Thunder, lightning and torrential rain - the first consistent rain we've had since we arrived in NZ. Awoken at 3am to the sound of rain on galvanised steel roof of the building.
Up early to make our own breakfast ready for the drive out of the mountains and north along the west coast. Luckily we had planned ahead and done some of the preparation last night.
Still raining heavily as we left. Pass Lake Mapourika and it is still and calm. Today would be a better day for kayaking.
Passing river beds that are now barely showing any rocky beds, the difference is very marked.
If we had been quicker we could have had a great picture of a White Heron flying across the road. It must have come within about 5m of the windscreen.
Passing through a former gold mining town the streets are lined with cherry trees in full blossom.
Our first impression of the gold mining town of Hokitika is that the council needs to clear up the abandoned furniture...
...only to discover it is actually a concrete armchair presented in memory of a bloke that loved this part of the coast.
There's also a huge amount of tree trunks on the beach, washed up by the stormy Tasman Sea.
It does have a very nice clock in the town centre though.
Those of you that have been paying attention will recall our comment about the single lane road bridges. Well today it goes a step further. You may spot in the picture below that the single track bridge below is actually shared with a railway line!
No arguments who would get priority. Would a dispute class as a case of road rage or rail rage. Remember this is still the main highway not a minor road.
We pass through Greymouth and it has little to commend it other than it's the terminus of the TransAlpine rail route to Christchurch which we will be catching on Sunday. Although we didn't go to the promenade or beach so it may have more to offer than first appearances suggest.
Still more views to see.
A slight detour inland and we are back at the coast. There is a picnic site at a memorial to miners who lost their lives. It is rather a good spot so we stop for a bite to eat.
Before too long we are at what was intended to be our first scenery stop - the Pancake rocks at Punakaiki. These are best seen at high tide with a rough sea, but we are about 2 hours early. It is still pretty impressive. No one seems to know why they formed in these stacks, but they are certainly unusual.
These pancakes don't look like they'd taste very nice.
The Surge Pool.
More coastline to cruise along, reminded us of a smaller version of the Great Ocean Road in Australia, and it is called the Great Coast Road.
The road now turns inland and follows the Buller River through the lower and upper gorges.
Sometimes we are very close, especially around one particular bend where the road looks like it goes through half a tunnel. In this direction it's the right half. You don't feel claustrophobic in a half tunnel but it's still a bit hairy with rock to the right and above, and about a 30' drop down to the river on the left.
The rain is back together with the wind and our intended stop at Buller Swingbridge (the longest one in NZ) is postponed until tomorrow.
We reach the B&B at almost the same time as the other guests, a lovely young couple from Holland. Our host makes us a cup of tea with some Anzac biscuits. The accommodation is a sort of small holding and the calfs are about to be fed - one is a Black Galloway (Billy the Kid 5) and the other a Black Galloway/Freisan/Hereford (Bella 2) cross.
There are also some sheep and hens.
There were some pigs but they are now in the freezer!
Also a friendly dog called Kali.
We have arranged to have dinner here tonight and for the meat eaters it is beef with cous cous - the beef being from Billy the Kid 4. Sun is out weakly at this point.
There is a walk down to the Buller River, which we stroll along a very short stretch. The rain is back.
Dinner is eaten with the Dutch couple. The pudding is a chocolate cake made using home made stout. Our hosts have left some homemade Damson Gin for an after dinner tipple - almost makes you wish you drank alcoholic beverages. Instead we satisfy ourselves with two cups of tea on the settee in front of the log fire before retiring for the night.