To impress Rob and Michele we named the car Grady (White) On the trip from Akaroa to Fairlie we didn’t want to take the same route back to Highway 1 as we took in, so we decided to go around the back side of the Banks Peninsula. On the map it showed a series of “roads” that could take us from Akaroa through Pigeon Bay to Diamond Harbour, and then out to highway 1. It was a stellar day and we made it to Pigeon Bay with no problems.
It was a few kilometers up the “road” (1.5 lane gravel) that we saw a sign that informed us that a road grader was working for the next 4 kilometers. Hmmm, thinks I, this could be interesting.
We had gone no more than a kilometer when we ran into, or I should say came across, the grader. He gives us the stink eye then backs up to the next “wide” spot in the road. He starts flapping his arms in a gesture best described as “Get out of the way, you ass” and motioned for us to go by. Well, Grady is only about .75 car widths but I could barely make it between the grader’s gnashing teeth and the gorse-lined fence that serves as a “barrier” to keep you from plummeting into the canyon to a certain fiery death. The way kiwi drivers fly through the narrowest spaces makes me think that they must be great at threading needles.
Once past the grader, and since Grady only had about 2.35 inches of ground clearance, and since the road was not wide enough for him to fit between the berm that the road grader had left in the middle of the road and the fence, I had to drive the remainder of the 4 kilometers with the right two wheels tracking right on top of the berm.
Right at the top of the pass...All Blacks!
This track took us through some great country; down into canyons, over ridges with stunning vistas and finally to its end at a paved ("sealed" in kiwi) road.
It wasn’t until we had gotten down that we looked back to find a cornucopia of road warning signs; none of which had been on the other end. Probably why we got the “what a pair of idiots” look from the grader driver.
Road maintenance...New Zealand style!
We mentioned in our blog from the last trip that following the map has its risks. Sometimes there will be roads shown that cross rivers. One would expect to see a bridge there. One could be wrong. This a ford. It is considered an official road. Our friends were telling us about some people they knew who sank their SUV in the middle of a ford. The insurance company denied their claim...because they had pulled the car out of the river, so could not prove they were stuck in an official road!
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