01/01/2018 - from Harihari to Nelson

At 10 o'clock in the morning, we set off towards our new destination, Nelson, in the northern part of the South Island.

Initially, we drove through clouds that seemed to hover above the ground. The Maoris call New Zealand Aotearoa, which translates to 'the land of the long white cloud.' We were able to confirm that today, although the cloud was sometimes quite gray in the morning.

The first stop was Hokitika. There is a remarkable old suspension bridge over the Hokitita River a little outside of town. Then we continued north towards Westport on an incredibly beautiful coastal road. We could have stopped every 100 meters to take photos. The highlight of the landscape are the Pancake Rocks in Paparoa National Park. The layering of the rock formations, which formed over the last 30 million years, makes the rocks look like pancakes. After enjoying a Hokey Pokey ice cream - greetings to Katrin :-) - we continued on to Nelson, or rather Ruby Bay, which is opposite Nelson.

Unfortunately, just before Nelson, a very friendly police officer caught me, Joachim, with a mobile speed camera. 121 km/h instead of the allowed 100 km/h on a highway. The fine of NZ$170 (about €100) is quite steep, but not worth mentioning. However, it is worth mentioning the relaxed and almost loving manner in which he mentioned the speeding violation. We found it really unusual how friendly he was. He also couldn't read the small print on my ID and driver's license, so I offered to write down my home address in Germany on his notepad. After explaining my handwriting to him, he bid farewell with a smile, saying 'please slow down next time' and informing me that the fine will be sent to that address. He didn't consider it necessary to compare my details with an identification document, and he had already checked the rental car papers, which we didn't have immediately at hand, with the comment 'don't worry.' Normally, traffic fines are handled through the car rental company and incur an additional fee, which he wanted to spare us. Really nice :-).

Arriving in Ruby Bay, we will be staying in 'the Tower' for the next 4 days, a small house with a rooftop terrace overlooking the street and the sea. It's really beautiful.