The flawless summer weather ended abruptly with falling temperatures, rising winds and the ever present threat of rain. We have heard that the SH6 should be open by Wednesday so we are working towards being able to get to Fox Glacier. A bridge near Harihari is being hastily repaired at a cost of approximately $1 million to enable tourists and holiday makers to get to the prime holiday destinations on the West coast.
We had a combined sightseeing/travelling day on Monday. The Top 10 Park at Westport was called Seal Colony so we decided to travel on around the cost in the direction of New Zealand’s most accessible seal colony. It was a pleasant walk to a couple of viewing platforms. We gor to see the fur seals but still not as close as we would have liked.
We also had our first encounter with a Weka, also known as a wood hen. Very tame and acting a bit like a chicken.
Then we took a link road to join the SH6 for what is reputed to be one of the top 10 coastal highways in the world. It is beautiful but would have been improved with more sunshine.
After an unplanned pizza stop we were on our way to Punaki and the pancake rocks and blow holes. The pancake rocks have the appearance of a stack of pancakes and there are weird and wonderful formations.
It was very windy and cold and we both wore our jackets with the hoods on.
The blowholes are caused by the sea rushing into small openings causing spray to rise up in a spurt, sometimes leaving flecks of foam floating in the air.
We had heard that there was also a cavern nearby where you might see glow worms and we went armed with torches but the ground was very slippery and our torches rather weak and the ceiling very low so we didn’t get in as far as any glow worms before we decided to retreat,
We got to Greymouth in good time to cook supper and see the sunset at 9.15 before the rain started again in the middle of the night,
The beach is about 100m from our van and we can hear the dual sounds of the waves breaking (much wilder sea) and the rain pattering.
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