|
|
|
“Another day of beautiful weather” |
We arrived in Westport last night to find all hostels, motels, hotels and B&B’s completely full. We forgot it was Saturday night at the height of tourist season! Fortunately, at one hotel the clerk phoned around and convinced the owners of one B&B outside of town to open up for us (they were originally planning to take the night off.) Gary and Leslie at the Beach Haven were superb hosts – and we were all sooooo happy to shower away 3 days of grime and to sleep in real beds!
Completely refreshed, we headed out today back to Christchurch doing the total tourist thing: stopping at all the sights along the highway for a few minutes and snapping dozens of pics. (Hard to remember the days before the digital camera.) First we saw seals frolicking at the Tauranga Bay Seal Colony near Cape Foulwind (and yes it did smell rather unpleasant, although “foulwind” refers to the fierce storm James Cook experienced when he moored his ship Endeavour here in 1770.) Next we drove south along the west coast, stopping at the Pancake Rocks and blowholes in Punakaiki. After a quick lunch in Greymouth, we drove through Arthur’s Pass across the Southern Alps. Ollie pointed out the various ski fields along the way, and despite the lack of snow our imaginations filled in the rest (leaving Ryan nearly salivating.)
We’re back in Christchurch for the night. Tomorrow we pick up our rental car and venture out on our own, probably going back across Arthur’s Pass to check out the glaciers. Hope the beautiful weather we’ve had so far holds up!
previous travel blog entry
Would you like to comment or ask a question?
Sign up for a free account, or sign in (if you're already a member).