almost the size of cats, we headed back to Haast. That evening the group had dinner at the Hard Antler Restaurant and Bar. Following a delicious meal and the presentation of the Wooden Spoon again, we were treated to another tune on the bagpipes by one of our Tourers, who plays them each evening for the group. This time however, a patron in the bar, an older lady, approached John and asked if she could do the Highland Fling to his piping – and did, before a bar-lady came from the Bar and asked to play John’s pipes – and OH MY GOODNESS! She was amazing! She played some modern tunes – fast, and soon had all the bar patrons and staff in the room with us. She then danced to John’s piping, and she was good…. What an amazing evening it was. Who would have thought that in a small place like Haast, there would be two ladies who could dance and play the bagpipes like these ladies. Today we had our first breakdown of the group. A 1912 Renault two-seater has ended terminally and they were continuing in a rental car. Day 5 – Haast to Hokitika. A long day of 160 miles and our instructions read “Keep the sea on your left and the mountains on your right”, so that is what we did and we saw trees, trees, more trees, rivers, mountains including snow on Mount Cook and beautiful as it was, it was a long day. We went to a motorcycle and car collection in Fox Glacier, owned by the local garage owner, before continuing North and passing over the bridge that washed away in severe storms several weeks before, effectively cutting the State Highway, with no way around. It is not as long as we imagined but the torrent of water that came down from the mountains did amazing damage in the area. Lunch in Franz Joseph was enjoyed in a little bit of sun. Finally we arrived in Hokitika late afternoon and found that our friends 1926 Chrysler had some serious motor damage. They grabbed a rental car on Saturday morning and went to Ashburton to collect their motorhome and trailer, arriving back on Saturday night. On Saturday it became obvious that the 1926 Hupmobile was also travelling home by transporter and its crew joined us in a rental car. Three vehicles down. Saturday morning of Day 6, some of us ladies decided to visit a quilt shop in Hokitika, leaving the men to their own devices. After some Tiki Touring around and getting some local knowledge, it was decided that the shop had moved north to Nelson, some 7 years ago, but was still advertising on the internet from Hokitika. Never mind, we made it back for lunch with a group of Tourers, before we were led on a scenic tour by a local vintage car driver. During the tour we visited a Memorial to 7 New Zealand Policemen who were shot in 1841, by an enraged local man whose milk had been downgraded by the Dairy Inspector – very moving, and had a line-up photo of some of the cars on tour. We then went on to visit the Hokitika Gorge which is set in native bush and very beautiful, with the river changing colour with the sky. Many of us enjoyed the swing-bridge over the river. Our final adventure for the day was to visit the Westland Heritage Museum at Hokitika Airport, where a dedicated group of local men are restoring a number of engines from various mills in the area, plus various collections of “things”, gigs, outboard motors, fire engines, chainsaws and the like, while another man is teaching young men to weld and build a miniature railway to run around the complex, to hopefully help them gain employment. This was a really interesting place. Our last day – Day 7 – and boy did it rain in the morning. Typical West Coast rain and wind, while we noted that every house we saw in Kumara, Greymouth and Reefton had at least one chimney, some with two or three, all belching coal smoke and the air was heavy with the associated smells.
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