It was windy as all get out (shockingly!) so I didn't last very long standing on the front of the boat taking pictures and saying goodbye to my beloved Wellington.
It was a little calmer on the other side.
I drove directly to my AirBnB in Nelson and had a lovely meal with the owner and a friend of hers (and cuddled an extremely friendly and slightly naughty puppy) before passing out for the night. Having explored the town on my first road trip, I didn't spend much time in it at all, as my destination the next day was five and a half hours down the road, and I wanted to stop in a few places along the way. These pictures are from a pass south of Nelson.
A year of not driving had absolutely ruined me for long road trips. I found myself starting to nod off, so I pulled over and took a nap in this somewhat scenic place.
I very briefly had some sunny weather when I hit the coast (the only bit of sun I saw for the next two days). I took a detour off toward an area with a seal colony, and drove along the coast for a wee bit.
There was a short walk to the seal colony.
Seals! If you look closely.
This was the view looking down the coast. The trail went on, but I didn't.
From there, it was on to Punakaiki, the pancake rocks. Someone had asked me if palm trees were native to New Zealand. They are, and this particular varietal is called nikau.
No one is entirely sure how the pancake rocks came to be formed, but the entire area is beautiful and feels a bit otherwordly.
I am particularly proud of the timing on this picture, as the waves splashing up were not at all regular.
The seaweed on the rocks is called Mermaid's Hair. It is incredibly strong.
Obligatory path photo in reference to title of blog.
I had seen a sign for a cave a little way down the road and went back up the coast a bit to check it out, enjoying the shore line along the way.
The area around the cave had an Indiana Jones vibe going.
I didn't go into the cave, as discretion took the better part of valor when I realized I didn't have the right gear and there wasn't a soul who knew where I was. Maybe some other time. But the entrance looked suitably adventure-y.
From Punakaiki it was on to Whataroa for the night. The clouds there were quite low, so no pictures from that night. I had an entire bed and breakfast to myself in a sparsely populated area (the owners lived across the way). Spent much of the night feeling as if I was in the opening scenes of a horror movie, but as far as I can tell I survived the experience...
