October 14, 2023
We completed our circuit of the top of the South today – it started with Picton to Blenheim via Highway 6 to Nelson, where we stayed a few days and ventured over the Takaka Hill to Wharariki; then continued today, back along Highway 60 through St Arnauds and the Wairau Valley. There were some moody skyscapes about, but we avoided the wind and rain that hammered other parts of the country. While it was a short driving day in terms of kilometres covered, we did take all day to get to our cabin in Blenheim. Slow travel at its enjoyable best.
First stop was breakfast at Richmond. Mine was hum ho, but L enjoyed his eggs bene. From there it was moving west on Highway 6 towards the Coast, over Spooners Range and the Hope Saddle until Highway 60 junction. On to St Arnaud and Lake Rotoiti, with its resident ducks and black swan (but no sandflies, yay!), and a short walk along the Brunner Peninsula track. I’ve got this track bookmarked for a return visit, now we know about it. It’s a ‘do-able’ for us, I think.
Lake Rotoiti is the venue for an annual classic boats regatta, so of course we stopped to check out the classic boats museum. It was like a large aeroplane hangar but filled with all these speedboats from about the mid-1940s. Some of them were beautiful, even to my boat-sceptic eye. Though I must say, it was the models at the entrance, with their Barbie and Ken at the helms, that took my eye. There was also a glider hanging from the ceiling, and a steam boat, Flirt, from Dartmouth.
From St Arnaud, we drove along the Wairau Valley, and a slow but sure transition from moody high country to a landscape of vineyards, both established and in the making. I love these Marlborough hills and landscapes.
And now it’s time to start listening to the election results, at least for as long as we are able to cope with it. But first, here’s a note from the man in the hat.
Stepping out
The tyranny of the steps. That’s not a line I thought I’d ever write. It applies more to Sète, on the Med, than to the steps I’m talking about here. The steps at Sete were all uphill and went on forever. Today’s steps, however, are not just an occasional challenge. They are Fitbit steps from my new Fitbit. I do 10,000 steps regularly, 15,000 sometimes, and, just once, 22,000. What a stupid enhancement the Fitbit is. Still, tomorrow I will push on again for 10,000 and who knows, maybe I can once again hit 22,000. For someone whose motto is ‘give up early, and give up often’, I am bewildered by my compliance.
Now for something important. Flak Too was in my childhood. I’ve memories of watching distant rooster tails while my brother told me it was Flak Too. Seeing her in the shed at St Arnaud was magic. It gave me the tingles. By the way, she has a V12 Rolls Royce aero engine in her, maybe an ex-Spitfire engine. I must google it.
Off Highway One 