Sadly today, we are leaving our wonderful hosts Peter and Deirdre to head out on a road trip to see a bit more of the South Island. The weather has turned on us a bit with light rain experienced soon after departing from Alexandra, turning into quite heavy rain as we approached Queenstown airport to drop off Phil and Luth to catch their flight to Auckland. Peter then drove us to the rental car office near the airport to collect our rental car. It was still raining.
After our final farewells to Peter, we headed off into the rain in our Toyota Prius, and the rain stayed with us for much of our drive to Timaru. The route we took through Omarama, Otematata, Kurow was very scenic and despite the inclement weather we occasionally had to stop and get a photo
The route took us through the Lindis Pass where we experienced our first "only in NZ moment". Climbing up to the summit of the pass we came around a corner only to be greeted by a long line of traffic that had come to a halt. We could hear a helicopter, so immediately thought there had been a terrible car accident. On closer inspection this turned out not to be the case. The helicopter was mustering a huge herd of sheep across the highway, and the traffic just had to wait until the task was completed.
With the traffic at a complete halt, people were getting out of their cars to see what the hold up was.
The helicopter came into view
It was soon apparent he was mustering sheep across the road
The pilot was very skilled, throwing the helicopter around like a toy, coming down very close to the stragglers to hurry them on.
You can see the helicopter just above the 3rd car down on the left
Our next stop was the highest point of the Lindis Pass, 971 metres above sea level.
View from the lookout
An unfortunate motorist with a boiling radiator
Lunch time is approaching and the only real opportunity to find something appears to be in the next town, Omarama. It is a bit smaller than we expected, but there is a pub and a cafe. The hotel looked more inviting and had car parking, so it was our choice.
The main street of Omarama
It was quite cool in Omarama and the light rain was still with us. The lunch choice was therefore pretty easy. We both settled in to a hearty bowl of seafood chowder, just what we needed in this weather.
From Omarama we turned toward the coast following a very scenic route past a few dams on the Waitaki River. Despite the weather, we stopped at the Aviemore dam and power station to get a few photos.
Lake Aviemore
Aviemore Dam and Hydro Power Station
Further down river we came into more grazing land, particularly dairy cattle. The second "only in NZ moment"was when we saw herds of dairy cows making their own way to the dairy for milking. Livestock underpasses under the highway ensured they could make their way safely and unimpeded. We couldnt get a photo as there was nowhere to stop, but the procession was impressive.
With Timaru now firmly in our sights, the focus was on just getting there. The flat country of the Canterbury Plain does not have the same visual appeal of the high country, so we just drove on to arrive at 3.45 pm.
Once checked in and settled into our room at the Bayside Motor Lodge we must commend them on their marketing. The room did have a beach view and the sun is shining in Timaru !!!
Baywatch Motor Lodge
Beach View (with view of the port cropped out)
The railway line that ran between the beach and the motel was carefully disguised by the row of trees.
Nevertheless, it was a comfortable room with no road noise and only one train rattled through to the port at 4 am.
Once settled we needed to stretch our legs. Our host recommended to walk down to Caroline Bay, a large waterfront park very between the motel and the port.
It was during our walk to the park along the highway that we witnessed our 3rd "only in NZ" event. A very large tractor was charging along the highway, in suburbia, towing a small ute behind it in a similar way a Winnebago tows a commuter car behind it.
The entrance to the park displayed an old cauldron from the days of whaling, presumably to boil the blubber to extract the oil.
The park is expensive and had an impressive walk through aviary.
There was a pond with koi and waterlilies.
The koi were a bit listless as the aerator for the pond was not working, but the waterlilies were nice.
We followed the path through the park all of the way to the port, and then had to cross back over the railway line to get to the downtown area. We got a great view of the port from the pedestrian overpass.
Port of Timaru
Crossing the railway line back to the town
Once over the railway line we were only 200m from Speight's Ale House, a place Peter had recommended for dinner. We settled in for a cool drink and a good meal.
The 1.3 km walk back to our motel helped settle the very generous servings of food we had for dinner. Neither of us could eat it all.
A good nights sleep was in order, as tomorrow we are driving to Akaroa.
Comments
Post a Comment