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Noy's 4th Walkabout
Now it gets serious! We left Wanaka (a beautiful town in which we'd happily put down roots) on Saturday morning but, after climbing over the Haast Pass, the weather changed to normal West Coast weather, rain and wind! The photos are pretty accurate! Called in at the Fox Glacier but only stopped to say "hello" (in the cloud and rain) before moving on to Franz Josef Glacier, where we stopped for a nice meal and to book a helicopter flight for Sunday morning. Not that it would happen because the forecast was bad 'til Tuesday! Cuddled up in the van at 20.30 and felt very snug while the elements hammered at our door! They did that until 2.00am! The wind and rain were incessant and we awoke to low cloud, puddles and the threat of................just MORE rain! The 'copter flight was abandoned, nothing was going to fly, so we headed North up the West Coast...and eventually found something DRY and interesting at "Pancake Rocks" - Punakaiki. These fine fellows were formed by a quirk of geology that we don't really understand but they stand witness to the wonders of nature. Richard tried to capture one of the "blowholes" in action but the tide was not really high enough. That evening we camped at Carter Beach, near Westport, ate at Donaldo's and met another nightmare grandson JUST like George, as well as witnessing the first good sunset of our trip. Having driven hard for two days we're now a bit ahead of ourselves so have time to drive into the Able Tasman National Park, not originally on our agenda.
That said, Monday brought MORE rain...bucket loads...and we drove out up the Buller Gorge inland hoping for a break - but none came! On we went, after playing on the Buller Swingbridge (swing as in side-to-side!! [See photos]) over the raging river, through Murchison and up to Motueka. Find that one on the map if you can, boys and girls! So Tuesday (weather permitting) we hoped to take a boat trip around the inaccessible (except on foot!) Able Tasman National Park. Before Tuesday came Monday night...mare! Torrential rain fell all night (allegedly sent to us by the kind Aussies; leftovers of a cyclone, so they say!) and we awoke to a flooded site which added to the "joys" of ablutions and suchlike! When we left the site and headed for the boat at Kaiteriteri, we crossed a very angry Motueka River in full flood - this, please note, is meant to be the gentle STABLE side of the South Island, renown for fruit-growing, wine and so on!
The boat trip was just that; mist and rain prevented it being anything more and it was during it that we decided to cancel all thoughts of travelling north to Cape Farewell and Farewell Spit (we could certainly have done that!). The photos don't do the coastline justice but the weather ruined any chances of that. The boat performed a dual function, delivering walkers to parts of the park from which to start their walks and moving walkers' luggage ahead of them to their next overnight stop. All performed by a dinghy (towed by the boat) and an intrepid boatman (Allan). The photos have captured some of the scenes but none of the effort which left skipper (Murray) and Allan both exhausted from time to time. No wildlife was seen (a few cormorants don't count!) and we arrived back to more rain but calmer seas than when we'd left. Having cancelled our thoughts of reaching the "top" we drove South and ended up outside Nelson. Today we checked out Nelson (fairly ordinary!) and drove over yet another range of mountains into Blenheim (the most likely name on the label of a bottle of New Zealand wine (but not all, wait until we go further north!). With only the Marlborough wineries to visit it looks as if we'll cross over to the North Isle a day or two early but the South clearly is not inviting us to stay! We're putting this and the photo's up now while Richard has a WiFi link on site, it may have to do until next week or you may get a second instalment - who knows?! Hope you're all well and drier than we are! Lots of love and hugs, Richard & Jill xxxxxxxx
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