This morning is the first time that we’ve woken up to gray skies accompanied by a steady rain. Certainly made us feel like we were back in Seattle, especially since it didn’t look like that rain was going anywhere today. So, we took the morning to go see a bit of Nelson during the daylight hours. Unfortunately, it was raining just hard enough that I didn’t want to risk getting my camera wet, so I didn’t get many pictures. After restocking our supplies from the local Countdown grocery store, we went to see the Nelson Cathedral situated up on a small hill overlooking the town centre. We took a few quiet moments to admire and stained glass windows and take a few pictures. Then we made our way back down into shop-lined streets so we could do our part to support the local economy and query the shop owners about how much it rains in that area.
Just before midday, we got onto the road and began the trek down to Greymouth. The rain continued and with all the low hanging clouds it made it difficult to get a true sense of the surrounding landscape. We had to pass up many scenic lookouts that always make me feel like I’m missing out on some great picture opportunities. Though, we still managed to enjoy the winding roads through narrow valleys flanked by steep mountainsides. With all the moisture, the northern west coast of New Zealand reminded very much of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington except with a more jungle-like twist. The forests that blanketed the mountains were dotted with random palm trees and huge silver ferns. The switchback roads followed a river for much of the way until we reached the coast. We had pictured the scenic route for this drive which was still worth it even with all the rain. The coast was very much like the Oregan coast with all the huge rocks jutting out of the water and the storm driven waves crashing onto rocky beaches.
At one point we made a quick detour to follow a sign down to the water which said there would be a seal colony. We didn’t see any seals but we finally uncovered the mystery of the funny brown bird that we kept seeing scooting across the roads in front of us throughout our trip. In the parking lot by the beach, these brown birds, which look like a cross between a kiwi and a chicken, were pretty cheeky. They came right up to us, cheeping away and obviously looking for handouts. We followed the rules and didn’t feed them. It wasn’t even necessary since they would come within arm’s length of us. Jacob got some great footage with his iPhone, which I hope we can share with you later. Oh, you’re probably wondering what the bird is. It’s a weka! They seem to be the cousin of the kiwi since they’re also flightless. Jacob thinks they’re cuter than kiwis, but that’s just because he hasn’t seen one yet. It was a great experience and that’s that kind of great stuff that can happen when you’re open to detours! We also saw the first pukekos but they were much more difficult to photograph from the car and the rain.We managed to make it into Greymouth around 6pm since we took our sweet time through the scenic drive. I can only imagine how fantastic the water would have looked had it been bright sunshine but maybe another time! We called a few places and managed to secure lodging at the South Beach Motel south of the town centre. The proprietress was incredibly friendly as she set us with information on the area and our little studio apartment style unit. Since we had a little living room and kitchen area, we decided to get Indian take away for dinner, grab some bottles of Tui and make ourselves a comfortable evening in and away from the cold outdoors. Tomorrow, I hope the rain will have passed and from what the weather man said on the TV, it should be a beautiful weekend for most of the South Island.
A few, random comments about New Zealand:
- Roundabouts. Awesome because they allow you to change your mind while driving.
- Sheep, sheep, sheep, sheep, sheep, sheep, cows, deer and more sheep.
- Pies, meaning savory, handheld pies, are our new favourite, on-the-go snack.
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