south Island part 2 - Tasman & Buller

following a quick stop at Kaikoura (unfortunately cloudy), headed for the top of the South Island. Nelson the main town is quite boring with a fairly average beach (Tahuna), bit too exposed and windy every time i've been there. Motueka , further north, is a nice town and on the way is a 1km stretch of river bank where locals have spelled out their names with rocks... strange how everyone deep down wants to do graffiti


further north from Motueka are the magnificent beaches of Kaiteriteri:
and Breaker Bay:

without a doubt, best beach country in the South Island. And lower half of the North i reckon! from there it was Southwest through the spectacular Buller Gorge:

bit of an ugly throwie sorry, i blame the prickle bush in front of the shed. NZ's longest swing bridge, over the Buller River:



this here is a gold miner's hut from the 1860's

next stop west coast