Blogs from West Coast, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 33

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Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » West Coast » Westport January 11th 2006

Greymouth - Greymouth is the largest town on the West Coast built on the Grey River. Good place to park the motor home is behind the Caltex station downtown built and maintained by Kea motorhome rentals. Be sure to stop and see the Jade Boulder Gallery, 1 Guinness Street, for the ultimate in jade work. A definite not to be missed place to go 10 km south of town is Shantytown, a restored 1800's pioneer town based upon the West Coast gold rushes of the mid 1800's. We like to stay at Lake Brunner(great trout fishing) outside of town a few kms. From Greymouth it is 102kms to Westport along a scenic ocean drive. 46 kms to your next stop at Punakaki Rocks. A real tourist stop but one well worth seeing. Usually plenty of parking ... read more
Pancake Rocks
Pancake Rocks
The Coastline

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » West Coast » Fox Glacier December 30th 2005

Vi aker tillbaka till vastkusten och soderut langs den med buss. Vi forstar varfor den ibland kallas Wet Coast eftersom det regnar igen, hela vagen i bussen sa vi missar en massa fina utsikter som busschaufforen berattar om. Det ar inte mycket manniskor som bor langs vastkusten, alla samhallena bildades under guldrushen och en del har lyckats klamra sig kvar. Fortfarnde bryter man guld har och dar. Det finns ocksa en stad kand for sin jade, dar bussen stannar till lagom lange for att man ska kunna kopa souvenirer. Resan slutar denna gang i "Fox Glacier". Gissa vad den sta'n ar kand for? Har spenderar vi var nyarsafton, och tar under dagen en guidad heldagsvandring uppe pa glaciaren, i det faktiskt fina vadret. Frammat kvallen festar vi till det lite pa campingplatsen, och gar en promenad ... read more

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » West Coast » Punakiaki December 28th 2005

Punakiaki is famous for its 'pancake' rocks. So called because the limestone rocks have weathered to resemble stacks of pancakes. At high tide the sea is forced through blowholes in the rocks to give spectacular effects.... read more
Punkaiki

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » West Coast » Punakiaki December 23rd 2005

It's stopped raining! The grey clouds are gone and it is all blue skies. In some ways that is typical as we were left the glaciers today but it can't be helped. We are in Punakiaki now which is further north up the coast. We are in this really cool hostel that is situated in the rainforest. It is not one building but lots of small cabins each with its own kitchen and stuff. The views out of the windows are great. We went to the Pancake Rocks earlier (which is what a lot of people come here to see) and they were great. One of my favourite things so far. They are these tall rocks that are actually stacks of rocks (I assume they are supposed to look like pancakes). There are lots of blow ... read more
Inside the hostel
On the hostel balcony

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » West Coast » Punakiaki December 22nd 2005

Det borjar lacka mot jul och vi maste bestamma oss for vad vi da ska hitta pa. En vandring kallad "Inland Pack-track" lockar genom att erbjuda overnattning under ett flera hundra meter langt grottoverhang, dar vi kan ata julmiddag. Darfor aker vi langs vastkusten ner till Punakaiki, dar denna vandring utgar ifran. Pa vagen stannar vi ett par timmar i Westport dar vi koper julklappar och julmat. Dock regnar det under hela resan dit och har tydligen regnat en hel del innan och kommer tydligen att regna en hel del mer. Darfor avrader personalen pa info-kontoret oss fran att ga denna vandring (vi kommer inte kunna komma over floden innan grottan) sa det blev inget med det. Vi trostar oss med att titta pa "Pancake Rocks" vilket ar den stora turistattraktionen i Punakaiki. Stenformationerna i havet ... read more

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » West Coast » Franz Josef December 22nd 2005

It's still raining!! It has been raining for the last 3.5 days pretty much non stop. I did not realise it could rain that much. I think the following poem entitled "Rain" pretty much sums it up! It rained, and it rained, and rained and rained. The average fall was well maintained. And when the tracks were simply bogs, It started raining cats and dogs. After a drought of half an hour We had the most refreshing shower. And then, the most curious thing of all A gentle rain began to fall. Next day was also fairly dry (save for the deluge from the sky) which wet the party to the skin, And after that.... the rain set in! We have managed a bit of walking but it has all been a bit on the wet ... read more
A kea parrot eyeing up a milk carton

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » West Coast » Karamea December 21st 2005

Efter att vandringen ar avklarad aker vi med buss till narmsta lilla hala, dvs, Karamea. Har finns inte mycket mer an en bar, nagra hotell och vandrarhem och bondgardar. Vi tar in pa ett Hippie-inspirerat vandrarhem/galleri/radiostation och vilar upp oss under eftermiddagen. Pa kvallen testar Per den lokala specialiten "whitebait" som ar fiskyngel hopklumpat till en burgar-liknande skapelse som sedan friterats. Smakar sadar. ... read more

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » West Coast December 20th 2005

We are on the West Coast and it is very wet, very wild and pretty windy. We left lovely hot and sunny Wanaka on Monday morning and since we got onto the coast the weather has been so different. It is currently chucking it down and has been all day. I have not seen it rain so hard! It rains 250 days a year here so I guess it is to be expected! We hope to spend the next few days exploring the glaciers but I am not so sure now. We may well be exploring the hostel instead! We were in Haast yesterday afternoon which has to be the sandfly capital of NZ! You could not stand still for a second unless you wanted to be bitten alive. They just swarm in when ever you ... read more

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » West Coast » Franz Josef December 18th 2005

After a week and a half of glorious summer sun shine we decided to do a couple of days camping a little way up the west coast at Franz Josef. Right on cue as we unpacked our tent, the heavens opened. We didn't do all that much here on account of the rain except for get eaten alive by Sand Flies ( Well, I had about twenty bites - which come up as large red welts that last for over a week - and Sara had a suspicious zero ). We did manage one walk up to the Franz Josef Glacier during a brief respite that kept us dry for the first half at least. Then feeling a little damp we drove up to Greymouth for a night where we sheltered from the continuing downpour in ... read more
Still going...

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » West Coast December 14th 2005

I drove out of Queenstown in the afternoon, still beaming from the skydive. My goal was to get up the West Coast to Franz Joseph glacier. However, I was having such a good time that I didn’t feel like hurrying and around 3pm realized that there was no way that I was going to get the 300 or so kilometers north before dark. So I ended up taking my time, stopping at a cheesery (I took pictures for you Kat), an old gold mine, blue pools, the original NZ bungy-jumping bridge, and for a quick hike/run up Mt. Iron (another “mountain”). A little before dark I made it to the coast and started looking for a place to camp. I found a spot on a beach a few miles outside the town of Haast. Other than ... read more
Bungy!
Wanaka
Rope Bridge




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