Back over the big hill

The road from Westport to Reefton follows the Buller river for some time. Great scenery, and lots of kiwi families in rental motor homes making the most of it.

Some parts of the road are a little scary!

We stayed in the car park at the Reefton pub for the night.

We had thought the park over property (POP) was attached to the fancy hotel across the road, but found it was the older one. It was full of locals who were friendly and welcoming when we went in for a drink.

Next day we went over the Lewis Pass.

There had been a little bit of snow overnight, but the grit truck had been through and the road was mostly dry, so no problems. The beech forest either side of this road is beautiful to drive through.

We spent a night at the Hanmer Springs NZMCA park, and drove into town next morning for a coffee. It was full of families and camper vans, being the middle of the school holidays. The new slides at the hot pools seemed very popular - from what we could see of the queues from the street!

Parked up in Hanmer Springs