Hokatika

Stayed the night in this coastal berg. Rose early, headed out to the local course to play golf. When we arrived, the place looked desolate: club house dark, no cars in the park, no one to be seen. Then, we both spotted a man inside the building walk to the front door from the inside and throw the deadbolt! How welcoming was that! Undeterred, Geoff caught up with him at the side of the building. “When do they open?” he asked. “They don’t,” was the terse reply. “Put your money in the honour box.” What about trundlers? “They’re around the back,” and off he went to cut the fairways. We deposited our $20 for the round plus $5 each for the carts and off we went.

We were the only ones on the course until about half finished our round, at which point, a foursome appeared in front of us, having started on the back 9. Hokatika is a “links style” course, loosely meaning “on the sea.” Every fairway is awash in grass-covered dunes. We played alongside the Tasman Sea; we could hear it but see it only occasionally. Interesting to play without any guidance: the holes were laid out diagonallyas well as crossing over each other – two holes said “Wait until the nth green is clear before teeing off.”. We had to guess where we were going for the first nine. After that, we more or less had it figured. It’s one of those places that you’d like to play again once you know it better.

Geoff spoils me. (Ed. note: Yes he does!) He booked the motel in Hokatika, making sure that they had Sky TV, which enabled me to watch the Academy Awards on Monday afternoon. This may sound silly to some but I never miss it, and cancel our standard Sunday dinner with my boys to watch. I always tell them they are welcome to come over but I will not be interrupted! What a disappointment this year. Bill Crystal provided a few smiles but no great laughs. No one was outrageous in any way. Oh how I miss Cher! No great surprises, except the number of awards Hugo won. Sam and I saw it and both of us thought it was interesting to watch; there was a lot to it but I wouldn’t have guessed it would win so much. I love Meryl Streep and her reaction was good—“Really? Her again?” But she is always happy to accept the award. Nice tribute too to her husband and hairdresser! Still, I was really hoping that Michelle Williams would win for Marilyn. I think she is great. What do I know?

Today, we drove up the scenic coastal highway and were once again amazed at the beauty that is New Zealand. Especially interesting were the Pancake Rocks and Blowholes, a fantastic example of erosion on limestone and mudstone rock formations. The national park has done a fabulous job of laying out the pathways and viewing sites in this spot. (Ed. note: Check out the photos in the album "From Hokatika to Nelson" - they really are amazing.) We spent more than the stated 20 minutes to do the park.(Ed. note: We were also interested in some of the road we travelled. Here we share a bridge with IN USE train tracks.)

We turned inland at some point and drove through clear-cut areas that were not very pretty and got ripped off for lunch in a little town called Murchison. The food wasn’t bad, just overpriced, as we found most of the spots on the tourist map. I only scared Geoff once with my driving. It can happen in NZ as they don’t use the lines in the middle of the road to offer any strong guidance. In fact, in most areas, you use the dotted lines as signals to pass at your peril. Seriously, up hills, on blind corners, around bends and into on-coming traffic, the dotted lines persist. So, I passed a logging truck—I had enough time to get by him but I can see that a passenger might be nervous! (Ed. note: NERVOUS?? After she passed I muttered F%^&ing idiot!" - and meant it)

Finally, we approached Nelson, our destination. It was not to be, as I screwed up booking the motel. Where would you expect to be if you were googling Nelson NZ accommodation? Geoff was very gracious when we ended up in Stoke, a suburb about 15 minutes out of town. He tried to cancel but Bookings.com brooks no cancellations. The good news was that we had been upgraded to a spa suite instead of a studio. It will be the first night in a king bed since we left home! The spa tub is none too shabby either.

We hoofed it about 8 blocks to The Honest Lawyer pub and had a spectacular meal, needlessly huge and immensely satisfying. We walked back in the rain and are hoping that tomorrow the skies clear so that we may enjoy our walk around Nelson. If we have to get wet, oh well.

As we ate dinner tonight, we were surrounded by tourists: a couple of visiting New Zealanders and a whole table full of Germans, on some kind of group tour, who looked like they had broken free for the evening. We tried to start up a chat with the nearest table but it was difficult. Our waitress had an eastern European accent, came from Czech Republic, so we wondered if we had chosen the wrong spot? On the other hand, it’s a Tuesday night and probably not the biggest evening out for most folk. Back to our spa suite for a quiet rest. Only one more day on the south island before the return crossing from Picton to Wellington. We will enjoy our last day here.