We started the day by visiting Middle-earth again. Known locally as the Clay Cliffs, these badland-style, steep, narrow cliffs were used as general background in the LOTR films. They were also used in the live action remake of Mulan – but I have never watched that. We had twenty minutes of dirt track before arriving at a farmhouse and an honesty box. $10 per vehicle. They appeared to be doing a brisk business. The cliffs were created by the erosion of gravel and silt. They are steep, layered and intricately grooved. Fun to explore and gave us some nice views of the surrounding countryside.
Back to main road, we continued our day trip to have a look at Mount Cook. At 3,724 m, Mount Cook is New Zealand’s highest mountain. There is a tourist centre at the head of the valley underneath the mountain. Everywhere to stay was booked up a long time ago. It was very busy. Coaches, cars and motorhomes parked in every possible space. We enjoyed the drive up there. Nice views of the mountains and Lake Pukaki.
Next day, we said goodbye to Twizel and set off for the coast. Ended up being quite a long day and we ended up at a very quiet campsite on the coast near the Rangitata River. This was one of those gems of a campsite that you can stumble on occasionally. Almost deserted, no sandflies, good facilities, friendly warden and very cheap. We had a walk down to the beach. Nothing too special about that but I did enjoy photographing some Goldfinches. According to Google these are European birds that have been introduced to New Zealand.
With just a few days left before we needed to return the motorhome, we pushed on to try and complete our circuit of South Island. We headed towards Christchurch for a short way before turning off north and over Authur’s Pass. This is a very scenic road over the mountains towards the west coast. We dropped down into the lush rainforests of the west. Turning right before the coast brought us past Lake Brunner and eventually to the lovely town of Reefton. The motor camp there was very nice. Good, clean toilets. Always a good indicator. We had a short walk through the town and along the river.
Last leg of our trip was back to Christchurch. The route brought us past Springs Junction. Previously, this was where we had first discovered annoyance that are sandflies. Lovely place apart from that. We kept moving. Back down to the lowlands of the east and the beautiful, clean, turquoise rivers. Rolling farmland and green fields. One last night at a larger, more commercial campsite and then we were handing the vehicle back. I mentioned that the house battery was not charging when the engine was running. The girl doing the checks assured me that it was not supposed to. We left it at that. They were happy we had not damaged the vehicle. We were happy to get our deposit back. From there it was just a short ride to the airport hotel.
