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 )

 

Great Alpine Highway

 

 

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.

 

Snow on the mountains and wide rivers on the Alpine Highway from East to West on the South Island of New Zealand

 

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.

 

Otira Viaduct

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.

 

Willy meeting Gandalf from in the Lord of kings area at James Omaley’s restaurant

 

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.

 

Willy Enjoying a hot soup and finding a cure for asthma

 

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….

 

And then the boys discovered the wine lands and its beautifull scenery…

 

From Vinyards to tasting near Bensheim…
The boys unanimously agreed that the wine offered here is tasting great

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

Day 2 –  27 September 2019 – From Christchurch to Picton