Day 2 – Picton to Hokitika via Nelson and Blackball

 

The new Le Café

We were away early from Picton, picking up a coffee from Le Café an old haunt of mine and my mother’s (when she was alive).  The café has recently changed hands and seems to have extended into what was a shop next door. The business goes on albeit in new hands. 

 

We stopped at Spring Creek to get some fuel and while there Bev spied a little produce stand where she got some very nice fresh fruit and vegetables – butterbeans, walnuts, peaches and apples.  Travelling to Nelson was a bit slower as the speed limits had reduced with much of the journey being at 90 km/h.  Much safer I expect, and probably only adds a few minutes to the journey time. 

 

Our reason for going to Nelson was for Bev to catch up with her friend who lives there.  Hazel and her husband have embarked on a major renovation of a late 1800s house.  We got to see the extent of the renovations which are nearly complete.  It will have a very grand main lounge and dining room as well as a designer kitchen with all the bells and whistles.

Coffee in Nelson with Hazel

 

Then it was off for a very nice coffee nearby.  The coffee was good and it was interesting to see a rather eclectic group of people in the café.

 

We stopped for lunch in Murchison and what was notable was that nearly all the people in the café were grey headed like me.  It seems only we oldies are out there supporting the tourist economy.  The roads likewise were very quiet even compared with when we were there last year. 

Lunch spot in Murchison

 We drove south to Blackball via Reefton. Just out of Inagahua we saw evidence of the recent flooding with road works still being done on parts where the road has been washed out and fences full of grass and other rubbish brought down by the floods.  It is coal country and there was evidence of it all around whether it was relics of a bygone age or coal carriages.

 

I had read about the Blackball Hilton and how a couple of entrepreneurs had seized an opportunity to do up an old hotel.  The local coal mine had closed down in the sixties and housing had either been abandoned or was going for a few dollars.  Some “hippies” took up the opportunity to live there and eventually won over the locals. 

Blackball Hilton

 

It is probably a far cry from the community it was at that time, but the housing looks in good repair and with the opening of the Paparoa (Walking and Cycling) Track has come opportunity.  On top of that there is the Blackball Salami company. 

 

We decided that since we were there, we would have to buy some Blackball sausages to sample that evening, but they had closed just before we arrived.  We knocked but had no response so  Bev went across the road to the local general store to see if they had any. She received a rather cool reception and all they had on offer were frozen sausages.  After wandering around a bit, we were standing outside the store deciding  our next move, when the door opened and a very pleasant woman asked if we wanted anything.  In the end she sold us a couple of sausages and some salami.  The lengths you can go to to enjoy a Blackball sausage!

 

Bev’s sister and brother in-law own an old coal miners cottage in a hamlet called Roa which sits under the Paparoa range.  It is an old coal mining village.  Since we were close by (it is 3km from Blackball) we took the opportunity to drive up to it.  The cottage is very cute as you can see from the outside.  The cladding is rough hewn timber. 

The cottage in Roa

 

 It was a relatively short drive to Hokitika where we checked in to our motel and then headed into town for a bit of exercise.  There we found a little bar that looked over the Tasman Sea and enjoyed a drink before going back to the motel to a nice home cooked meal (including the Blackball sausages!).