What excites a writer when travelling

I’ve just come back from visiting friends in Wanaka and drove down the coast road from Nelson and without doubt, ,  it contains the best dramatic scenery and sinister atmosphere in NZ in which to set a crime.  I would love to be able to describe the sound of a million sea stones being rolled, pushed and pulled by the massive waves, the mist hovering so low over the bush confusing and hampering hikers and tourists alike and as for all those caves and gold mines to explore.  I went for a walk with another writer a few weeks ago in Nelson and it was a glorious autumn day and she became all poetic on me, saying that in such weather she spends her time thinking what words she can use to describe the landscape in front of her. She asked me if I did such a thing. I said no. It’s because I am always looking for places to hide a body.