West Coast Wanderings
Trip Start
Aug 01, 2007
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53
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Trip End
Jan 11, 2009
Westport,
New Zealand
Friday, March 14, 2008
Things have been going pretty quickly, and pretty enjoyably. Since Kaikoura, I spent a few nights in Picton (my advice to you- do NOT give this place a chance. There is NOTHING there at all!) I was glad to hop back on the bus for my first time in 6 months and make the journey to Nelson. I was lucky to attach myself to a cool group of people to pass my time with. We just chilled out on the evening we arrived, and the next day, amused ourselves by walking around town and also visiting what is probably the highlight of Nelson- "The Centre of New Zealand". Conviently and suspiciously located on the top of a massive hill, if you ask me!
Back on the road 3 days later with a fresh group of people, (the busses are insanely full right now!) we headed into Westport, which followed the trend of having absolutely nothing to do
Picton waterfront
. Chilled out nights are becoming a theme...! We had a nice sleep in, and drove into Lake Mahinapua. Along the way we stopped in Punakaiki to visit the Pancake Rocks. Cool, but not as good as I was expecting for some reason! Lake Mahinapua is home to the legendary (well, in regards to the Kiwi Experience anyways) "Poo Pub". Basically, a theme is set for fancy dress and you pump money into the local economy. Our theme was "Bad taste" but made out of bin (aka garbage) bags, but our creative juices were not flowing so we decided to forego the bad taste portion of it and just dress up as faeries. (We being a group of 5 girls). Another much needed sleep in, and it was time to head to Franz Josef! Along the way we stopped at the Bushman's Centre, which had an interesting little museum dedicated to how life in NZ used to be- complete with a video on how they round up deer, etc. Kind of odd, and hard to describe that is for sure! The highlight of the museum was when the Bushman selects an unsuspecting volunteer. They have to let in a wild pig, command it to sit, feed it bread... and then run! This guy didn't run fast enough though apparently and the pig had a bit of a go at him before he got out. Worth the $4! Also, this place is home of Pete's Possum Pies. For real... not just a funny name! I braved it and tried one... and no joke they taste like chicken.
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