My South Island road trip is over. It’s been epic. I tried to write bits and pieces along the way but just wasn’t able to find good enough words. Instead, I found myself furiously collecting photographs in a way that I don’t think I’ve done on any other leg of this journey. Not to this extent. I must have stopped at every scenic outlook possible on my 2,500km looping drive. And at every one of those scenic outlooks, and the rest, I have snapped phone-photo after phone-photo. I’ve seen so much. Breathed in so much. But what is perhaps most overwhelming, is that I know there is still a huge amount more that I didn’t see. So many roads I didn’t drive down and so many paths I didn’t take. It’s mind-blowing.
Aside from the grand scale, it’s been the impossibly varied landscape that has struck me. Geologically, New Zealand has been described as one of the most dynamic places on earth. It is positioned astride a major tectonic plate boundary, where the Pacific and Australian plates collide and grind together. It is the energy of that collision, taking place at speeds of a few centimetres a year, which drives it all. Each and every turn, and there were many, provided something new and different and marvellously at odds with what had gone before.
So instead of trying to write it all down, I’m going to bombard you with photos over the next few days. And maybe it’ll be better that way as you’ll get to see what I mean. I know for sure that my words won’t cut it. Hopefully, the images will. Anyway, that’s my intention. I’ve given up on saying I’ll do anything for sure. And then feeling crappy because I don’t. Just ask Mr Choc about my commitment to our morning runs. He’ll tell you.
Comments