Pancake Rocks, Beer Thefts and other Tales
Trip Start
Oct 17, 2009
1
50
54
Trip End
Oct 16, 2010
Westport, South Island, New Zealand
Friday, February 5, 2010
We headed west from Arthur's Pass, eventually hitting the main West Coast highway where we swung north towards Westport, where we planned to stop for a couple of nights.
On the way, we stopped to have a look at the famous Pancake Rocks. They are lovely. They look like pancakes piled up. I ate an Ice Cream, Tony will deny this but my memory tells me that he ate twelve.
We also did a little walk to a beach. The name of it escapes me but it was also very nice, featuring sand and the sea. The sea made us wet on the walk back. That was very funny.
Ooh, I forgot, another place we went to when leaving Arthur's Pass is Lake Brunner which is very peaceful and reflective. It reflects the surrounding trees and the sky. I parked the car backwards so I could take a picture of the wing mirror reflecting the lake reflecting the trees and sky. That was dead clever of me and I felt really arty.
On the approach to Westport, we stopped to make a visit to a seal colony but it was a bit disappointing because the seals were a long way away from the viewing point and it was not possible to get down for a closer a look. They still smelt a bit whiffy though and a baby one shuffled around particularly cutely.
At our hostel in Westport, I met the most hardcore traveller in New Zealand. He had spent just £1000 in four months and just disappears in to forests for weeks on end where he lives off wild berries, rainwater and spear fishing. I was impressed but couldn't help thinking that he might quite like my Crunchie. So I ate it quickly.
We bought ourselves some beer as a rare treat but it was stolen by a thief in the night, along with someone's sandwiches and the radio from the kitchen. I don't know who did it but I am going to assume they were French people.
We found a leaflet in the hostel which made a place called Karamea and Oparara Basin, about an hour and a half's drive north look very appealing so decided to only stay in Westport one night and head up there instead. It was to prove a brilliant decision.
