West Coast Wilderness Trail/Pancake Rocks

This morning I got up early and rode a rental bike about 80 miles round trip going South of Greymouth and then back again. The bike ride was a bit disappointing in that for most of the ride I was riding in bush that blocked views of the lakes, mountains and coast. I still enjoyed the ride and it was a good workout. There was an old, long, single lane bridge that carried cars, trucks, trains and bikes.

After taking a shower and eating some lunch I then took a ride in a car up to Pancake Rocks. The coast North of Greymouth has great rock formations and dense native vegetation that looks like it should be Jurasic times. The fern trees and palm trees mixed with the dense lower foliage and huge trees mixed in here and there make an awesome forest that would be almost impossible to walk through without a cut trail.

I enjoyed the afternoon. We watched and waited for blowholes to blow their tops and walked down trails for a short ways learning about the native plants and animals. My guide was a nice guy and knew his stuff. He was from Australia not New Zealand but he loves it here so has made it his mission to learn all he can about the place. Next year he plans on walking from the tip of North Island to the tip of South Island traversing the entire country on foot. I would love to be able to do that.

a few pics from the day

Bus to West Coast Greymouth

I caught an early morning bus over the Southern Alps to the West Coast of New Zealand today. The ride was not very scenic because it was raining and foggy. The driver was being a comedian telling us about all the beautiful scenery on the way but all we could see was a big grey wall of fog. The fog lifted a few times but for most of the way we could not see much of anything. I still kept snapping pics and a few of them I will post but most of them I just deleted when I looked at them. Once in Greymouth the city the bus stopped at on the West Coast, I wandered around town as far as I could walk which wasn't far. Not much exciting around town. Tomorrow I am riding a bike trail along the coast in the morning and then in the afternoon I am going to a national park up north of Greymouth. I will post pics of that when I get back. On Friday I am taking the train back to Christchurch. The train is said to be one of the best ones in the world. That is a big statement to make so I will let you know if I agree with them.

Hanmer Hot Springs

Today I bussed out to the hot springs to soak for a few hours. I enjoyed the ride and the company at the hot springs. The first pool I went in had two men in it and every time a girl walked by their eyes bugged out. I had to laugh at them and asked what was up. Well they told me they just spend 6 months on Antarctica and have not seen a woman with less than 40 pounds of clothing on in six months. That cracked me up. One of them told me he met my brother Bill there during the marathon. Small world.

The ride out there was just me and the driver so we talked the entire way. She was 74 and trying to make enough money to move to a new home because her current home is getting too crowded with neighbors. She was a hoot. She would say anything and did. Then on the way back to town there were 10 other passengers but we still chatted away. She told me she enjoyed me keeping her awake on the way home driving in the rain. a few pics:

Banks Peninsula near Christchurch

oday I took a bus out to the Banks Peninsula which is located near Christchurch. The bus ride took a couple of hours plus but the driver was entertaining us as we rode along with him. He was telling us all about the earthquake and its effect on both the City of Christchurch and his life in particular. It was all interesting information. He also pointed out landmarks and wildlife as we went along. We stopped a few times to look at things along the way and to get a piss break in for those with weak bladders. My fav stop was a hotel built with steel grain silos.

Once we arrived in Akaroa which is the city at the end of the peninsula we all split up and did our own things for the day. Lots of the people took a boat cruise to see sea lions, penguins, albatross and the worlds smallest dolphins. They even help you jump in and swim with the little dolphins. The people that did the tour all said they enjoyed it. I did not spend the $200 it cost because I have already seen all those things in other places and I had no intention of swimming in this cold weather, dolphins or no dolphins. There were also fishing charters, sailing tours, jet boat rides, walking tours and four wheel drive tours in Akaroa.

Instead I struggled out to the lighthouse on foot to look at that and just to sit and look at the beautiful harbor. I hitched a ride back into the central part of town because I could not walk that far. There was a bar called HAR BAR where I sampled some, unknown to me, IPAs. They were good ones. Then it was on to blue cod and chips for lunch. Blue cod is a delicious tasting fish. I then met a girl that I seem to keep running into everywhere I go. We had to laugh about meeting each other again but we had a leisurely coffee together and an ice cream.

I took a few pics but my camera is nothing if not unreliable right now. Some of the pics turned out others just disappeared. I have to come up with a solution to this problem soon.

Tomorrow I am going to some hot springs up in the mountains for the day. Fairly high chances of heavy rain tomorrow according to the forecast so I figured a day soaking in the hot springs while it rained on me sounded good. Then Wednesday I am going to the West coast at Greymouth for a couple of days. I am doing the scenic train ride. It better be good for the price it cost. I hope the weather is clear when I ride the train so I can see the beautiful scenery along the way. I will return to Christchurch Friday for the weekend then head up to the Nelson area in Northern South Island.