Driving the Summit Road in New Zealand
| January 20, 2011 | Posted by Jane under Travel |
Akaroa Summit Road
Every nerve stood on end anticipating the next turn in the road. There was no chance to spot oncoming cars, as they were invisible in the series of tight switchbacks until they zoomed past out of nowhere. The locals careened in the middle, only getting over when they had to, because the Banks Peninsula Summit Road is narrow with only steep drop-offs at both sides. I yearned to look at the breathtaking vista where the volcanic land meets the sea many kilometres below. But my eyes dared not waver.
REM’s “Great Beyond” plonked away on the radio, providing some coincidental cadence and adding some wry comic relief to the craziness of attempting this as a first drive in a foreign country on the left side of the road. Salty air streamed in the open windows, smelling of sweet grass with a faint hint of sheep manure. My husband yelped that I was too close to the drop-off on his side, until he realized I was avoiding another car that was way over the centre line. Forty-five minutes and twenty-seven switchbacks later, I white-knuckled it back to Highway 75, the main highway back to Christchurch. Both hands relaxed, thankful to be driving on flatter highway, even if everything else still felt backwards.
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