Willowbank Pacifica Lodge Greymouth

... decided to sleep without my 5 layers and 3 pairs of socks. Big mistake, as the heater decided to die during the middle of the night and I awoke freezing all over. Everything was cold: the pillow, the duvet, my skin - there was absolutely no warmth at all anywhere. After restoring core body temperature to normal by taking a wonderfully long hot shower we then left to venture into the heart of South Island.

The route we took started through the beautiful Motueka valley where ...

... comprends pourquoi... c'est vraiment superbe!! Nous nous arretons en chemin a Cape Fowling opur marcher sur la plage et manger la specialite new zealandaise de glace (Hockey Pockey). Nous nous arretons aussi aux Pancake Rocks a Punakaiki (rochers de crepes) , et en effet on dirait des piles de crepes: de drole de formations formees a cause de l'erosion de la mer et du vent. Dans la soiree nous arrivons a Barrytown uo ce sera soiree deguisee!!.. et le ...

... to town to the sea kayak rental and I chat with the girl who owns the place. I am told in no uncertain terms that I don't have the required experience to hire her kayaks which I am sure was a ruse to get us on the more expensive guided tour. We however simply don't have time for this as we are due in Hanmer by the evening and we have a long way to go. We hang out near the seals for an hour or so and making some late lunch and have a dip in the (very cold) sea ...

... a little boring to be honest despite the efforts of the people giving the tour in truth all people are there for is the chance of some free beer and this pattern hasn't changed in new zealand - it was only when we got to the bar area and were invited small measures of the 7 monteiths brews that things livened up - from their we went on to the barbecue which was in a rough **** pub in greymouth here i met a ...

... see the town so we wandered into the centre and watched the sun go down over the sea. After a couple of beers in a hotel bar (the only place we could find any other people, most of which were staying at our hostel), we headed back. If we had more time, we would definitely have stayed here longer; not for the town but for the brilliant hostel and its facilities. Definitely the best we've stayed in so far. The next day, we left Greymouth and drove ...

... reaching for the sky - these are the southernmost palms and virtually stop growing just south of Greymouth. The West Coast is certainly impressive and we plan to go back drive down to the Franz Josef and Fox glaciers and Mount Cook. The West Coast Drive is in the World's Top Ten Scenic drives. There is a lot of history here with Europeans digging for gold and coal (hence the trains), building sawmills and ...

... stop where you can see some rock formations that look like pancakes and there is also, what is reported to be a spectacular, blowhole.  However, the hole was not blowing when we were there. It seems that it only blows when it is near high tide (which is not until around 6pm ...

En Franz Josef solo nos quedamos un par de dias para hacer una excursion a los glaciares. El Dirko al final no pudo ir porque tenia mal el pie y la caminata era como unas 7 horas con todo el equipamiento y los crampones, asi que el se quedo con Regis y yo me fui con Dee, Sean y Silvia. Estuvo bien pero no valia el precio y ademas yo no soy muy amante de cansarme mas de lo justo, y al cabo de cuatro horas ya ...

... realise is what a terminal face is!). Along our walk up to the face of the glacier, the DOC had placed signs indicating the position of the face of the glacier over the last century or so. It was truly frightening to see how much the glacier had shrunk back over the last few years. A very graphic and real indication of the effects of global warning. Eventually we reached the actual face of the glacier and, to be frank, it was a bit of a disappointment. Although large, it was ...

... gross!!! Then we saw our first snow of the South Island, a good sign I hope, and onto Punakaiki. This is the place where the 'famous' pancake rocks and blowholes are! The rocks looked nothing like pancakes though, there wasn't even any syrup on them!!! lol!!! but they were pretty cool the was that they were all stacked up like that - I did get bloody soaked here though because of teh blow holes, they only blow big when it is high tide, and ...