| The last two days had wounderful weather and we were a little disappointed about that days bad weather: rain drops everywhere and even the horizon was covered in dark grey. But such a day is almost perfect for long driving trips: We went from Punakiki over Westport on the Buller Gorge and Motueka ValleY Highway to Marahau. |  If you anyway can't see much and stopping is not worth it, then it's not that hard to skip place of low and medium interest. |
 Nonetheless we couldn't resist to have a view at the places of high interest. We tried with the Seal COlony and around-the-corner Cape Foulwind, but the weather was too bad. At the Buller Gorge swingbridge we had more luck. |
 It spans over the Buller Gorge River (you guessed it, hu?) and it's NZ's longest of the kind (110m). |
 We took a little walk (30min) to the other side, where the faultline of the devasting earthquake from 1929 can be observed. It push up the earth by 4.2m in this area! |
 Remnants of other activities, this time created by humans, can be found as well: only recently the last company on the search for gold left the place. It's said that there is still gold worth 1Billion Dollars in the ground. This is an old hand-hewn shaft for exploration. |
 After that there was more rain, sometimes as thick as a curtain you can't see through. This situation improved slightly when we crossed the Hope Saddle between Kawatiri and Tapawera. |
 More and more to the north the landscape changes again and there are smooth hills, almost all effected by the natural draught east of the great range. But the weather got better! :) |
 When arriving in Motueka at the sea, it was almost all gone, but the view with the water and the mountains was quite nice. |
 Later that day in Marahau the weather had changed completely and we enjoyed the last warmth of the sun at the beach ... |
 ... and the water was back offering a great view of the surrounding islands and bays. |
 Last impression for the day was this funny notice. Read yourself! |