A few more travelling pics

Just some more photos from my travels over the past couple of weeks as I learn more about putting bells and whistles onto here.

Great sunny day in the Marlborough Sounds heading back to Auckland

A little bit more North and the higher alert level volcano was spectacularly inactive.

Fast forward a week or so and a bit to the right and I was travelling along the road between Gisborne and Opotiki

Waiting for the Taniwha to come around the bend

The road seems to be a little rustic in this part of the world

Bit of sky

Growing up on the East coast we didn't really see the sunset over the sea.  Mind you I only saw the sunrise over the sea a couple of times as well.  Not a morning person.  I took these from the waterfront in New Plymouth, in-between jumping out of my skin as runners leapt onto the wooden walkway I was on making it jump and rattle.

 

Through the middle

I stopped at the start of Arthur's Pass to take some happy snaps and give the 360 camera an airing.  Half blurry photo due to dropping the camera a while ago and cracked a lens.  Can't fix it, just need to get a new one, and today might be the day.  So many great opportunities for these photos in the South Island that I don't bother with because the camera is wonky.

Anyway - here is the start of Arthurs Pass National Park!

Google doesn't seem to know the name these so here are "some hills"

This is eventually Mt Wilson if you keep going.

It's just made for hiking and TV commercials.

I was amazed with how clear the water was in the Waimakariri - I'm used to the dirty old Tuki Tuki

Top of the South

I managed to get lucky again and have smooth sailing over the strait with no wind or swells.  Crappy cloudy weather but that makes for a slightly more interesting photo.  I'm looking more rounder than usual here, but I swear I'm slowing becoming less circular.

The Plus lounge had the grand total of 3 in it, so the mad rush for a seat near a power socket was less elbowy and more strolly.  Can't beat a breakfast of scrambled eggs, proper bacon and sausages to start the day (no toast or hash browns to keep the carbs down of course).

I did a double take when I checked into the motel room, this is definitely a new one on me.  It felt wrong to ruin it, but it also felt wrong to... use it.  

Had a great drive today through the backwaters of the Buller / West Coast, fantastic sunshine, very few cars and interesting scenery.  

I did come across a valley in the distance that looked like there was a waterfall in it because I could see white mist coming up.  I was getting ready to park the car and take some great photos once I rounded the corner and could see it in the full glory... to be faced with a tractor spreading Superphosphate, spreading a huge cloud of white dust.  

100% Pure New Zealand. 

Bloody Petone

Never, ever stay in Petone. The motels are rubbish, the other people staying in the motels are weird, the sound proofing is non existent. There's always construction or roadworks going on outside. All of that is not a problem, just the joys of travel.

Such wonderful views "by the sea"

The real issue is that the main street of Petone has some really great looking restaurants along it, including one based around Mac n Cheese. So forbidden in my carb-low days but that's not a problem because there is no practical way of actually eating at any of these places. There isn't any parking, that's always absolutely chocka full. If you walk, you're walking down a long stretch of side street that is pitch black with no lighting, and you'll probably get murdered or run down by the road works.

After many, many circuits of the blocks I finally found an empty spot and parked, looking forward to choosing a delicious dinner... and no mask in the car, I'd left it in the motel room. Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...

The new Transmission Gully road is fantastic, definitely speeds up the trip between North of Wellington and A Little Less North of Wellington, and is equally scenic if you enjoy wide sweeping vistas of roadway and hill cuttings.

I'm leaving this crazy place early tomorrow morning for a lovely calm cruise across the strait to the lands of steep mountains and tourists driving campervans incapable of making it up them. And of course the logging truck drivers with overloaded trailers, murder on their minds if anyone has the gall to try and pass them and strange bearded folk with their painted hair and flowing dresses tooling about on the road to Nelson making the journey just slightly less terrible than a tooth extraction.