Over the big hill

We met up with Chris and Ellison in Motueka and spent a couple of nights there. We walked into town for a coffee, and had a cruisy day before tackling the Takaka hill.

There were traffic lights at the start of the hill, and up to a 15 minute wait as road workers stabilised the road. A considerable length of road was just one way and it was difficult to see how it could ever be two way again. But then, we thought that of the Hundalees after the Kaikōura earthquake, and that road has all been built up again.

The road is very narrow in places, rather scary when a logging truck is coming tearing down towards you. There are many places where there is a huge drop right beside the road, with no safety barriers. Still, we all made it OK.

We stopped at the Anatoki salmon farm for the night, and decided to try the salmon platter for lunch. Salmon prepared in 6 different ways, yum!

It’s a fascinating place to wander around and read about the different ponds, containing thousands of salmon as they grow to maturity. Only a few end up in the large pond where people can catch them. Many are sold online and at the cafe. There are also a bunch of lazy eels that you can feed.