We left Abel Tasman behind and drove south west to the West Coast. Hemmed in by the wild Tasman Sea and the Southern Alps, the West coast is like no where else in New Zealand. Only about 32,000 people reside in this area being 1% of NZ's population scattered amid almost 9% of the country. It definitely has a end-of-the-road feel.
WESTPORT
We reached the ocean in Westport, and had a relaxing day recovering from the Abel hike. We went to Cape Foulwind and saw a few seals.
Have to keep an eye on the gas in this area.....
PANCAKE ROCKS
We followed the South Highway 6 along the surf-pounded coastline to Punakaiki and stopped to see the Pancake Rocks.
Nature's pancake receipe:
The world's first lazy boy chair, about 70 million years old, making Andy a living fossil!
We are far away from home....
We stopped for lunch at the beach, and was met by a couple of very curious weka birds. The flightless bird is considered an endangered species in New Zealand, but somewhat plentiful in this region.
HOKITIKA
'Hoki' looked like a Wild West town with its wide and fairly quiet streets.
After 3,5 weeks in the Spaceship, we longed to have a little more space, a good bed and some privacy - always sharing washroom and kitchen facilities with other people is tiring - so we checked into a motel. The only room available had had a fire in the oven, so it smelled a little of oven cleaner, but that got solved by opening all the windows and doors, and cooking a nice juicy steak!
GOLD
New Zealand's largest gold nugget, the 2,772kg 'Honourable Roddy' was found in Ross in 1907, and created quite a stir in this area.
HARI HARI
Hari Hari made headlines in 1931 when the Australian aviator Guy Menzies completed the first solo trans-Tasman flight from Sydney. The flight took 11 hours, and he crash-landed his plane at the souther end of town.
A perfect spot for lunch.
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