Fleeing from the Rain

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  Hanmer Springs, South Island, New Zealand
Wednesday, September 10, 2008

The rain in Picton comes and goes but the sky remains grey while the temperature is chilly but not cold. There is not a hint of the sun even though it is there, somewhere. We walk through the town during a break in the showers and make it to Gusto for breakfast as the rain restarts. There, a glance at the newspaper reinforces what the TV weatherman has to say: it will rain today and tomorrow and maybe the next day as well, except for a possible break along the East coast well south of Picton. In the car, instead of our earlier plan to head West, we detour to the South, chasing the sun.
The weatherman in New Zealand appears to be no more accurate than the weatherman in Kansas. It rains. Fog rolls in. During a break in the rain, we stop at a beach near Parikawa. The sand is black and very fine. Later, we stop beyond Parikawa where the beach is round rock. As the waves ebb, they take the rocks along with them making a surreal sound unlike any we have heard as the rocks clatter against each other further rounding each one

Black Sand

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The roads are narrow and the drops from their sides precarious. When a place to turn off presents itself, you are tempted to take it if only for the chance to stop and see what prompted the engineers and roadmakers to make the pavement wider. So, when we came upon such a place near the Paparoa Point, we pulled off. Our respite was a disruption for the seals there. At first, we didn't see them on the rocks in the fog. But when one moved, well, rocks don't do that. A fine half-hour of seal watching (people watching for them) followed.
Back on the road, we stopped in Kaikoura for lunch. The coast was fogbound when we went into Adelphi's for lunch and clear as a bell when we came out. We're not sure what happened but the day became glorious. The "possible break" the weatherman spoke about became real. The drive from Kaikoura to Hanmer Springs was glorious. The scenery on either side of the neverending ess curves was spectacular and there was seldom a car or truck to nudge us to our side (left, remember) of the road. We could gape as much as we wished and that was a lot of gaping.
Upon arrival at Hanmer Springs, we shopped several lodging possibilities looking for one with a fabulous view of the mountains which surround the tiny town. (An interesting note about the motels in New Zealand, you get to look at the room before you decide to take it for the night.) Nobody had a view. It will remain, for me, one of the great mysteries of this town. It is surrounded by mountains, some snow capped, others verdant and no motel or hotel room looks out on them. We're denied our bedside scenery. No matter. It is there for the taking if you step outside, which we did because we needed to do laundry in the motel facility. Once our clothes are clean, we walk to find a glass of wine and a meal.

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Like a Rock	Look, there's people over there	Clouds frame mountain and sea	The scenery keeps going and going
As does the water	and the sheep

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