Kingsgate Greymouth

... that we got an all you can eat bbq (sausages,salad and bread) at a local pub included in the ticket price! We washed it all down with some more of Monteith's finest and headed to bed ready for another day on the road!


Got to admit, the next morning we did go to the local bakery to buy some huge cream doughnuts on the way out of town! After the delights we had sampled the day before, we were now officially hooked!

... bus. For a change Rachel stayed up later while I had an early night. Next morning we were off early, this time headed further down the west coast of the South Island to the town of Greymouth. Once again we were only staying one night as we had heard there isn't a whole lot to do there either. During the drive down we stopped at a few scenic spots for pictures. One of the stops was the Pancake Rocks which ...

... We saw a couple of people going over the flying fox there - and I think I would be brave enough to do it, but I wasn't prepared to pay the $30 each adult to try it! Next stop on our drive was Reefton, and I have to admit I was a little disappointed with this town. From the website advertising and other internet stuff I was expecting a little reconstructed gold mining type town, and that's not what we saw. It was a nice enough place though, with ...

... that everybody leaves with something that could be sold in a shop). It took a long time, lots of sanding and filing and sanding and filing and sanding and polishing! My design incorporates 3 of the main Maori symbols - the twist (symbolising friendship), the koru/spiral (symbolising growth, new beginings and life) and the fish hook (representing strength and determination, and provides a safe journey).

... rustig aan gedaan en zijn eerst bij de Pancake Rocks gaan kijken. Bijzondere rotsformaties in de zee, maar niet heel erg bijzonder toch. De Blowholes die er ook waren kwamen eigenlijk alleen goed tot hun recht als de wind goed stond zodat het zeewater met veel geweld in de openingen in de rots wordt geduwt. De wind was vandaag verre van hard, dus dat spectakel hebben we niet meegemaakt. Doorgereden naar Greymouth en na het inchecken in het hostel nog ...

We didn't have a great deal of time to get up to Waiheke Island for Spud and Kims wedding (more to come), and as a result spent most of the next few days on the road. We did get to stop at several attractions including the impressive Fox's glacier as well as some scenic lake side stops for picnics. We spent our first ...

... evening sun on the rocks for our visit.. We had to scramble for a place to stay that night... everything was full and our cell phone didn't have reception to call various options listed in the guide books. We got the last two bunks in the hostel, in a room with two other people. One was a rotund snoring gent and the other was a nice artist from Alice Springs, Australia.

... US Pacific Coast Highway between San Francisco and LA and places such as Big Sur. We stopped at a major attraction known as the Pancake Rocks. The name taken from their pan cake like appearance - a result of batterings from the sea over the years against the limestone rock. You can see more clearly on the pictures. This was another good walk, but it chucked it down with rain about 5 minutes before the end and myself and Lisa were soaked. We ...

... was trying to do wee bit of improvisation. It wasn't that she was being a bit 'free', she was simply out of tune - unless of course she was deliberately going for random quarter tones ... Anyway, free or not I moved on to the supermarket! This night was my first night in a dorm. From a budget point of view, I'd decided that where I was spending more than one night in a hostel I would treat myself to my own room, but if I was only staying one night I would go in a dorm ...

Wednesday Today we headed to Barrytown. On route we stopped at Punakaiki, famous for its splendiferous (not plagerised from our guide book!) Pancake Rocks and Blowhole. Through a layering-weathering process called stylo-bedding, the Dolomite Point limestone has formed into what looks like piles of thick pancakes. When the tide is right, the sea surges into caverns below and booms intimidatingly through blowholes. The rocks are fascinating to see. Barrytown has a population of ...