Today, we left on day one of our fantastic south island road trip! I really wish my lovely host family could join us though…
We started out on highway one, and crossed the very impressive longest bridge in New Zealand. On the other side, we were greeted by a teeny-weeny town and a giant fiberglass salmon!!
We spent a few hours weaving through fields of mystery crops, sheep, and cows. The restaurant we really wanted to eat north of Oamaru was closed, so we settled for eating in the bay near Oamaru, about three hours south of Christchurch. We of course had fish n chips (beer-battered!) and had a great view of hills and the tiny town as we ate.
Driving on the left-hand side so far has been a journey of self-discovery. For instance:
- In case of a sudden rainstorm, I can quickly and easily turn on the wipers. All I have to do is try to turn.
- In New Zealand, they have normal things such as curbs and road rumble strips. I checked to make sure they existed several times, don’t worry.
- Anything close to the left-hand side of the car is fair game to be destroyed.
- Sometimes, they have handy arrows painted on the roads telling you which side to drive on. It is always left, never right, even if Sarah tells me to drive on the right-hand side of some cones. She is a liar.
- Hating some burned CDs, but only sometimes
- Not going up hills faster than 90km/hr
- Going backwards for a while after being stopped on a steep incline (hahaha, the looks on those people’s faces behind us…)
- It lists slightly to the left if I release the steering wheel for a moment (guess that’s a good thing for me)
Our first few hours on the road were critical for practice, as the road got decidedly trickier as we moved into the city of Dunedin…
I had my heart set on the cadbury factory in the city centre, so we checked that out first. I had to parallel park on a busy street, which I did quickly without playing bumper cars OR hitting the curb! Yeah!!! However, my heart was BROKEN by the discovery that you had to pay for a factory tour to go into the little shop inside. Noooooo!
Once we had recovered from our (my) episode of heartbreak, we faced the winding coastal road of Portobello, on which our hostel is located. It was full of many incredibly sharp right-hand turns and the speed limit was 70km/hr, which many of the locals apparently think you can attain. Kiwis.
Our hostel came upon us swiftly, so swiftly that it triggered a windshield-wiper-instead-of-signal incident (the first of the day!) and we nearly careened into the bay (not the first incident of the day!). We also survived the ascent straight up the narrow driveway and parked facing straight down a hill. Sarah and I have a super-steamy honeymoon suite, complete with pink comforter and some pillows.
We somehow survived exiting the hostel and more of Portobello road, and made our way to the royal albatross colony on the peak of the peninsula. The tours were closed, but we saw albatross and baby seals! It was also incredibly windy.
However, our driving on narrow, curvy roads with straight, dangerous dropoffs quota was not yet filled for the day, so we headed to Sandfly bay to see more wildlife. The local government was really looking out for motorists with this road. All that separated us from life and sheepy doom was a thin barbed wire fence that made an appearance only when it felt like it. We nearly hit only one other car who was driving like a jerkface in the middle once, but we managed to survive!
Sandfly bay was not named for sandflies. It was named because the sand flies in your shoes, eyeballs, ears, nose, lady areas, you name it. I think I am now one with the sand. We ran down some huge dunes, saw some amazing waves and watched some sea lions fight for the warmest patch on the sand. It was worth the horrible straight-uphill trek back to the car!
So now it’s back to our hostel and then back on the road to Te Anau tomorrow. Woohoo!