The Passenger . . . Iggy Pop

The passenger, me, is very tired tonight.  We drove out of the lodge at 8.45 am and drove into this motel at 5.50pm.  The mornings driving was good but the afternoon was on a road with excavations, not just potholes.  There was a lot of lurching and having to brace my legs to keep in the seat.  The scenary was spectacular but I was so glad to see the tarseal again. 
We started driving beside Lake Ohau and into the Hopkins River Valley.  The Hopkins Valley is a post-glacial braided river valley at the head of Lake Ōhau, up to four km wide. It runs almost due north for about 12 km. Google is helping me with my entry tonight.  We had morning tea beside the lake in the sunshine.  Because it was such a stunning day John, our leader took us on the high road and we climbed to 1685 mts or 5,528 ft.  Of course once up we have to drive down.  There were a few tight corners and I closed my eyes for two of them.  The good thing was the passenger was on the side with the high bank and the driver was on the side with the sheer drop.  1st Extra at the top, 2nd extra looking down to the Ahuriri River where we were going to.  Once in the flat valley bottom the road became bumpy and there wereshingle fans to rock and roll over.  The main blip is the Ahuriri River with a wet land in the forground.  I do love those bare screes but knowing this was a dead end and we had to rock and roll our way back the way we came was no fun.  We didn't do the big climb up but somehow popped out on the main smooth tarsel road and a short drive to our motel.  
Dinner was at a new establishment and it was excellent.  The staff were keen to know how we found everything.  I had salmon