The 'Old Tin Can', a sea kayak and some fine NZ wine
Our original plan had been to rent a car for three or four days in order to explore a bit of the countryside between Picton and Christchurch. However the rental companies would only allow a minimum 7 day rental, so we decided to make a week of it and do a proper road trip. Omega Rentals doesn't seem to be the most reputable of places and is staffed by idiots, but after a little wait while the moronic woman painstakingly put in our details one key-stroke at a time, we were given our car and left to it.
The car, which I named 'Old Tin Can' or on occasion 'Stupid Rust Bucket', was a clapped out Nissan Sunny with so many dents and scratches we could do pretty much whatever we liked to it. My main problem, however, was that it was an automatic; I'd never driven one before but I now understand that they are designed for idiots. If you're too dumb to be able to handle a clutch and gear stick then you shouldn't be allowed on the roads if you ask me, which is an opinion pretty much borne out by the driving of New Zealanders (the reasons for the high road mortality rate were obvious). Still it was nice to be independent for a little while and as long as the windows were open the smell wasn't too bad.
Out first stop was Blenheim, 'famous' world-wide for it's wineries. Blenheim itself is a characterless, backward country town, but the surrounding vineyards are quite pretty. We arrived at lunch time and in the afternoon visited Montana Brancott winery for a very informative tour and tasting session. We were shown around the fermenting tanks and barrels and then tried several of their top range wines (only tiny sips for me as I was driving) which were very nice to our inexperienced palettes. I was inspired to buy a bottle which we managed to make last for three days, and was still pretty good despite being $14.
After a night in Blenheim we headed back the way we'd come to do the scenic 'Queen Charlotte Drive', around some more of the Sounds near Picton. We stopped briefly at a small village called Havelock, which is the 'Green Mussel Capital of the World' (and as a result adorned with fake giant green mussels at every opportunity) and then continued to Nelson for lunch. We had a wander around the town to see the fairly hideous Art Deco Church and the 'oldest street in New Zealand' before continuing on to our final destination, Motueka.
While nicer than Blenheim, Motueka is still not the most attractive of places. However we had chosen to stay there due to its close proximity to the Abel Tasman National Park, which turned out to have been a good decision. On the first of our two days there we made the most of the Old Tin Can and drove up to Golden Bay north of the park, a route which took us through a mountain pass and past several very scenic stopping points. Golden Bay was every bit as pretty as it's name suggests, with plenty of yellow sand beaches for us to choose from. On the suggestion of the woman in the tourist info centre we did a walk to the Wainui Falls, which turned out to be a stunning secluded waterfall that beat hands down all others we'd seen in New Zealand. We also visited the Te Waikoropupu Springs, the largest natural springs in Australasia, and did the slightly unfortunate Pupu Hydro Walk; unfortunate because we had thought it would be a brief stop but it turned out to be over an hour walking around a hydro electric plant, which stopped being interesting after the first five minutes. Luckily we found a nice country pub to revive ourselves on the way home.
Our second day in the Abel Tasman National Park was more active; we rented a sea kayak to paddle around the coast line and see for ourselves the much photographed stunning beaches fringed by forest. All the decent tours were out of our price range, so we decided to be brave and opt to kayak independently without a guide. Despite the death-related scare stories related to us during our briefing before hand it was actually fine; the wind was behind us almost the whole way which definitely helped. In fact our only problem (apart from my poor upper body strength) was our loose grasp of the term 'team work', which totally abandoned us in the middle when a certain amount of shouting ensued. However after swapping seats and moving to calmer waters all was resolved. We paddled around the 'split apple rock' and then out to some small off-shore islands where we stopped on a beautiful beach for lunch. There were plenty more opportunities for stopping off, and being independent we were able to avoid those beaches covered with tour groups which was very satisfying. The sun shone and the sea was beautiful, and we really had the most fantastic day.
The fun wasn't over but our time at Abel Tasman was; it was time to put the Old Tin Can to the test and take him to some real mountains. Next stop, the Southern Alps.
Emily
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