NZ Travelogue Day 19 to 21

Christchurch to Murchison

5.00am Sent Jo to the airport for her return flight to Singapore, and then after a quick breakfast left Christchurch for Murchison.

The journey to Murchison was cold, windy and wet. We stopped briefly at Hanmer Springs - a vacation resort but it was so quiet on the Saturday because of the bad weather.  Can you see the freshly sprinkled snow icing on the mountains in this photo taken from within the car?  Somewhere near Lewis Pass. Temperature 5 deg C.

 Incredulously, the sky cleared when we reached Murchison. This photo was taken shortly after our arrival at the motel about 3 hours later.

 A very comfortable, cosy and clean motel. Enjoyed the two nights in a 2 bedroom unit.

Sunday morning. We took a walk from our motel to the village centre - absorbing the activities of the residents, and workers maintaining the roads. 

In the afternoon, it took us about 40 minutes to climb a hill to enjoy a bird eye's view of  Murchison.

These two photos do not give justice to the beautiful views we saw. We sat on the benches to enjoy the scenes before we reluctantly made our way down.

Murchison to Golden Bay

Leaving sunny Murchison for Golden Bay in the North. Stopped at Moteuka for lunch in a lovely museum cafe. Beautiful views at lookouts.

 

David captured the snow-capped mountain using his long lens - this was situated way back south of Murchison. 

Agricultural lands and vineyards, hops and orchards on the way to Golden Bay. And so many variety of fruits grown- apples,kiwis, avocados, berries. Rather dizzy to drive through hundreds of S  and hairpin bends to cross the Takaka Hill before arriving at Golden Bay.

Morfydd's house is about 25 km from Takaka. On arrival. got introductions to her husband, 2 dogs, 2 cats, sheeps, chooks and huge land area housing the orchard, vegetable gardens and a swimming pool.