After the recent spate of tourist-related car accidents making headlines over the holidays, I set off on a South Island road trip the most hypervigilant behind the wheel I've ever been.
I'd like to think I'm always careful, but as well as tackling unfamiliar roads in areas notorious for terrible crashes, I was also very aware of the huge numbers of tourists who flood our country at this time of year - both domestic and international.
A friend and I picked up our rental car in Christchurch and headed for the Lewis Pass, then continued down the West Coast to Haast, ending our journey in Queenstown.
At times it's a struggle to tear your eyes away from that beautiful scenery and keep them firmly on the many treacherous stretches of road. But we made sure we took our time, swapped drivers every few hours, and finished our roadie safe and sound.
The hypervigilance clocked a lot of lane-invading and a hell of a lot of tailgating, but we didn't have to resort, as one driver did on the Lindis Pass last week, to stopping a carload of tourists and confiscating their keys after narrowly avoiding a head-on collision.
