From Westport we headed inland to crossover to the northern coast of the South Island. We drove along the Buller River in the Victoria National Park, and stopped off to see the famous swing bridge there. This one was much more scary than the ones at Mount Cook – it was longer and narrower with a big drop below and see through grating under foot. B kept stopping to take photos so it was a great relief for me to get to the other side and solid ground!
The bridge takes you onto an island with some wildlife walks around it, though we didn’t see the promised birds. We did see the indication of previous flood levels however!
Happily (for me at least) we didn’t have to walk back across the bridge – the return is via a zip line! You travel in tandem and I was in front – I enjoyed this much more than the swing bridge. We were given the video of our crossing on a thumb drive, which I have managed to mislay for the moment – doh.
After that excitement we travelled on to the north coast to a lovely spot called Kaiteriteri. The campsite was right next to the beach and as we were there 2 nights we were able to take another boat trip. This one runs along the coast dropping people off at beaches where the only other access is a major hike. Or you can stay on the boat as we did.
The highlight is this very unusual rock formation called Apple Rock.
On the way back the weather demonstrated how fickle it can be as it went from glorious sunshine to a nasty squall which had us sheltering inside very quickly.
When we got back we went for a “snack”, ordering sliders, which were – well -not exactly a snack!
