Thursday 29th March 2018 - MAC's birthday and our 26th anniversary
We woke up to the sound of the surf outside our window and made coffee and re-packed those things which we had unpacked, which was not much for the one night's stay.
We set off for Nelson on the last stage of our South Island leg of our New Zealand trip. The road trends north along the coast with wild ricks and surf on view at every turn. We passed through some small towns and stopped for gas at a service station at Westport and also had a later brunch there at a small cafe. Almost all the cafes we have been to have great home-made cakes, pies and pastries. Everyone is universally friendly and helpful. We also stopped at a supermarket to get our cats some cat food as they do like to taste international cuisine.
Pressing on we passed though a number of small towns and the road became a little more crowded with pre-holiday (Easter), traffic. There is no doubt that driving on the South Island has been very pain-free with well-maintained roads, not much traffic and generally courteous drivers who pull over to let you pass. There is really only one road, Route 6 so you can't get lost even though GPS doesn't always respond in some of the hillier areas. If I were to advise anyone thinking of driving here in the South Island then I would say, always top up on gas, as there are not frequent gas stations and also take advantage of toilets when you see them as there are not so many rest stops or areas where you can avail yourself of toilet facilities. There are few roads leading off the main road so it tends to be a one-way highway. With the many twists and turns and hilly stretches, it is probably easier to have an automatic transmission or I think gear changing would become a bit of a chore.
But, for all that the scenery is never, ever dull and in many places it is just breath-taking and you could spend hours stopping and taking photographs.
In the early afternoon we arrived at Nelson and our hotel, the Grand Mercure Nelson Monaco which overlooks the bay and is about 15 minutes from downtown. We have reservations for dinner at 8.30 p.m. in the town at a restaurant called Hopgood's, rated as No 1 in Nelson.
We arrived in town early and parked the car. We walked through the center and stopped for a drink at Ford's restaurant a couple of doors down from Hopgood's. We sat down at Hopgood's at about 8 p.m. and had a great meal of cheese souffle, a local steak and snapper. For dessert we had a couple of chocolate truffles one of which, for MAC, had a candle in it to mark her birthday. Here we are in New Zealand on the day she starts collecting Social Security benefits!! Our meal was washed down with a very good New Zealand Syrah wine called Craggy Range which we had also had in Queenstown. Certainly one to remember.
So back to the hotel and bed.
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| Our hotel in Punakaiki, couldn't have been more 'beachfront' than this |
Pressing on we passed though a number of small towns and the road became a little more crowded with pre-holiday (Easter), traffic. There is no doubt that driving on the South Island has been very pain-free with well-maintained roads, not much traffic and generally courteous drivers who pull over to let you pass. There is really only one road, Route 6 so you can't get lost even though GPS doesn't always respond in some of the hillier areas. If I were to advise anyone thinking of driving here in the South Island then I would say, always top up on gas, as there are not frequent gas stations and also take advantage of toilets when you see them as there are not so many rest stops or areas where you can avail yourself of toilet facilities. There are few roads leading off the main road so it tends to be a one-way highway. With the many twists and turns and hilly stretches, it is probably easier to have an automatic transmission or I think gear changing would become a bit of a chore.
But, for all that the scenery is never, ever dull and in many places it is just breath-taking and you could spend hours stopping and taking photographs.
In the early afternoon we arrived at Nelson and our hotel, the Grand Mercure Nelson Monaco which overlooks the bay and is about 15 minutes from downtown. We have reservations for dinner at 8.30 p.m. in the town at a restaurant called Hopgood's, rated as No 1 in Nelson.
We arrived in town early and parked the car. We walked through the center and stopped for a drink at Ford's restaurant a couple of doors down from Hopgood's. We sat down at Hopgood's at about 8 p.m. and had a great meal of cheese souffle, a local steak and snapper. For dessert we had a couple of chocolate truffles one of which, for MAC, had a candle in it to mark her birthday. Here we are in New Zealand on the day she starts collecting Social Security benefits!! Our meal was washed down with a very good New Zealand Syrah wine called Craggy Range which we had also had in Queenstown. Certainly one to remember.
So back to the hotel and bed.
Apologies for missing MAC’s birthday (again). Your wedding anniversary you can deal with yourselves. Reading through these on the balcony on a windy but sunny Sunday on the Costa del Crime, prior to hoisting a G&T to mark Easter (again). Sounds like a great trip! No Hobbits yet? I did notice a reference in these pages to the ”middle earth” pin in the electric plugs: that’s gotta mean something Hobbity, shirley?
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