Originally posted by following.eric Hey guys.
Well I left Queenstown last week and just about to head to Grey mouth tomorrow for my Monteith tour. Yeah!!
I think plans to work through Arthur's pass towards Christchurch and kiakoura. Then back to west side go to up to Nelson. Tasman and malbourough.
Any recommendations for places to check out that may be lesser known or good campsites with lakes or views. Like to wake up and grab some sunrise without moving the car. Always bonus.
Any suggestions would be great in the northern part of the south island. Love little gems
I'll get photos up one day. But a bit behind on everything. Just enjoying the trip and snapping away on film and the new k70. Post when I slow down!!
If you're heading over Arthur's Pass to Greymouth, consider going around Lake Brunner. It's a bit longer, but very scenic, and there's a car park near the outlet of Lake Brunner that takes you over a footbridge to a nice forest walk.
Bear in mind that you can't get north from Kaikoura unless you have a boat or an aeroplane. There are still plenty of people trying it and having to turn around.
It's a pity you missed the closing date for the Molesworth Road. It's a spectacular drive, and given the state of SH 63 currently not much slower, as there are long sections of SH 63 with 30km signs where they've been doing road works.
A loop up SH 1 through to Kaikoura with a coastal diversion out to Gore Bay, then back south via the Inland Kaikoura Road might be a good way to go, as that comes out at Waiau and connects on to the Lewis Pass road up to Nelson and Blenheim.
Personally, if I didn't want to include Kaikoura, I'd head north via the West Coast road, and then head into Nelson via Kawatiri, as it will avoid much of the heavy traffic and bad road between Blenheim and Christchuch via the Lewis Pass. You can still get to Blenheim from Nelson, and although SH 6 is a bit hairy in places, it's designed to have a fair amount of heavy traffic on it unlike SH 63 and SH 65.
I stayed in Punakaiki on Saturday night, and the weather was perfect Sunday morning. There are lots of great short tracks around there to explore.
Here's my last photo of the drive home to Blenheim taken at Rotoiti on Sunday night. We had pizza in the shelter down by the lake shore under the stars.
(30s at 17mm 2.8 on the Sigma 17-70 and K-50)
---------- Post added 04-26-17 at 01:30 PM ----------
Originally posted by Kiwigeezer You'll be passing by close to lake Rotoiti, lovely spot, nice DOC campsite.
Just saw this after I posted. Hmm... K-50 + Sigma 17-70 seems to be popular at Rotoiti.