We woke up feeling quite refreshed after a good (and much needed!) night's sleep, eager to start our drive cross-country towards Hokitika. The vehicle we rented was the largest (if you don't include mini-buses!) available from Hertz. It was a Toyota Prado, an 8-seater 4WD. Here's what our Prado looked like from the outside.
And here's what it looked like on the inside. We had DD and me on the 2nd row, and DS beside all the luggage in the 3rd row. As DD is still rear-facing in her car seat, all you can see of her is her leg sticking out.
We started off from Christchurch with the weather very nice, sunny and warm. Almost reaching 20 deg C, I think. But along the way, it started to rain heavily and the temperature dropped to the low teens. The men (DH and my dad) were pretty ill-prepared for this low temperature, wearing only their fleece jacket above a t-shirt or shirt. Hehe. They totally did not expect the change in weather given that Christchurch was warm and beautiful! The kids and I, on the other hand, were warm and toasty. :) The picture below shows the dark clouds above as we were driving along.
We finally found a nice restaurant where DH spent quite a while in front of the fireplace drying himself off. The men had earlier stopped for a pee break and had gotten quite damp running from the car to the toilet and back under the rain. The picture below shows the 4 of us in front of the fireplace, trying to get some warmth!
The kids, being very much into Power Rangers (for some reason, DS loves the show very much), started doing their so-called "Power Ranger poses". This picture below is blurred, but you can see DD doing some weird pose!
Another picture with silly Power Ranger poses!
We finally arrived at Annabelle Motel in Hokitika at 3.30pm, 5.5 hours after leaving Christchurch! The distance between Christchurch and Hokitika was only 250km, so we didn't expect to take so long. We had to slow down driving through Arthur's Pass (lots of winding roads up and down mountains), especially in the heavy rain. We should also have started our trip earlier in the morning, rather than at 10am. But I guess that could be forgiven since we were all so tired from the day before!
And here's what it looked like on the inside. We had DD and me on the 2nd row, and DS beside all the luggage in the 3rd row. As DD is still rear-facing in her car seat, all you can see of her is her leg sticking out.
We started off from Christchurch with the weather very nice, sunny and warm. Almost reaching 20 deg C, I think. But along the way, it started to rain heavily and the temperature dropped to the low teens. The men (DH and my dad) were pretty ill-prepared for this low temperature, wearing only their fleece jacket above a t-shirt or shirt. Hehe. They totally did not expect the change in weather given that Christchurch was warm and beautiful! The kids and I, on the other hand, were warm and toasty. :) The picture below shows the dark clouds above as we were driving along.
We finally found a nice restaurant where DH spent quite a while in front of the fireplace drying himself off. The men had earlier stopped for a pee break and had gotten quite damp running from the car to the toilet and back under the rain. The picture below shows the 4 of us in front of the fireplace, trying to get some warmth!
The kids, being very much into Power Rangers (for some reason, DS loves the show very much), started doing their so-called "Power Ranger poses". This picture below is blurred, but you can see DD doing some weird pose!
Another picture with silly Power Ranger poses!
We finally arrived at Annabelle Motel in Hokitika at 3.30pm, 5.5 hours after leaving Christchurch! The distance between Christchurch and Hokitika was only 250km, so we didn't expect to take so long. We had to slow down driving through Arthur's Pass (lots of winding roads up and down mountains), especially in the heavy rain. We should also have started our trip earlier in the morning, rather than at 10am. But I guess that could be forgiven since we were all so tired from the day before!
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3 comments:
Too bad about the weather you encountered.
Otherwise should have been great through Arthur's pass.
I recall many years back when we drove through Arthur's pass in July, the temperature was close to zero and strong wind blowing and we needed a pee as well. We did what men usually do, just stand over the rocks and unzip. The wind was so cold we had difficulty coaxing him out. With the shivering, pee was rather reluctant to leave the warmth of the bladder and even then in small trickle. Can you imagine a small trickle against the wind? No chance, it came back and wet the pants !!
LOL! Too funny, Uncle Soon Leng! Anyway, we shouldn't complain about the weather when we were there. A few days after we left Te Anau, due to heavy rain in the Southland, some roads and all phone lines into Te Anau were cut. A bridge was also washed away. Motorists were advised to stay home except for emergency travel. So I guess the weather could have been much worse than what we experienced! At least we got to see Milford Sound! I'm sure during those few days of heavy downpour and flooding, the cruises would have been cancelled.
That part of the drive was most stressful. Wet winding road and having set out late. The car was great but not familiar huge. And all along the ways I saw flowers making where people had crashed and died.
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