New Zealand 2011 Day 2

Woke up and realised that the sky would only start to brighten at 8+am. Seems like daytime in NZ is shorter during winter. Had breakfast prepared by our hosts. Breakfast was an elaborate affair with cereals and fruits as starters, eggs and meat as main dish, finished with a beverage. The feeling of being able to sit down and take time to enjoy breakfast was really good.

Slug and I absolutely adored the Victorian feel of this B&B

Their efforts on the dining table were evident - crystal glasses, porcelain cutlery with matching place mats, rolled napkins secured with crystal holders etc

Looking at the garden outside

We chatted with our hosts and Pam remarked that she noticed that Singaporeans like to go around barefooted in the house. We just said it is the norm back home and I refrained from telling her that wearing shoes into the house soils the floor / carpet. There was a guest who was sitting with us, a really young blonde girl from the UK, who, together with Pam, commented that I spoke really fluent English. Methinks they did not know our education system brings us up be bilingual, and when I explained it to them they seemed surprised. Slug and I could not stop gushing about how beautiful the house was, and Pam told us that it was built in 1895, passed down by her grandmother, had undergone restoration and escaped the February earthquake unscathed. The garden would have looked really beautiful with all the flowers and blossoms in spring.

Pam and Denis cooking our breakfast

Starting off our breakfast with muesli and yoghurt

Loved the nice garden view and birds' chirping

Our breakfasts

After breakfast, we bade Denis and Pam farewell, threw our luggage into the car, and sped off to our next destination, Greymouth - a small coastal town on the west side of South Island. It would be a 200+km drive away on Highway 73.

It was another grey sunless morning, as we cruised past forests and wide open fields. Cows and sheep grazing on the pastures was a common sight. Hardly any traffic on the highways as well, which made for easy driving. Hardly any roadkill too, in fact none, as compared to Australia.

Off to Greymouth

Highway 73 would lead us to the mountains

Past grassy fields

Scenic views along the way

A while after Springfield, the road ascended sharply up into the mountains. I was enjoying the challenge - steep terrain, and maneuvering the narrow lanes and hairpin bends. Cannot possibly do this in Singapore. We drove through Arthur's Pass National Park, a forested country park up in the mountains. Once in a while, we would get off the car, stretch our legs and take pictures (but not for long, the strong chilly winds in the highland were too much to bear).

Took a break from driving

Sheep trotting on the grassy slopes

Huge boulders excited the geography enthusiast in me

Grazing sheep

My rented car - a Toyota Corolla hatchback

At Arthur's Pass

We stopped at Lake Pearson to enjoy the scenery and take a toilet break. Slug was feeling the itch to do some fishing (trout and salmon!) at the lake but he did not bring any fishing equipment. We applied for the permit to fish but Slug refused to bring his rod, thinking that he could do some borrowing. Ha.

At Lake Pearson

Signboards on fishing regulations - fish species found, bag limit, type of bait allowed etc

Leaving Lake Pearson

After Arthur's Pass, we took a side road which led us to Lake Brunner. It was another large lake shrouded in fog and eerie silence.

Deviating from Highway 73

Lake Brunner

We stopped to explore a small town called Moana further down the road.

At Moana

A train sending coal to Moana

Back on the road again

We reached Greymouth just as the sky was starting to darken. Our accommodation, New River Bluegums B&B, was quite a distance from the town centre. In fact, it was more of a farmstay, tucked away in a secluded spot along Highway 6. Our hosts there, Michael and Sharon, showed us our 'room', which was actually a little cottage (with living room, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom) a few metres away from the main house. It was a pleasant surprise to know that we would be having this private cottage all to ourselves! Our hosts were really friendly, who had brownies for us and said we could visit their farm if we liked to.

Living room

Cozy bedroom

Kitchen

I loved these little touches in the bathroom

Drove to the Greymouth town centre for dinner. It was only 6pm and most shops were already closed and the streets nearly empty. Was rather quiet and creepy. Had dinner at a Chinese restaurant run by a Hong Konger. He doubled up as the chef, and chatted with us while preparing the food. Upon knowing that we were from Singapore, he told us that Lee Kuan Yew and family came to dine some years ago. Sounded dubious. Food-wise, we always have high regard for Cantonese cuisine and cha caan teng fare, but the food here failed miserably to meet our gourmet expectations.

At the Chinese restaurant

Unappetizing-looking omelette with rice

Fried fish drizzled in lemon sauce and yucks, cabbage

After dinner, came across one of stores that was still open - a video rental store. Luckily the cottage had a DVD player, so we decided to rent some movies for the night. Went rabid inside the store and could not decide what to watch given that we would be staying in Greymouth only for two nights. Rental was cheap too.

Horror fest tonight!

Drove back to our cottage and was dismayed to find that as we went further and further from the town centre, the number of lampposts got fewer and fewer. I could not get used to driving on such dark roads and using just the headlights. It was also not easy to find the B&B in such darkness and remoteness.

Managed to watch two movies before turning in for the night. Would be going river rafting and caving the next day!