First Impressions of the West Coast

On Saturday, the 14th of January, we went to the West Coast of the New Zealand South Island. We have already read that the weather there is very changeable and that this is the region with the second largest rainfall. So after we arrived in the town of Westport and got some information about the surroundings at the Visitor Centre once again, we went shopping first. I definitely needed a long, warm pair of pants because we were soon going to visit some glaciers and that really doesn't work with short or fluttering pants. Luckily, there was also a cheap clothing store in the village and there I miraculously found a pair of jeans that weren't 10cm too short. Still too short, but it worked. The pants cost me $29 and for $10 I got a discounted belt as well. Because the jeans didn't fit perfectly, of course. Andi bought a few pairs of underwear in the store because somehow he lost 3 of them. And that's annoying because then we have to wash more often.

After the successful shopping, we went back to the car and drove a few kilometers along the coast to the south. There is a seal colony in Tauranga Bay where you can watch the seals from a platform. We had never seen wild seals before and of course we didn't want to miss the chance. However, it just started raining when we arrived at the car park from where the short walk to the platform starts. Typical. We waited until the rain turned into a drizzle and then started walking. We couldn't wait forever and it didn't look like it was ever going to stop.

From the path, we had a great view down the coast and we were especially impressed by the dark beach. When we arrived at the viewpoint platform, we had to search for the seals among the dark rocks because we were pretty high up and the seals had a good camouflage color. But little by little, we discovered more and more and there were even a lot of babies. They were so cute! With my camera, I could zoom in very close and follow their clumsy steps over the rocks. I was somewhat surprised that the seal pups were mainly on their own, crawling over the stones and playing in shallow puddles. Maybe there was a guardian seal hidden somewhere or the animals feel so safe at this place that they can let their little ones go free for a while. It's really an ideal spot because a big rock in front of the coast breaks the waves and so only calmer water hits the seal rocks. By the way, the seal species found there is called New Zealand Fur Seals. They look a bit fluffy because of their thick fur.

After admiring the fur seals for a half eternity (I could have easily stayed there for another hour), we walked back. The weather was still rainy and we were happy to sit in the dry car again for a while. After 60km, one hour of driving, and a stop at a lookout, we reached the Pancake Rocks. These are special rock formations on the coast that look like stacked pancakes. We parked there and walked the trail that leads past the Pancake Rocks, some other impressive rocks, and a few blowholes. Unfortunately, we couldn't see a show of the blowholes, where seawater is forced through a rock hole by the waves and sprays up high, because the tide wasn't right at that moment. But the rock landscape itself was already very fascinating and the walk was nicely designed.

After the Pancake Rocks, we continued along the coast. The landscape was actually very beautiful, but it was raining and gray. After 45km, we reached the small town of Greymouth, where we wanted to spend the night. According to Wikicamps, there should be a small "campground" (parking lot behind a gas station) equipped with a kitchen and washing machines, but only costing $20 per night. We actually found the place, but nobody was sitting in the office. So we quickly called the number and clarified with the owner on the phone if we could stay. We can and we should just pay tomorrow morning when his deputy is in the office. Very nice!

We cooked our dinner under our gazebo because it was raining the whole time and the mini kitchen was already completely full with campers. All Germans, by the way. No, almost all, a French couple were also there :D On one hand, the gazebo was practical, but on the other hand, it was also super annoying because it constantly wanted to fly away in the wind and we couldn't secure it on the asphalt with the pegs. Even putting stones on it didn't really help. While Andi was cooking, I did some laundry and had to borrow some detergent from a German travel trio because we didn't want to buy a whole bottle of detergent just for this one wash in New Zealand, nobody was there in the office to sell us a 1-time sachet, and even the vending machine with detergent packets above the washing machines was broken. But even a poor backpacker can spare a bit of detergent, so we didn't have to wash without it. Later, when I put the clothes in the dryer, I had to step over dishes and legs because the small room was crowded with people. But somehow it worked :D

We ate our dinner in the car while watching an episode. The small space was crowded and luckily we had enough space in the car. It was funny that others did the same and then we could look at each other through the windshields across the parking lot. However, this only worked as long as the windshield wasn't completely fogged up.

After we prepared our bed and cleaned up the gazebo, I made a birthday call to my mother, who was probably just getting up. With the time difference, that's sometimes really difficult! It was nice to talk to her again because I somehow haven't done that in ages. There's always something. But for the birthday, that's of course a must and we didn't want to keep her on the phone for too long anyway.

After the phone call, we went to bed and fell asleep with the hope that the weather would be better the next day.