By the next morning, the drizzle had turned into proper rain. At this stage, we weren't too worried - we had a long drive ahead of us anyway. Our next stop was Linkwater, right at the top of the South Island.
On the way, we stopped at New Zealand's longest swing bridge at Buller Gorge. We stood in the ticket office and stared outside at the pouring rain, wondering if we should bother buying a ticket to cross the bridge. So far, the highlights of our day had been driving past fields of drenched and sad-looking sheep, and me complaining about the rubbish windscreen wipers on the car. We hoped this might add some excitement to our day, so we bought the tickets. It was mighty soggy, but did not disappoint.
It really did rain quite a lot on the drive. Near the end of the drive, the rain stopped just long enough (about five minutes) for us to screech to the side of the road, leap out of the car and take a few pictures before scrambling back inside.
Our accommodation in Linkwater was on a farm, and it was a lot more delightful than I was expecting. Upon arrival, the owners handed us some bags of pellets and told us to go and feed the animals. They also warned us that lambs like to bleat at 6am.
Sven quickly made some new friends.
The rain seemed to have cleared up for the time being, so we took a drive to view some of the sounds (which are a bit like fjords) that grace this part of the island.
After rain comes rainbows, and we were duly rewarded with one, as well as some rather nice views. (And dramatic clouds! More rain coming!)
Earlier that day, the farm owners had also handed us a hand-drawn map and couple of torches. This was for us to take a night hike to a nearby waterfall and dell, where we would apparently find some glow worms.
The rain was still at bay by the time it was dark, so we wrapped up and headed out, map in hand. We really weren't expecting much; I don't think I'd put much thought into what a glow worm dell looks like. A damp little cove with a clump of glowing worms? Well, we certainly weren't expecting to walk into a magical forest lit up with thousands of soft blue fairy lights.
It was impossible to take a photo that could capture it properly. It blew us away.
The next day, it rained. A lot. It was downright miserable, so we thought it would be a good day to sample some of the wines in the famous Marlborough wine region. I completely neglected to take pictures, and I was a bit grumpy about having to drive some more with the rubbish windscreen wipers, so you'll just have to believe me that the wines of Saint Clair Family Estate are rather delicious.
And that was the highlight of the day. We attempted some sightseeing, but the cloud cover and rain was so heavy, we couldn't see a thing.
I don't have any pictures of that day to share, so here's a picture of Sven and his friend the goat instead.
Next: New Zealand Part 3