For one night only.... Greymouth!

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Saturday 26th January
Get up in plenty of time to get ready. Whilst I'm sat eating my breakfast the Intercity driver comes in looking for a passenger... 15 minutes later a Korean lad comes in swearing... He's just missed the bus. I run close to missing mine in trying to help him, but am safely on the road in time! Our driver today is Ryan. First stop is Spooner's Pass Lookout... Not a great day for the view but we stop anyway! We make our way through plenty of winding mountain paths, stopping at Murchison for breakfast, before stopping again at Hawks Crag where there's some more beautiful photo opportunities. We all gawp at the record level flooding, which is about 6-7 foot above the road! As we get back on the bus Ryan has picked all the ladies a piece of orange flax.

Busy stopping day today. We stop at Westport, where most of us spend the 30 minutes queuing for the toilets! Next proper stop is Cape Foulwind to see the Seal Colony. Obviously a good day for it as there's plenty of seals frolicking, including a number of baby seals. Head back to the beach - see a number of surfers out there - and give in to a 'Goldrush' icecream after Ryan says it can't be missed. Some kind of Crunchie style icecream... But the hokey pokey still beats it hands down!

Through more winding roads, to the Irimahuwhero Viewpoint - some beatiful coast to see - and in the distance we can see the Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki. Before we reach those we have a 15 minute walk down the (Tasman) track. The Pancake Rocks were surprisingly impressive - and it's one of the few phenomena which science has been unable to explain. The Blowholes aren't working today as the tide is going out and the sea's not rough enough.

Finally, we roll into Greymouth - one of the largest towns on the West Coast. Get dropped off at Noah's Ark backpackers - I like it - nice 1930s Manor House style. I really should have gone and checked out the different rooms (I wanted to see the cow room) - but I don't have a huge amount of time here. I'm in the Pig Room (all by myself in the end). By 5.45 I'm waiting to be picked up for Monteith's Brewery Tour. Tour starts 6pm, so safely there, but where are the others from the bus. The driver goes to collect them, but by the time they get back tour has started and doors are locked. Tour quite interesting - hits all 5 of the senses... And finishes back in 'the pub' where we try about 100ml of each of the 7 brews, getting to pour yourself an extra 200ml of your favourite. Got chatting to Jason and Kerry from Auckland, before we head to the real pub for an inclusive pint and sausage sizzle. The girls from the bus were there - free drinks as compensation! We chatted until the bugs started to bite, went inside where the live band started up - very good but a bit wasted in the ghost-town that is Greymouth. Ryan joined us about 10 but by 1030 we were ready to head off - the brewery driver offered us a lift, which was handy! Tried to do some stuff on the internet but it froze so took as a sign to go to bed!

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