Northwest to West Coast of South Island!

Left Christchurch early this morning to drive north west on the South Island up to Westport. Only direction not included here is east!! It was cloudy and drizzly when we left, and we thought there wouldn’t be much to see, but the weather improved greatly as we got up into the mountains of Arthur’s Pass and we had some magnificent views along the way. The drive would normally take about 5 hours, but we made lots of stops along the way to drink in the scenery and take lots of photos. The roads are windy, and there are lots of one lane bridges where the traffic signs advise drivers who has the right of way - can be a bit scary on the crazy corners! One of our stops was at Otira Viaduct, aka the Death Corners, and you can see why from the photos! Saw a beautiful bird at that stop, known as the Kea (or Mountain Parrot). These birds are unique to the South Island of NZ, with less than 5000 of them remaining in the wild - we were pretty lucky to get photos of them! We drove by a crazy hotel called the Otira Stagecoach Hotel, and had to make a u-turn for photos and a look inside. So many cool antiques, stuffed animals, a cool old bar, pianos and a talking parrot (who totally went silent if you looked at him) inside. Funny thing - they had a big screen tv and were watching “Ellen” in the lounge!

As we got to the west coast, we stopped numerous times to look at the gorgeous beaches - absolutely stunning with the blue sky and turquoise water. We then arrived at a Pancake Rocks - so named for the layered formation of the sandstone which makes the look like a stack of pancakes! There is a fantastic paved trail which takes you all around the best views of the rocks, including the Blowhole, where the ocean crashes against the rocks in a small cove and blows the water way up. Spectacular! We drove the rest of the way to Westport, checked into our motel, and drove over to a Carter’s Beach, and the lighthouse at Cape Foulwinds, which were both very pretty, but nothing compared to the other scenery from today! On our way back, we drove the whole town of Westport (which took maybe 5 minutes!). It’s a small town which once relied on the now closed cement plant for industry, but still ships coal from the area. By the time we were crossing the street to go for dinner, the sidewalks were pretty much rolled up for the night (at 6pm) and many of the stores were closed! Just here for one night, then heading to Nelson in the morning.Read more