March 5 – today, Mike, one of the owners and captain of the “ferry” boat drove us from Hopewell lodge to our car which we left on the other side of the bay. So much easier than driving all around. It was a beautiful day with a great sunrise to bid our farewell to.
We took the very windy, curvy, dare-devil hairpin turns to Havelock. The landscape changed to the flat fertile plains where vineyards could be seen on both sides of the road. Upon reaching the East coast of the South Island the landscape went from flat to brown hills, to seaside roads with very few “hairpin turn signs”, but beware, there are plenty of hairpin turns!!!
This road, route 1 had been badly damage by the last few earthquakes and there was Lots of stopping and driving over gravel and plenty of orange cones- one in which is now a flat pancake because of me!
It took hours to reach Christ Church, but it was quite scenic. We did see seals along the way and their cubs were playfully swimming in large tidal pools. It was quite a treat to watch.






