Bella Vista Motel Hokitika

Back by popular demand – the weekly(ish) blog

Just over a week now in South Island where the roads are much quieter and there are a few acknowledgements when I indicate or pull over to let the locals pass so I am in a better mood about that.

The ferry crossing was very smooth and as we entered into the Marlborough Sounds the sun was shining and I immediately had a good feeling or maybe it was the anticipation of all that wine tasting I planned!

I ...

... impressive! LAter we drove the Haast pass over to the West coast and began the recent war against sand flies. I hate them, more than **** itnernet cafes. They can get through mosi netting and the bites go like golf balls. This has caused a couple of stircrazy nights in the van. A day of rain and 100m visibility followed. Time to watch a movi on the mini DVD palyer! Today saw us waddle out to have a nosey at the ...

... frisbee with 2 fellow travellers. As the hostel was isolated we had our dinner cooked by the bus drivers and Les. Les was an 83 year old man who owned and still actively ran the hostel. Ben enjoyed the Bambi stew (venison) and I had yummy quiche. The party was fun and we were really impressed with the costumes. Our favourites were carrots and cat woman!

... next morning in hoki, i went and bought my granny a pressie! then went to the beach for lunch! i was leaving that day for the 'mighty poo pub' so i had to call to find out what the theme for dressing up was as you have to dress up there! didnt really feel that creative flare that i had down at uni on wednesdays for hockey social, but as it was a beach theme, and i was on the beach, i decided to make a hula skirt out of the long grass growing in the sand dunes! the shops were pretty ...

... I also booked on to the TranzAlpine for the next day. This train takes you across the country to Greymouth (near Barrytown for those that remember) through Arthurs Pass, and it supposed to be one of the best train rides in the world. The next day I was up before any of the rest of the bus crew. I was waiting for the free bus to the station. I saw Kerry briefly outside and we said our goodbyes again. At the station, the train was 8 carriages ...

... glacier. I could see the deep crevasses from high above this river of ice. The dirty grey glacier I saw this morning at ground level had turned into a brilliant white and blue landscape as we flew higher towards the source. As we flew over a saddle we followed a high mountain ridge, we were only flying a couple of hundred feet from the pointy black rock. Then the ridge disappeared and a massive u-shaped valley lay beneath, which contained the huge Tasman glacier. Thousands of feet ...

... in vain for a good half hour - a combination of digging, wedging driftwood, revving and pushing failing to dislodge our mired near-left wheel. Just as we were considering hiking back into town in search of a tow though, a saviour appeared in the shape of Leo - a wiry Australian and his half-German, half-English wife who pulled up in another campervan. With only minimal diggin and Frankie, Leo and wife pushing, we were free in under a minute - much to our ...

... to; sausages which I am pretty sure was lamb, grilled onions(yum) all wrapped in a piece of white sandwich bread with a type of ketchup on it. Pretty common fare, I understand. They did provide a pasta salad and coleslaw so we managed. We met a very interesting girl from outside London who has been traveling with a group and had covered a lot of territory including seven countries in seven weeks; she mentioned Iran, Pakistan and ...

... op de computer. Als kleine wetenswaardigheid: tijdens de goldrush zijn 42 schepen gestrand bij Hokitika. Dit kwam neer op 1 schip per 6 weken. Elke 10 dagen kwam er een schip in moeilijkheden zonder ernstigere gevolgen. Behalve bone en jade carving is hier niks te doen maar ook het eerste heb ik aan mij voorbij laten gaan. Ik geniet hier van de ruige westkust!!

... Je ziet dan ook overal allerlei kledij gemaakt van de vachten van deze beesten; van jassen tot mutsen, van spencertjes tot oorwarmers en van tepel- tot peniswarmers.
Buiten hadden ze een weiland met daarin een Red Deer (rood hert) met een enorm gewei. Wauw! Uiteraard, toerist als ik ben, wil ik daar een foto van maken. Totaal gebiologeerd door dit beest, dat maar met zijn mooie ogen in de lens van mijn camera bleef kijken, vergat ik die vreemde kalkoen ...