After Christchurch, we headed north via the Lewis Pass to Nelson using a rental car. It was my first time driving a Kia, so I was interested in how it would go. Surprisingly for me it had some really nice features, and the interior was fairly slick, spacious, and comfortable. The way the dashboard lit up when the lights were on was very classy. Normal driving was very smooth and it seemed to do well, except the handling around corners could have been nicer, and she screamed while dropping down the gears whenever we overtook someone. I think they have a little way to go yet, but overall it wasn’t too bad.

On the way we stopped for lunch at Reid’s Store in Maruia.

It was good enough that we stopped there on the way back also – the chocolate truffles are superb.

After lunch it was back on the road, and then we came across Maruia Falls – worth a look, but watch out for the sand-flies.