Last of the Whitebait I Fear -Nelson to Hokitika via Greymouth

We left Nelson and started looking for a place to lunch.Murchison was the destination
The trusty Lonely Planet gave Rivers Café plenty of stars
We agree

I had The Whitebait Sandwich
2 fritters laden with Whitebait on home baked bread nestling on a bed of salad with Highlander Condensed Milk salad dressing.

YES!

Dale had a bowl of hearty pumpkin and parsnip soup

They have wonderful slices of meat pies
Venison or Lamb and mint, Hearty Beef. I nearly changed my mind, they looked so delicious but the Whitebait won. After all it is the end of the season…make the most of it.

The weather had been shitty but suddenly the sun came out and we could really appreciate he beauty of this countryside.
The rhododendrons and azaleas are so beautiful

There are so many fabulously quirky exhibitions scattered around the countryside we missed the excellent photo opportunity of 2 car bonnets as a gateway to a long drive...but we did go back and get this arty array of old motor bikes

Derrick our friend from Bunnythorpe gave us some incredible instructions for getting the best out of the South Island so the next stop was Shantytown a replica of a 1860’s gold mining town. They have done a sterling job.

This is the wheel house from the Taupo which went down off the West Coast many years ago.

Looks like a playhouse. Imagine being in a gale. I don't think so, we'll stick with Cajun Moon. Much more my scene.

Sophia Joseph and Mia, I mailed your postcards from this old Post Office.

The church is picture perfect.

The prison is suitably horrific-

I looked into the cell God both of us got a real shock...I thought it was a real person Very Madame Tussard

The hospital was quietly benign but once inside, the horrors of early 20th century medical were there on offer.

Remember the dentist chair in “The Murder House” Gosh same kind of chair when we were kids...Yuk. No wonder everyone hated going to the dentist

But disaster struck just as I was about to capture the Iron Lung to film, my camera battery ran out and at the same time, Dale ran out of film
So no iron ling also no pictures of the brass operating table

I was planning to take a nice shot of the steam engine as this shot below is not great but you can get an idea.

So off to Hokitika we went.
We took the more expensive room option in the Beachfront Hotel. That Wild West Coast is pretty spectacular.

It was a fairly long trip and we settled into our room with a nice chilled Sauv Blanc and a
combination of deli foods and bread.
Much nicer view in the morning.
Sunshine!!!

And it continued for the rest of the day
Just as well it’s about 600kms to our next destination Wanaka.

I would award this establishment
♥♥♥♥
No garden, great wild view, good big bed, excellent shower.

Food and wine bit average...(Only from the Super Marche! no super duper cooks)

Roll on Wanaka and The Burts.