Fairy forest

To get to the west coast we drive for 3 hours. But first we need to refuel, we refuel about every other day for about 65 Swiss francs, that's a lot of money. After a coffee break, it happens: I DRIVE ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD! Only briefly and then I see arrows indicating the direction and continue on the correct left side... how quickly something like this can happen. From now on, I always make sure twice that I am driving in the right direction!

Our first stop is the gold miner village / open-air museum Shantytown. We spend over two hours reading information boards and taking a ride on a coal-powered steam locomotive. It is explained to us that it consumes 1/2 ton of coal per day. All in all, quite cute and interesting, but certainly not my top activity in New Zealand.
Our journey continues to Hokitika, passing a fence with about 20 toilets... strange New Zealanders.
We also stop for the Tunnel Terrace Track. A 30-minute walk through the forest. The entrance to the walkway is a short, dark tunnel. The entire tunnel is covered in moss and roots hang from the ceiling. I don't want to know how many spiders live in this tunnel, so let's hurry through. At the other end, we feel like Alice in Wonderland must have felt. Idyllic tranquility, only the rustling of the wind in the leaves of the trees and the chirping of the birds living there. We walk on a path made of stones, sometimes they are large steps, other times small pebbles. Green moss, tall trees, and ferns on the left and right. The trees themselves are also covered with moss and other plants, which gives this fairy-tale look to the forest. In the end, we leave the forest again through a dark tunnel.
Today we are camping right by the sea in Hokitika. We build stone towers and write Merry Christmas in the sand, although it's already almost Christmas, we don't really feel that way. As we walk along the beach, we search for jade stones... I have no idea if we found any, but we were able to discover some beautiful stones.