old country" "We haven't caught up yet" and left us gasping at the way they still do things in these out of the way towns !! Coffee's, teas, Pies and chips, scones, muffins and cakes consumed we went to get some meat to cook for supper tonight.. The "girls" went into the local butchers and asked for some "minced steak" the poor lady behind the counter did not understand what they were asking for ?? After a little bit of discussion it was found that you have to ask for the cut of meat not just steak.. So some minced topside was bought and that sorted tonight's meal.

Whilst the "girls" went into the local store after the butchers the "boys" took the meat and went back to the van !! As they were standing there waiting for the "girls" to return a car came down the road with orange lights flashing and a sign saying "Wide load following" . In the distance there was a lorry carrying a very wide load that took up a lot of the road !! All of a sudden there was a loud bang, what sounded like breaking glass and a long drawn out scraping noise.. Looking across the road we noticed a "camper van" (hired) had side swiped a parked car causing quite extensive damage to the car. At this point we could not see how much damage had been done to the camper so Trev surreptitiously wandered up the road, crossed over and as inconspicuously as he could walked back down the road with his camera at his side, clicking away furiously but looking to anyone else as though he were not taking any..

The driver of the camper leapt out looking rather sheepish, but also looked as if he had not realised what he had done.. Realisation soon came upon him as he saw the damage and he started to enquire as to who the owner was … Once he seemed to find the possible owner of the car (which also looked like a hire car) he began to explain that it was caused by the wide load vehicle coming in the opposite direction.. We had watched him do it and noticed that he had actually turned into the parked car well before the lorry with the wide load got any where them.. John though was quick off the mark and reminded that we "had not witnessed" the accident, we had only heard it.. Luckily it did not seem that witnesses would be required !! "Girls" back with us now it was time to set off again, but not before explaining what had just happened !! The rest of the journey, about an hour, was uneventful until the last couple of miles where Lis mentioned that the clouds were building and we must be close as the mountains had gone !! Commentators curse, it began to rain.. Actually it did us a favour as it cleared the windscreen very nicely and we could definitely see the benefit of cleaning the inside this morning !! The rain soon stopped and the sun came out again..

Crossing the river that we had been following we turned right into the road where we were staying and found the motel office.. The guy sorted everything and took us along to our accommodation for the night !! Wow, this place is palatial. It has everything that we can want and more. It puts the Japanese torture rooms right into the 'Dark ages' !! What a real pity we are only staying for one night !! The owner explained that we could not stay longer as he had friends coming in tomorrow and they would be staying here.. It is fabulous, roomy, comfortable, spacious and very well furnished !! Great choice !! Once we got settled we set about our chores, Paul blogging, Pat washing, Dee cooking and John……….sleeping (he had spent a bit of time working out how to get the TV working and how to get the correct channel and then dozed off !!! Preparations for this evenings meal done we got into the car and drove off to a "Seal Sanctuary" that had been recommended, which also included great views form a place called 'Cape Foulwind' - no jokes at this point please as we heard them all tonight !!! We parked the car and after a short walk came across a specially built viewing point and saw some rocks….. after a while though we did start to see the seals in the rocks. Some just laying around 'sun bathing' others playing in a small rock pool and some mothers suckling their young pups… It was very warm but the breeze kept the temperature down to something comfortable and we stayed for quite a while.. As we were walking back we noticed what looked like a woman in a wedding dress right out by the waters edge but could not see any special reason.. We decided that there was someone with her who must have had a small camera and they were doing a fashion shoot !! As we were leaving we spotted a strange looking bird and decided to photo it to try to find out what it was…

On the way back to today's "house" we popped into 'town' so that some of us could get some money from the ATM and pop in for something to have as a dessert after our meal. Trev & Paul took this opportunity to sneak some biscuits and sweets and chocolate bars into the basket…. No one saw them do it, of course !!!! Back to the "house" and Dee finished off the cooking as the table was set… this caused Paul to be moved from "his blog office" for a while..

The home cooked meal was fabulous as usual and the "boys" were spoiled and stuffed themselves with apple pie, custard and ice cream !! They were full to the gunwales and could hardly move to clear the table and load the dish washer !! This completed though it was time to relax and get set for tomorrow !!!!