To Greymouth by the 'scenic route'.

Gill's notes:

Kaiteriteri - Greymouth: Am. Grey skies, weird light on sea, blocked valley road, so drove towards Nelson and picked up '6' sth. Stopped in Reefton - coffee and brownie, nice place. Before that lunch in picnic area - bee moment - ended up eating in car. Got to Greymouth 3pmish. Nice place - good accommodation - went to harbour - good view of Mt. Cook, big sea.

We set off on the long journey south straight after breakfast realising that the storm damage might well complicate the trip to Greymouth. After only four miles we reached the first road block. The road directly south through the Motueka valley had been closed due to landslides, though it added at least 20 miles to the journey we had no option but to take the main to Richmond, continuing on highway '6' towards Murchison and the west coast. Our original plan had been to follow the highway  the whole way, driving down the west coast through Charleston but mudslides had rendered the route impassable. Instead we cut across inland towards the old mining town of Reefton.

This area is sparsely populated but the drive was not tedious. the landscape changed all the time from open plains with distant mountains on the horizon to densely wooded hills and little valleys. It was an uneventful journey apart from the moment when we stopped for a picnic lunch in a lay-by but were driven back to the car by a swarm of angry wasps. 

As for Reefton itself, it was an interesting village full of relics from its industrial past, now quite bucolic and like most places in New Zealand not short of a cafe or two where you were sure of being served excellent coffee and homemade cakes.

We reached Greymouth by mid-afternoon, excellent progress given the dire forecasts about road disruption in the wake of cyclone Gita. Our motel was on the outskirts, as we drove through town centre it looked like an interesting place, an old mining port full of art-deco architecture on the mainstreet. No doubt places like this have seen tough times over recent decades but maybe the town's magnificent location will turn around its fortunes. We half promised ourselves to return to the centre in the evening. After settling into the motel - basic but comfortable - we took an afternoon stroll down to breakwater. It was a beautiful sunny day but the sea was wild, still churned-up due to yesterday's storm.

The light was crystal clear. Across the wild surf, to the south you could see half wreathed in cloud, the grey bulk of the Mount Cook range almost 100 miles away. By the time we had got back to the motel it was almost evening, the excitement of the past few days caught up with us.

 We decided to  eat-in and have an early night rather than visit the town centre. Scenicland Motel was typical of the budget places we had used over the past few weeks.

Utilitarian rather than luxurious, but well kept, clean and generally welcoming.

basic kitchen with two ring hob - Gill can cook some delicious stuff on two hobs!

comfortable bed....

What more do you need? On the whole we paid £75 - £80 per night for our motel accommodation. Because we had the option to self-cater it is probably the cheapest way to travel in New Zealand as older travellers. I guess bright young things backpacking might do it cheaper. What is certain is that over a period of a month it was much cheaper than hiring a motorhome, which given our preferences may have been the obvious choice, but the hire charge for a van, plus site fees would have been twice the price of what we paid for a budget small car and motels.

The downside I suppose was a lack flexibility, we felt we needed pre-book accommodation whereas with a motorhome you have the option to wander. Next morning we woke and wondered if we should have booked two nights here. This was not an option, tonight's stop in Fox Glacier was already arranged. We had another long drive tomorrow, Sadly we were going to give exploring Greymouth further a miss.