My happy place is in my car, on the road. I love driving around New Zealand as often as possible. If things are a bit dull around the house, I’ll go for a drive. I don’t have to go far to see epic things as luck would have it because I live in New Zealand. Epic is just around the corner. Last week I went for a slightly longer drive. Down to Christchurch, over Arthurs Pass to Franz Josef, down to Lake Matheson, up to Westport and back to Picton via the Buller Gorge and the Marlborough Sounds. This was my delayed Christmas holiday. I took a few photos along the way.
Sinclair Heads from Cook Strait. That’s the last bit of the North Island you see as you cross to the South Island.Looks like someone’s in trouble. Seals in Kaikoura.The Road into Arthurs Pass.Arthurs Pass Highway. It’s a bit barren up there. A lot of tourists though. There are only 3 roads that cross the South Island. This is the middle one.Awesome clouds above Arthurs PassThe amazing Waimakariri River Valley at Arthurs Pass. Mid summer. Bit of rain must be due?Glacial Water in the Whataroa River. It’s very cold.That’s where the White Herons nest in New Zealand. Just there. Only that little bit of forest, nowhere else. It’s quite amazing really. When I say that bit of forest. Just that little bit there. That’s all of it, their entire nesting area.Young pair of White Herons.Lake Matheson in the pre dawn light. The clouds rolled in and covered up the mountains quite quickly. So you only get a shot in the dark on this particularly day.Lake Matheson with Mt Cook visible in the gap in the clouds. Mt Cook is Aoraki, the cloud piercer. True story, see?Morning dawning near Fox GlacierIn that gap in the mountains is Fox Glacier. There’s probably less of it than there used to bePunakaiki Rocks. Like stacks of pancakesThat’s the ‘West Coast’. Near Punakaiki Rocks. The entire West Coast of New Zealand is the West Coast, but this bit is called the West Coast.Looking north up the West Coast. It’s rugged and remote. I like it here.Buller Gorge. You can probably fish in that.The Buller Gorge. Better than the Manawatu Gorge if anyones asking.Buller River.This is Te Mahia Bay in the Marlborough Sounds. It’s nice here.Crossing through the Tory Channel from Queen Charlotte Sound into Cook Strait.
So that’s just the top half of the South Island. I didn’t take any photos of the Kaikoura Coast on the way down apart from the seals as I have a load from the last time I was there and the sky was pretty gloomy on this trip. Bonus seals though.
Happy travels…Just watch out for tourists paying more attention to the scenery than the road.
Sandy's Views - Photography 
Pictures are breathtaking! Fantastic place!
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Thanks Ann. It’s nice here. Awesomeness around every corner
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