Yha Greymouth

... das wir zusammen mit Paul auf d** T**rasse in d** Sonne genossen haben.
Paul hatte noch ueb**legt, ob ** ein Stueck mit uns die Westkueste entlang fahren soll, ab** da ** ein ganzes Jahr vor sich hat, kann ** sich noch ein paar Tage relaxen im Elefanten goennen.

Uns** naechst** Ueb**nachtungsstopp wird Greymouth sein, da es dort ein tolles Hostel geben soll, das uns von Max, dem Klavi**spiel** empfohlen wurde. Von da aus ist es auch nur ein Katzensprung bis zu den ...

Wow, this place gets better and better. There's no question that South Island beats North Island hands down for scenery based on what we've seen today. Many miles driven (320km) but we took lots of breaks along the way so it didn't feel too bad.

Started the morning in Nelson, a bit cool and overcast as we abandoned our motel and went in search of breakfast. A big cafe called "Lambretta's" was doing good business and looked very cool, so they hooked us ...

... of years that apparently resemble a stack of pancakes., however in reality, the pancakes are carved into intricate undulating structures. Our final destination was the small town of Greymouth on the coast where we settled for the evening. I cooked Fiona's Pasta Surprise - a wonderful dish comprising of bacon, leeks, mushrooms and curry powder that was actually invented by Fiona's mother - which was delicious as usual and prayed for warmth.

Things will only get colder I'm told...

A beautiful drive through the Wairau Valley this morning. Blue skies and rolling hills with the river constantly weaving alongside the road. The kids were fascinated by the fog rolling in through the valley and just some of the peaks of the hills popping through. Our first stop for the morning was the sleepy town of Murchison. Stepping out of the air-conditioned comfort of the truck (read WARM truck) into the coolness a 6 degree South Island morning was a ...

... a walk on the beach. The west coast of New Zealand is so beautiful! Then, we ate spaghetti for dinner along with chocolate chip cookies, and some of us headed out to watch the sunset. Some of the staff said that they have rain about 80% of the time in the West Coast, but today was the perfect day. Later on, we had a campfire on the beach and enjoyed looking at the thousands of stars in the sky.

... new people and the current magic bus driver and a driver from a previous leg who has now parted company with the firm after a disagreement there was a lad there from southend who supported the hammers so we had a bit of a footy conversation about west ham julian ***** etc an irish lad from dublin and a couple of others from san francisco etc a few shots were downed a game of killler pool was played - i was ...

... and, of course, more seals. You can go whale watching from there and are virtually guaranteed to see them as they have a resident pod. There are also pods of dolphins - each of which has between 100 and a 1000 dolphins. That must be some sight and will be another visit in the NZ autumn, when you also see the migrating whales. One of the highlights for Lyn was seeing lots of Pohutakawa trees (NZ own ...

... just sat in the shop once, hooked up to my home wi-fi and then went into print!!" We were begrudgingly given access with a huff and a puff and a closing comment "if these tables are needed for evening meals you will have to move"!! Just like Fawlty Towers!! We stayed for 20 minutes and then made our way to the campsite. There was a break in the rain in the morning which allowed us to spend a bit of time at a place called Foulwind Bay which is ...

Left Abel Tasman National Park at 9am and headed for Barrytown. We had a stop off at Hope Saddle for a few photos and a break. We then arrived at Lake Rotorua (which means Long Lake), where we stopped for lunch. This was a really nice place and very peaceful. We have noticed that everywhere we have been, it's never overcrowded - it's great. Maybe in the height of summer it gets busier, but we prefer it just like this. Next stop was Turanga National Park where we did a one hour ...

Nelson was OK - it is where the exact centre of New Zealand is, I will go back one day. Today though, I travelled from Nelson to Greymouth down the wild west coast! The drive down is pretty scenic cutting through gorges and along the coast, real rugged. The first real stop of the day was at Cape Foulwind, near Westport. Cape Foulwind is where you can find a colony of New Zealand Fur seals. There was loads of them, it bloody stank but it is so ...