We also stooped into the Seresin Wine & Olive Oil cellar door. They are a small, organic outfit and I bought some very nice Marama (a Sauvignon Blanc, naturally fermented and aged in oak barriques). They also had some wonderful fruity olive oil that I brought back with me.
These pictures of the valley were taken form the hill top at the Seresin estate.
Leaving the Blenheim area, we proceeded South on Highway 1 along the East coast. Much of the highway follows close beside the railway. In fact for much of it the shoulder of the road is the ballast that spills out from between the railway ties.
We then headed inland on Highway 70 (eventually joining up with Highway 7) toward Lewis Pass. The highway crossed a multitude of small river valleys as we got closer to the mountains.
The roads were very steep and twisting. Growing up on a farm, I had to mend my share of fences, but I'm certainly glad I didn't have any like the fence line below left to work on. There were lots of sheep grassing in these fields.
At this point I was fairly used to driving on the left side of the road, and was even getting used to all the one lane bridges where you had to always pay attention to who was coming in the other direction, and who had right-of-way. While I have seen many duel road/rail bridges, this one was the first I had seen where the cars and the trains shared the same road bed. On this one oncoming cars have the right-of-way, but the signs remind drivers that all cars must give way to trains.
After exiting the mountains and gaining the West Coast we stopped to do some grocery shopping in Greymouth before heading south. We stopped for the night at Kumara, right on the coast. The next day was going to be glacier day for the trip.