Friday 9th February
We travelled from Matamata to Whangamomona via the Forgotten World Highway. We stayed at the Whangamomona Hotel which was quirky to say the least! In the 1980s the New Zealand Government altered the boundaries which infuriated the people of Whangamomona. As a result they declared a republic independent of New Zealand – hence the signs!
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- weird
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- Our hotel
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- leaving the republic!
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- lovely greenery
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- deep gorges on unpaved roads
Saturday 10th February
We drove the second half of the Forgotten Highway and on to Wellington to stay in a hotel, ready for an early start to catch the ferry to South Island at Picton.
sunday 11th february
An early start to catch the ferry to Picton. Today it rained and rained but we didn’t mind as we were travelling. We arrived at our next Airbnb, our home for 3 nights. What a place. Fantastic views and everything you could ever need in a cottage. Pauline’s friend Sue from schooldays came over from her home in Nelson to see us.
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- the ferry
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- Sailor!
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- our view
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- our view
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- Sue and Pauline
Monday 12th february
Today was a chillout day in Picton and the sun shone – it was hot. We visited two museums. The best was the one with a whole and very old ship inside. The Edwin Fox, a ship built in India in 1853 for Britain, which was used for all sorts including transporting convicts to Australia. The ship is incredibly intact, mainly as it was built from Burmese Teak.
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- Pauline at the helm!
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- Picton
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- copper bottomed over teak
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- the hull – intact
Tuesday 13th february
What a day – hot, sunny and beautiful. We booked a trip aboard the official mail boat, delivering mail to remote communities and individual houses by the water in Queen Charlotte sound. It was to last almost 5 hours.
Part of the trip was visiting Ship Cove, a favourite of Captain Cook, who visited the cove 5 times on his various voyages. Strange feeling stepping where Captain Cook once trod.
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- The mail to be delivered
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- view from Picton
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- back of the boat
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- Ship Cove
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- Captain Cook memorial
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- beautiful scenery
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- Picton
Wednesday 14th february
Its a 5 and a half hour drive to the West coast seaside resort of Hokitika where we have rented another Airbnb cabin for 2 nights. The drive is great, through miles of vineyards and up through the mountains. Easy driving.
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- our new airbnb
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- on the beach
In the evening we visited the Hokitika glow worm dell which was a five minute walk after sunset. The glow worms were fantastic, a great display of lights in a lovely dell. Unfortunately the human obsession with taking photographs (irrespective of the outcome) completely spoilt the experience. People talking loudly, shining torches and the endless phone LED screens which seemed to compete with the glow worm display. The result was:- Glow worms 1 Public 0. Disappointing and not a patch on the Waitamo caves we visited 9 years ago.
