Team Lipstick hit the road in early morning still under wet and cold weather conditions aiming to cross the South island towards the West Coast .
Despite the ridiculous speed limit of 100km/h the boys soon adjusted to the speed of other cars and comfortably settled at 120km/h ( sometimes a bit more )
This road across the Southern Island of New Zealand is known as the Great Alpine Highway and soon the boys felt like being in the swiss Alpes and being surrounded by snow covered mountains.
This is probably the most staggering piece of road the boys ever came across and it includes the amazing Ōtira Viaduct and Waimakariri bridge, feats of local engineering that takes them through the most remarkable scenery.
Arthur’s Pass National Park itself is a landscape of two halves. On the eastern side you’ll see wide, shingle-filled riverbeds and vast swathes of beech forest. Descend the western side and you venture through dense rainforest alongside and over deeply gorged rivers.
James Omalley’s restaurant and store was a welcome stop over and the boys had a nice hot soup in this museum like bar and eatery which was filled with many items of times long gone past.
Reaching the West Coast after this very scenic trip Team lipstick hit its biggest town – Greymouth.
Greymouth (is the largest town in the West Coast region in the South Island of New Zealand. The population of the whole Grey District is 13,550, which accounts for 42% of the West Coast’s inhabitants.
Another 100km driving north of Greytown the boys were extremely pleased to reach a town called Westport with as little as 1.2l left in the RAV 4 tank. The last 40km of course were driven with extreme caution and hardly pressing the gas pedal to safe as much fuel as possible with no petrol station in sight.
Having filled the car to full capacity Andre and Willy proceeded towards the wine lands on Marlborough which Google describes as follows:
The Marlborough region is about world-famous Sauvignon Blanc, delicious fresh seafood and diverse landscapes, from valleys of vines to sheltered waterways.
Shortly before Benheim a welcome stop on the side of the road offered some nice coffee which tasted delicious….
From wine-tasting to the final stop on the South Island the town of Picton was reached and the boys immediately proceeded to buy tickets for the ferry to Wellington which would leave the next morning and thereafter found another nice Motel offering a nice rest to have a few sundowners and a good night’s sleep