Mountain Jade Backpackers Hokitika

Back by popular demand &#8211; the weekly(ish) blog<br><br>Just over a week now in South Island where the roads are much quieter and there are a few acknowledgements when I indicate or pull over to let the locals pass so I am in a better mood about that.<br><br>The ferry crossing was very smooth and as we entered into the Marlborough Sounds the sun was shining and I immediately had a good feeling or maybe it was the anticipation of all that wine tasting I planned! <br><br>I ...

... it was true to it's word, whew!!! the were hundereds of them with there babies lying in the sunshine &amp; playing, lovely sight. the scenery through the next few tons &amp; villages was equally stunning every twist &amp; turn the view were so different, until we came to punakaiki which is famous for it's blow hole &amp; pancake rock,it is true they look just like pancakes, it is an amazing sight, we took lots of photos for ...

... as well as marks for time, they are judged for technique, closeness of shearing, number and degree of cuts and nicks. I timed one and it took 1min 11 secs! As well as the shearers, there were several wool sorters who put the wool into different pies depending on it cleanliness and quality. Helen O'Meara (on whose farm I did my shearing) told me this week that they were 'dagging' 2000 lambs - it's a bit like a ...

... of the Rugby League World Cup so we stayed on in the bar to watch the match with a couple from Sydney and a guy from Sweden who had the thickest Irish accent, because he'd been living in Dublin for a few years. We cheered on the Aussies but the Kiwis won. So one of the locals came up to Michael afterwards to rub in the victory but when he asked Grechy where he was from, Michael said 'Ireland' (in a dodgy Irish accent). He got away with it.

... off to a brewery for a tour, an 'all you can drink in 15 minutes' tasting, free pint at the pub and all you can eat barbeque. Even if I could have drunk beer and eaten all the sausages I wanted I wouldn't have gone to be honest. Sounded hideous! So, instead I had a wander through downtown Greymouth to the river (sewerage outlet) and then retired to the YHA were I had the run of the kitchen, the internet and the TV room. I eventually retired to my room - a 4 bed dorm ...

... near as big as we had expected and rather than a blue/white in colour, up close it was dirty grey colour, a result of all of the rock collected as it crept its way down the valley. We could see the impacted layer upon layer of ice accumulated over many years. Nevertheless it was pretty awesome to actually see a glacier up close and we were pretty impressed by the fact that this is one of only a very small number of glaciers that has existed since the Ice Age. The drive along ...