1.2.2018: A weather-crazy day

Already yesterday evening the sky looked ominous and this morning it is not only very windy, but also raining. Cyclone Fehi is gaining strength throughout the day. At breakfast, someone asks me if I could drive him to his car rental company in 5 minutes because he does not want to get wet, but I don't shovel down my cereal and run to the car in grubby clothes for that. When I start at 9:30 am and have just left Picton behind me, I turn around (like back then in Westport) and drive back in anger - not to the gas station, but directly to Apex. Instead of 3 km, the display of remaining kilometers decreases by 13 km. A young woman checks the tire pressure. The left front tire was a little low again, but the valve doesn't seem to be leaking. She still consults a mechanic who tells me that all four tires are fine and that I shouldn't let the range indicator, which is only a rough indication, drive me crazy. Okay, then I will ignore it from now on and only pay attention to the fuel gauge.

I passed Blenheim on my first trip to New Zealand. Today I spend 30 minutes of my time to get a rough impression. Most non-locals work in the vineyards and can't appreciate Blenheim very much. In fact, apart from dozens of offers for tastings at various wineries, there is nothing extraordinary that could keep you in town for a long time.

So I continue to Lake Grassmere, where a salt factory is operated. The photos that can be found online and influenced me to take the little detour turn out to be edited, because the salt pans are not really incredibly pink, at most a pale pink. Since you are not allowed to move freely on the premises of the salt extraction plant, the strong wind drives me back to the car after a few minutes.

At noon, I stop at a freshly reopened, well-visited café, where the door flies out of my hand when I get out of the car and my baseball cap and sunglasses are thrown half a meter through the air. There is nothing that particularly appeals to me from the assortment, but because my stomach is growling, I decide to have a quiche after all.

Now begins the section of SH 1 that is full of construction sites and was reopened only 1.5 months ago. The poor workers cling to their stop and go signs, which require a firm hand not to be knocked down. The small orange pylons have even less resistance to the wind and are more lying than standing. Meanwhile, I listen to the news, where it is mainly advised not to leave the house if it is not absolutely necessary, especially in the south of the North Island and the north of the South Island. As I later find out, the cyclone hits the West Coast particularly hard, where the entire highway is closed and dozens of tourists are stranded in flooded areas, such as Westport.

Mourningly, I pass the closed access road for my classified as worth seeing hike to and through a gorge and a few kilometers before Kaikoura the Ohau Stream Walk, classified as a must-see, which led to a small pool in just 5 minutes, where up to 200 seal babies romped around in the summer. But the pool was destroyed in last year's earthquake and the seal moms had to find a new nursery for their offspring.

The highway that runs directly along the coast is one of my favorite coastal drives in all of New Zealand, but the changes caused by the earthquake are clearly visible. The seabed was lifted and now protrudes jagged and therefore quite unsightly from the water. You can only take photos in very few places. All laybys are blocked and often construction fences and heavy equipment obstruct the view. Sturdy concrete walls protect the highway from potential rockslides from the fragile cliffs. The picture from four years ago has completely changed.

A lavender farm invites you to take a detour off the highway shortly before Kaikoura. 2 NZD admission for the garden is fair. However, I am too late for the purple splendor. The lavender bloomed early this season and there is not much left to see. Still, it was a nice stopover.

A short time later, I reach the fishing village of Kaikoura, where the hostel owner tells me that SH 1 from Picton to Kaikoura was closed due to branches on the road and he has already received cancellations from people who, unlike me, did not make it through. After check-in, I first walk to the city center, which is 1 km away, but there is nothing left of the vibe from back then. The Four Square supermarket and the Fish Tank Lodge are closed, as are many of the small shops that could not afford to rebuild their premises. There are also hardly any people on the streets. Apparently, all water-based tours have been canceled due to the strong wind. I turn back and walk past my hostel in scorching heat in the other direction to the New World supermarket. Sometimes the wind is so strong that I have to turn away, squint my eyes, and hold onto my baseball cap. Tiny little stones and other dust particles become projectiles that really hurt when they hit the bare skin. Since the fridge in the hostel is hopelessly overcrowded, I only buy the essentials; I'm particularly fond of fruit. At least I can save myself the way back. At the cash register, I accidentally collide with an older man who waves me into his car in the parking lot and kindly drives me the half kilometer to the hostel.