South Island Crossing S2N

Golden Bay here we come!

December 28.09
It’s a 14 hour journey from Dunedin to Takaka. Whichever way you slice it, the drive is long and beautiful. We left Anna and Corran’s in Dunedin at 10:00am and followed our route back up hwy 1 and turned off to go through Geraldine again and follow the scenic route which had less traffic and just as fast. Decided to head over Arthur’s Pass instead of Lewis Pass towards the West Coast. Going through the pass we were blessed with sunshine and big skies. A gorgeous area so we stopped at the pass and had lunch. Mountains, a large open river bed and lots of pasture to keep our eyes busy. We went down around Moana instead of going to Greymouth on the coast, but realized after turning onto hwy 7 heading inland towards Motueka that the towns were becoming smaller and smaller, with fewer people around and no gas stations. Every small town was guaranteed a pub/restaurant, but not a gas station, let alone one that would be open. It was 7:00pm and we were heading into a very rural area with only a ¼ tank of gas with still a ways to go until Motueka, the next largest town in Tasman Bay. We decided to turn back and go into Greymouth for gas. Lucky we did as there were no open gas stations until Motueka. Unless you’re in the busy city areas, there are not always a lot of gas stations around and they do not stay open late. They’ll be shut down by 6:00pm usually. Good to know if you’re doing a lot of driving. After this incident we always kept our tank full! Murchison was a god-send as we pulled in at 9:00pm for a break. There was actually a restaurant open! We grabbed an espresso and take away fish and chips. The best deal on chips we’d seen anywhere! Although the distance does not look far on the map to Takaka we still had a good 3 hours ahead of us. We pulled into Kathie’s at 12:30am.

This is a picture of New Zealand’s flower and what they name as their xmas tree/flower. It was gorgeous, but also gave me no end of hayfever grief!! Golden Bay is at the very NW tip of the South Island just a stone’s throw away from Abel Tasman National Park. We only had one full day in this area and clearly it was not enough time. Abel Tasman would be a stunning place to explore and camp at and hanging out in funky Takaka is fun. There are loads of beautiful white sandy beaches surrounding the area and lots of beachcombing to do. You have to drive up and over the mountain that separates Takaka from Motueka and it is one windy road so the going is slow, but the views are spectacular. We visited our friend Kathie and her little girl Bella there. Wished we could’ve stayed longer as it’s similar to our Nelson BC, but full of beaches. I felt like I was on Hornby Island at times there with the windswept trees and the house we stayed in was very zenlike and had a gulf island feel to it. Unfortunately, trying to see both islands in one trip meant we had to push on to catch the ferry from Picton to Wellington on the 30th. It’s a 4 hour drive to Picton from where we were so we were gone by 8:00am the next morning.

For photos check here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=149483&id=732157679&l=0ec8e3bceb