The West Coast
As I mentioned, I am down in the South Island and on Wednesday after some work in Blenheim drove over to Nelson. Passed over this fairly still river.
Some people need the obvious spelt out to them.
Stayed at the Rutherford in Nelson and a nice view of Nelson and the sea from my room.
The drive to Nelson was only 90 minutes, but on Thursday it was a four hour drive to Greymouth and just superb land to be driving through. This is the view from one lookout.
And from the same lookout, on the other side.
The mighty Buller river.
Another great thing about driving on the Coast was the near total absence of revenue gatherers. Only saw one all day. I was however amused by this sign, which I give credit is pretty effective.
Instead of staying in Greymouth proper I stayed at a B&B up on Tasman View Road. It was a windy and later stormy day.
Popped down to Hokitika where I had dinner with Andy from Panda Sport. He has a great set up down there on the Coast. Went to Cafe de Paris and had Whitebait and Lamb Shanks – bloody delicious and the restaurant as good as almost any in Wellington.
September 14th, 2007 at 3:18 pm
The “No jumping” sign isn’t as obvious as it might appear. I assume that is on the Pelorus bridge. The river there is infact quite deep and it was a popular spot for jumping off for years and year. There were injuries though. Mostly when people partially missed the relatively narrow river below.
September 14th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
Thanks for the reminder of the stunning beauty of NZ.
Despite all the stuff we can get upset about, we really are damn lucky people.
September 14th, 2007 at 3:24 pm
Cafe de Paris – Geneva…..only one dish, no menu, no bookings. Best meal you will ever have in your life…as long as you like steak & fries.
It’s the sauce you see, oh ’tis heaven.
And just to say something actaully on topic…..bloody good road/speed sign. Even I would feel a twinge of guilt as I sped past that.
September 14th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
This is all Helen Clarks fault.
September 14th, 2007 at 4:03 pm
The light goes on!
September 14th, 2007 at 4:07 pm
Be careful between Hok and Haast I been pinged the last couple of times I v’e been through (unmarked cars)
September 14th, 2007 at 4:13 pm
Jumping of the no-jumping bridge! :^)
http://www.dkimages.com/discover/previews/908/50465842.JPG
September 14th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
DPF Last time I stayed at the Rutherford was mid 90s Have they updated the 80s decor yet? That drive to Greymouth is one of the greats. In fact the whole Sth Island is a drivers paradise.
September 14th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
Ditto on the river sign – I think I remember that one – the river is usually higher, with the rocks you see only just under water – hence it’s pretty easy to jump in an miss the deep part.
September 14th, 2007 at 5:35 pm
I spent time in Hokitika last year. The West Coast scenery is spectacular. You are right DPF Cafe de Paris serves a good dinner and so does Stumpers. If you have not visited the west coast yet; GO.
September 14th, 2007 at 8:58 pm
Hey, the scenery is something that hasn’t been regulated yet. Lets regulate that!
But seriously – there plenty revenue gatherers on the coast now. something like 20 odd, compared to 2 just a few years ago.
September 14th, 2007 at 9:27 pm
Was that antispeeding sign anywhere near the route of Klark’s notorious high speed Stalinistic cavalcade??
September 14th, 2007 at 9:59 pm
Redbaiter
Clark’s rapid transit through Canterbury is not really a big issue, as much as I despise the reality of it she is the PM. The twisted self serving thing about it was a) Saying she didn’t request it. b) Saying she didn’t notice c) Allowing dedicated staff to loose their jobs and be charged for it.
I witnessed a motorcade for a visiting French high ranking polly travel down Wakefield St. at about 100kph, surely more dangerous than what went on out in the back blocks of Canty…. The speedy travel through town didn’t even break a whisper from the MSM. I guess the French dude wasn’t going to deny he knew what was going on so the MSM didn’t whip up a story about it.
September 15th, 2007 at 3:07 am
Perhaps they should put a permanent camera in the back of the sign, so that any idiot, incensed at the sign who tries to spite the point, would be fined.
You do the crime, you pay the fine.
In addition: Clark’s motorcade is irrelevant – government ministers routinely speed in motorcades all over the world, and as long they drove safely (within the other laws) there should be no issue. Police officers are allowed to speed on duty, and the driver of the PM’s vehicle was an on-duty police officer. Nit-picking over whether it was a legitimate reason is simply splitting hairs (i.e. wasting time).
[DPF: Not quite. I am an advocate of the exemption for members of the Executive Council, but it is not a licence to cover all speeds in all situations. The car should still be doing a safe speed - just as the Police themselves can't do 180 in a 50 k zone on the way to an emergency. The average and maximum speeds of the convoy were in the unsafe category, as reported by spectators]
September 15th, 2007 at 8:29 am
Policy Parrot
Bloody nanny state socialists. Let me quess you want to come around to my house and make sure I’ve wiped my ass correctly after I take a dump.
It’s a fricken river, there is a bride, people like the thrill of jumping off things into water… people have been doing this for thousands of years. Now of course because a few people who should be removed from the gene pool were stupid enough to jump onto the rocks some mamby pamy socialist wants to ruin it for everybody…
You guy on the left really are the fun police – no wonder you are flagging so badly in the polls. Take charge of your own lives, leave me alone and let me choose how I get my jollies myself.
Oh, BTW. I would support a sign saying: Anybody injured jumping from the bridge will not be entitled to ACC payouts ! Jump at your own risk !
September 15th, 2007 at 8:33 am
Policy Parrot
That is kinda what I said, I’m glad you read and understood that. However I’d be interested to hear what you think of the fact that she said she didn’t request a rapid trip to catch the plane in CHCH. Denied ever saying Hurry hurry or I’ll miss the rugby.
Let me guess, it’s easier to spin the positive in what I said and ignore the negative. No wonder you lefties are flagging in the polls, you just can’t address the issues.
September 15th, 2007 at 9:03 am
Policy Parrot
There is also a mountain bike/4WD track that starts just after the Pelorus bridge. I heads up over the ranges and drops down into Nelson. It’s steep and rocky and mountain bikers do get up to very high speeds on the descent. I rode it last year. It’s pretty dangerous and it would be easy for a mountain biker to stuff it up and can out really badly. Perhaps we could install signs saying “no biking, no fun, no risk – by order of Policy Parrot the fun Police”.
Gotta stop people doing anything that’s dangerous and we all know that mountain biking causes some horrendous accidents. People have died doing it !
September 15th, 2007 at 9:46 am
For petes sake, there’s difference between pointing out a hidden hazard and not allowing people to take risks.
Note the sign says people *have* died on that bridge – it is a statement of fact, not risk.
September 15th, 2007 at 9:51 am
Skiing is pretty dangerous. One of my kids had a massive wipeout about two weeks back at Cardrona. Almost every day there is an Ambulance up on every skifield taking badly injured people to hospital…. Should we ban skiing ?
Oh bugger it. The biggest daily risk most of us face is driving (or being driven) on NZ killer roads. Lets just ban cars. We could slip the car ban through with the ban on party pills. Nothing a bit of self serving passed under urgency wouldn’t fix….
September 16th, 2007 at 4:45 pm
Great photos, DPF. Never done the trip, myself. The photos sort of prime me for making it future family holiday trip.