Willowbank Pacifica Lodge Greymouth

... the cheaper option is to get a boat to take you part way along the track and then walk back to the start again. That is what we planned to do, but when we got to the water taxi place that morning, there wasn't enough space on the boat (despite them telling us the night before that there would be and if there is more than one boatful, they just put on another boat!). The lady persuaded is that we should just walk part of the path and then get the boat ...

... Southern Alps start to appear. There is some morning mist clearing quickly in the sunshine which provides a lovely accompaniment. The road then follows the Buller River Gorge which winds its way through these mountains in spectacular fashion with some of the road having been cut out of vertical cliffs on the side.<br><br>Eventuall the road reaches the coast and just outside of Westport is the Tauranga Bay which was perfectly positioned for lunch and allowed a quick ...

The threat of rain seemed in the distance this morning. There were a few clouds around but mainly blue sky - so much for the wet west coast we thought... Off for a quick breakfast at MacDonalds to fortify us for the short drive to Shantytown - which is an reconstructed gold-mining town built near an original gold-mining town. $62 for a family pass here, but we did spend almost 4 hours ...

... decided to go to the nearby caves to try and see the glowworms. A few people in our group were successful in seeing them last night. However, because it was daytime and the caves were not very deep, we couldn't see any glowworms. At one point, we may have seen one, but it was difficult to tell. Then, we all packed in the vans and headed to our next stop.

... the YHA - this is a cosy, homely and bit old-fashionned one. The town of Greymouth is less than inspiring - a stop-over for most people who are headed for the glaciers. We decide to have a little explore beyond the supermarket and go to the green where there is a Gipsy Fair. It's so old-fashionned - a little roundabout and a shetland pony ride. It starts to drizzle but people keep on playing their instruments and trying to have fun - very British!

... towards Westport. This was a picturesque mountainous area. It was about to get higher as we hit a crossroads. As we took the turn to Westport the rain came down and the clouds were grey in the distance. We did a quick about turn back to the crossroads taking a back route to Greymouth on Route 7. 80 kms before Greymouth we stopped at Reefton, home of the friendliest people in NZ. We were waved in and out ...

... what the Lonely Planet describes as 'one of the top ten road trips in the world', the coast road between Greymouth and Westport. There are some pretty spectacular coastal views and the sea here is rough so it's very atmospheric, but then the scenery everywhere in New Zealand is amazing. On the way, we stopped off in Punakaiki, home to the 'Pancake Rocks', a strange-looking formation on the coast (they don't really look like pancakes but they're still ...

... and went to a late bar in Sol square (sol = South of Litchfield (Street)), although the rest of that day was a complete washout with the worst weather anyone had seen in New Zealand in 3 months. The bar had an excellent live band on, although some of our group decided to head for a drum and bass bar. I passed. Finally, on the Sunday, I said goodbye to everyone, including the Irish girls who won the prize for longest sleep-in that morning, and headed ...

... 6 houses, no shop, one pub which is also a hostel.  It did however have some interesting scenery, mainly the hottest bloke i've seen in new zealand! He lieved in a converted bus and was well beautiful! My oh my, i was quite happy to spend my evening chatting to him, he even had a word with my mum, however the principal of this place is to dress up like a fool and drink yourself stupid.  We obliged. The Roxanne drinking game became particularly lethal, i had never realized ...

... passed quite nicely and it turned out to be a good night (when is it ever anything but a good night when Twister is involved?! The locals came in too and most of them were absolutely crazy - there was even a rumour they were all high on coke - but they were such characters. Out of the visiters, I was the last one standing and remained in the bar experiencing these nutcases for a few hours more - it was gone 4am when I finally clambered into my top bunk!