Wellington to Nelson and beyond

Adios Wellington! Tarja and Tessa arrived tired from their longest haul on Thursday 12th, delayed several hours by a broken Quantas plane connecting them from Sydney. Friday was spent exploring Wellington. Still suffering from jet lag early on Saturday morning we headed off for the Interislander ferry in a shuttle bus with much too much luggage.
The ferry crossing between Wellington and Picton takes about 3 hours and the boat was quite busy, with about 750 fellow passengers. Going was 'rough', according to the notice board and when we were clear of the shelter of Wellington's inlets the boat developed a lovely heaving movement, from side to side and bow to stern which made walking on deck tricky but helped to rock us off to sleep for a while.
The weather had cheered up considerably by the time we had wended our way through the narrow courses of the Marlborough Sounds to arrive at the little harbour town of Picton. Then, once we had disembarked and I'd collected our rent car we packed the excess(ive) luggage and headed towards Nelson, sunshine capital of New Zealand. Nelson is known for its pleasant and laid back atmosphere and is home to numerous people who have made it their escape from whatever they had before. The surrounding area is now rich in vineyards and the studios of artists and craftspeople proliferate the region. We were heading to meet my old school friend Tim, rediscoved in social networks, who I hadn't met for about 35 years.
Nelson was baking in the midday sun when we arrived there. It was one of those days when you really experience the cleanness of the air and the awesome clarity of the light here. In fact, on first impression, the South Island appeared to possess a totally different atmosphere to the North - more space, less people, clean lines and shadows that could cut like a knife. Tim and Pauline have created a lovely place for themselves and their family outside Nelson, surrounded by water, vineyards and distant hills. Their extensive home is lushly decorated with art and artifacts, ancient and modern, with examples of western, Asian and Buddhist art as well as Tim's collections of quirky toys and memorabilia.
It is fun to catch up with an old friend after 35 years...of course, mission impossible in one meeting. The company was fun, the food and wine were superb and our bed was oh so comfortable! And Tessa was very happy to meet boys of her own age and to get to borrow their Internet connection;-) New friends in Facebook, new old friends and new new friends for the future...
Our tour leader, Tessa, was keen we would not decide to break the travel plans and hang out too long at Tim's so we said our thank-yous and farewells and were on the road again soon after 10.00 on Sunday, heading to drive south down the west coast route.
Gorgeous weather and gorgeous scenery enabled quite a few stops for minor excursions and photo opportunities as we headed out towards the coast, alongside peaceful snaking rivers.
By late afternoon we'd made it as far as the famous Pancake Rocks of Punakaiki. The place seemed to be swarming with bus loads of Russian speaking tourists who were offended when we ventured into the field of view of their (endless) snap shot sessions - Olga & Boris standing in front of the Pancake Rocks, Olga & Boris in front of the strange New Zealand 'forest' along the path to Pancake Rocks, Olga & Boris swearing about intruding Finnish tourists thinking they can't understand etc. etc.
"Punakaiki is best known for its Pancake Rocks and Blowholes - both of which are spectacular and a must-see when visiting the West Coast", as it says in the promotional literature. Been there, done that and we bought some decent presents, ceramics, for friends and family in the souvenir store. Some of the souvenirs here are very classy, lots of hand made crafts from local artisans.
Further down the coast there is sign of rain. The sky and the sea are huge and we are moving into gold country. There really is gold in them there hills...
Every now and then the road narrows and a single-track bridge takes us over another river. Sometimes the traffic is expected to share the bridge with the trains as well. We wonder what happens if a train appears in the other direction!? No point to argue about rights of way I guess. Our aim is to get as far as possible towards Fox Glacier but the night is approaching and we've just come through the old mining town of Hokitika. The chalets and motels along the way had been unappealing or 'no vacancy' and it was almost dark when I decided to turn back. In the mirror I noticed a farm entrance with what could be a typical B&B sign at the end of the track. This is to be one of many happy 'just in time' situations during our trip to South Island. We have discovered Berwicks Hill Country Stay, a farmhouse bed & breakfast run by Eileen and Roger Berwick. We were their only guests for the night and we spent the evening with them and their cat, Oscar, in the living room. We gained lots of local knowledge and were encouraged to visit Hokitika the following morning to explore the tourist possibilities and to purchase some of the special local stone goods.

Monday morning was fine and I was keen to see the sun rise over the hills, lifting the night mist and driving away the night's moisture.

The plan is to drive another long day, down towards the largest glaciers of the Southern Alps. We had a healthy breakfast with the Berwicks and said farewell to them and Hokitika. Roger is interested in some of my photos for their web site. He's off to work in the town. The farming has obviously become a secondary course of income. Once he would rise every morning at 04.00 to milk their goats. "Some sort of madness", he explained.