On April Fool's Eve we hopped up bright and early and caught a city bus to the train station where we caught a shuttle bus to the InterIslander ferry.  So began a week-long holiday tour of the north end of the south island of New Zealand.

Moira spots land!

The crossing, from Wellington (which is at the south end of the north island) to Picton (north end of the south island) took 3 hours.  We were lucky in that it was dead calm -- reportedly it is often quite snotty and pukacious. 

The north end of the south island is extraordinarily convoluted.  The port town of Picton, into which we sailed, is at the end of that long narrow inlet that runs from about the middle of this inset toward the lower left.

We were in Picton just long enough to have a lamb sandwhich (well, mutton perhaps) and poke around a couple of shops.  Then we boarded our first InterCity Bus for the short ride to Blenheim.  These busses are enormous and really quite nice inside, with comfortable seats and vast windows.  The drivers we encountered were diverse in some ways, but all were very friendly and helpful.  It is routine for these busses to pick passengers up (and set them down) at non-standard spots for the traveller's convenience.  The drivers occasionally provide commentary on landmarks along the way.  On the whole, a great way to travel.

We spent two nights in Blenheim, a small city surrounded by vineyards.  Had a very fun dinner the first night, at a lovely pub called The Secret Garden (which did in fact have a very lovely and somehow [despite the sign] surprising garden in back).  Moira had one of those puff-pastry beef stews, and I had thar (pronounced "tor" or at least that's how it sounded to me), a wild mountain goat of the southern alps (which co-host Devon Polaschek tells me is a noxious pest, so not only did I have a good dinner I did a good deed; see below for a stunning photo stolen from someone else's website).  Good drinks, great service, lovely location.

We rented a rather thrashed Nissan from our motel the next day.  First stop was a local Farmers' market, which was quite nice (even though we couldn't buy much, given we were on the road).  And then we did some wine tasting.  Well, I tasted and Moira admired other aspects of the wineries and their settings.  Following the recommendation of Ian, our waiter at The Secret Garden, we had lunch at the Hayfield winery, which has a lovely patio (and a funky tower that we climed after lunch).

It was hot and sunny on the winery's patio -- so sunny that they provided hats for guests.

Tail of a sperm whale.

After Blenheim, a lovely bus ride to Kaikoura.  This village was made famous by Whale Rider, the novel and movie about a Maori girl and her community.  The local Maori people now have a thriving whale-watching business with four custom-designed power boats each capable of enabling up to 60 passengers to have an amazing experience.  They pretty much guarantee at least one sighting of a resident sperm whale.  We saw two, and got to see the first of those two dive twice.  These whales dive to terrific depths and usually stay down for about 40 minutes.   Quite something.

Above are a few of the scores and scores of dolphins that swam around us for an extended period.  Perhaps 200 of them, leaping, diving, cavorting.  We watched one make 20 leaps in a row (I have some of them on video).

After the delightful boat excursion, we had a longer-than expected walk to our motel, dragging our wheeled suitcase along the pavement as we followed a road fronting a lovely bay.  As the sun set, five aircraft (four of which are shown above) put on a great show of precision flying -- we think they were practicing for an upcoming airshow.

There was a very nice restaurant called the Green Dolphin near our motel, and we enjoyed a tasy (but extraordinarily rich) dinner there.  The next day we had a good long walk along an oceanfront road.  Along the way, we met the young lady below.At the bottom of a sheltered bay there was a nice swimming beach and parked near that was a mobile BBQ stand, from which we bought the above-pictured tasty meal, featuring half a crayfish tail and a whitebait fritter.

Later that afternoon, we were back on the bus, heading for Christchuch.  That city is still reeling from the major earthquake of just over a year ago, in which nearly 300 people died and many of the city's most famous buildings were severely damaged.  We therefore merely passed through Christchurch, averting our gaze fom gaping holes, piles of rubble, and buildings with huge cracks (and this is outside the more damaged areas). We spent the night in a motel near the railway station, to which we headed first thing the next morning to catch the westbound train over the Southern Alps.

This route puts the Scenic in Tranz Scenic, by gum.  There was an "observation car" that was open from about waist high to about 6 feet, and I have scads of scenery pictures but I'll limit myself to just a couple below.

Food on the train was described in mouthwateringly glowing terms in a handsome placard on each seat, including such delights as full-on traditional eggs benedict.  We were psyched!  But it turned out these dishes had been assembled in a factory some days ago, encased in plastic, and were to be microwaved to the customer's specification -- so we just had yogurt and muesli.

The train took us to Greymouth, where we pretty much directly boarded a northbound bus for Westport.  Along the way we stopped for a half-hour break near an extraordinary geological phenomenon called "pancake rocks" (as pictured).

 

View from near Pancake Rocks.

This is a weka, one of those flightless NZ birds, which don't seem very bright.

In Westport, we stayed in the Buller Bridge Motel, in a quite new room with a king-sized bed.  The moon, just a few days from full, was stunningly bright that night (Westport doing little in the way of light polution).  The next day, the proprietors (understanding that we planned to spend most of the day thereabouts) very graciously offered us the use of their nearly brand-new German-built Ford.  We gratefully accepted, and had a terrific day, starting off with a late breakfast at a charming and isolated little restaurant called The Bay.

People here had asked "Why in the world are you going to Westport?" because it isn't particularly glamorous, but the beaches are stupendous -- just amazing that they are virtually empty.  We had a great time.

And then on to Nelson, a lovely town of about 55,000.  We arrived Thursday evening, and spent Thursday and Friday in a somewhat funky suite in an old house near the cathedral.  Thursday evening I had one beer in a tiny converted church, where folks were suitably quiet and sombre, then had another at a more rowdy and cheerful pub -- NZ is turning out some absolutely delicious craft beers.  

Sadly, these tasted nowhere near as exciting as they look.

Friday was Good Friday, which I guess was good for all of those folks who didn't want to go to work that day, because almost everything was closed.  But the World of Wearable Art + Classic Car Museum was open, and we quite enjoyed that!  Can't take photos of the WoW, but check out http://www.worldofwearableart.com/

Saturday was another early rising, with us catching a bus back to Picton, where we had time for a leisurely lunch, then back on the ferry and hence back to Wellington.  A delightful holiday all 'round!