Day 11 – Thursday 9 April

This morning started cold & overcast, leaving Lake Tekapo around 8.30am, thank goodness yesterday at Mt Cook the temperature was a very pleasant 22C. Today was a driving day from Lake Tekapo to Westport, a long way & most of the time it was 8-10C until we reached the west coast & the temperature climbed to 18C. Most of the countryside we drove through reminded us of the countryside in Australia, it is very similar in places. Our drive down through Arthur Pass was interesting, however a lot was shrouded in cloud & rain. From Greymouth north to Westport the road hugged the coast & there were lots of rock formations & small islands close to the shore, with the odd small house or fishing shack perched very close to the sea, at times tucked in behind rocks. We stopped to stretch our legs at one lookout & the sandflies still managed to find us & joined us in the car when we got back in. Where these horrible little things bite, it itches for days.

We reached Westport around 4.30pm & booked into our motel. We needed to stretch our legs so headed off for a walk down the main street & to find the restaurant the motel owner recommended. A lap of the very long & quite main street – most shops shut at 5pm so there was hardly a soul in sight, only the supermarket which was busy. We walked into the restaurant & the heavens opened, very good timing on our part. We both had raw meat (chicken, lamb & beef) we cooked ourselves on a sizzling hot stone for something different. Our walk back to the motel was in drizzling rain, but not too cold. This place certainly isn’t Queenstown or even Dunedin. The shops are drab & I didn’t see anywhere where I wanted to spend my tourist dollar in. There doesn’t look like there are any good restaurants, it’s mainly cafes & pubs – this is my first impression, maybe there are restaurants & shops to surprise.

We drove a fair distance today because the places we would have like to stop just weren’t inviting – it was foggy, cold & damp. We only got a bit of a peek of the beautiful scenery, because it unfortunately was mainly covered in low clouds. The weather certainly put a damper on the day.