By the Tasman Sea

Trip Start Dec 20, 2007
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9
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Trip End Jan 06, 2008


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Where I stayed
Greymouth Top 10 Holiday Park
(Greymouth hotels)

Flag of New Zealand  ,
Thursday, December 27, 2007

Here we are in Greymouth, which is mostly just a stopping-over point for us in between Abel Tasman (beaches and cliffs) and Franz Josef (Glaciers). But our Top 10 Holiday Park last night was right on the beach -- this morning Travis and I went for a run, and went down to touch the Tasman Sea. We ran on the tidal plain as it was moving out, which should call to mind, for Rush fans everywhere: "When the ebbing tide retreats along the rocky shoreline / It leaves a trail of tidal pools in a shortlived galaxy..."

Yesterday was fun. The water taxi ride was very good -- everybody enjoyed the trip they took. Travis and I hiked back from Anchorage Bay to Marahau on the Abel Tasman coastal track, and my muscles were very happy to be working and not sitting in a car. The Park is *very* densely forested in this subtropical mesh of evergreen, deciduous (sp?), and big ferny canopies, which I think look Seussian. It was sunny and warm with a brisk breeze coming off the water.

We drove then, south of Kahurangi NP, and north of Nelson Lakes NP and Victoria Forest Park, which were stunningly beautiful. The last part of the drive to Greymouth was through quaint farm lands -- it's fun to see the cross section of the country here.

A few observations on NZ: It is hard to observe the Coriolis force, because the toilets don't really swirl here like ours do, it's more of a churn. This disappoints the physicist in me -- I wanted to see it go backwards! Also latches on doors and light switches tend to go the opposite way which makes you think everything is upside down. But we've pretty much gotten the hang of driving on the left, so much so that it's hard because you can't just do what feels "wrong" -- it has started to feel "right"!

Well my internet is about to run out...
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