NZ 18: Inland Scenic Route 72
Tuesday, August 12. 2008
Route 72, NZ (May 30, 2007)
The second day with the car but still without Mayli (busy at the conference) I went on the Inland Scenic Route 72. The route goes South from Christchurch, passing at the feet on the Alps until it reaches a (very) small town called Geraldine. From there one can go back to the coast (on the ugly Route 1) , to return to Christchurch in time for dinner.
Between the two small towns of Kirwee and Darnfield, Route 72 is parallel to the railway that crosses the Southern Alps to reach the Tasmanian sea through Arthur’s pass. That’s where I stopped to take this picture: the scenery was reminding me so much about Switzerland that I couldn’t resist taking this shot!
The drive was nice and enjoyable, and was worth doing. This was the second day driving on the left, so I was already more confortable, even though each time I stopped to take a picture, or any time I saw a car coming towards me on the right, I had to force myself to think that is was ok... and that I was on the right side of the road. In fact I developed this mantra that rapidly become involuntary of saying, now and then without prompt, “left is good... left is good... left is good... and right is bad”. I found it useful to keep myself alert and avoid drifting on the other side, even though in the days to come it would drive crazy a very worried Mayli (which for several days kept closing her eyes each time we were meeting another car).
