We are, obviously, kayaking experts after a couple of excursions in Halong Bay. Here we got luxuries like skirts (to stop water getting into our kayaks) and basic technique instructions, and the rudder on our kayak was deployed, which I can assure you makes a big difference to two slightly malco people's ability to steer. I was soon getting compliments on my technique from our affable Californian guide* - "I can tell you've done this before, Paul" - so I had to admit that I had tried to forget the way I'd done it in Vietnam in favour of this proper tuition. Maybe I'm a quick learner.
* He was every inch the Californian but seemed to be loving NZ.
We had a stunning day's weather - blue skies, blue seas and rugged limestone coast make a great combination.
After 10km of paddling we were picked up by a water taxi and taken up to scenic Torrent Bay to eat our packed lunch and then walk to Bark Bay. The walk took us away from the coast a little but up hills for the occasional spectacular view, and over a swinging rope bridge - only holding 5 people at a time. Unfortunately we seemed to be walking contraflow so we eventually had to call across to ask the neverending stream of people on the other side to stop and let us across. I think this caused us to hurry across enough that we didn't think about the height of it.
At the far end we reached another fantastic arc of beach with only a handful of people and terrific clear seawater (you could wade in up to mid-thigh and still see every shell - and giant starfish - on the bottom). We went in for a quick swim, and noticed a big dark cloud of seaweed 10 metres away. It set off away from us at high speed, which was when we realised that it probably wasn't seaweed. Apparently the bay is full of stingrays - fortunately we are much hardier that Steve Irwin. Our water taxi driver guaranteed that he would drive some more up from the floor of the bay - but he failed.
Check out that clear water
Our water taxi took us back to base (well, close to, the tide had gone out about 60m so we finished our boat ride being towed by a tractor), swinging past a seal colony. Apparently they have only returned to the area in the last few years. We only spotted one - we're told we were unlucky, there are usually loads. No complaints though, really good day and the weather was perfect.
The split apple rock
Next day we headed for the west coast and south along it. The west coast is full of fantastic limestone formations and with the sun shining, it was a really memorable drive. The one downside was our first real encounter with sandflies, NZ's apparently infamous insect pest. We stopped for lunch and sat outside, and both noticed that we were being bitten - we could feel bites, and some of them were drawing blood. In about 3 minutes outside our feet were bitten about a dozen times each. We went indoors for lunch.
The outstanding sight on this stretch is the Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki.
Close-up - all the rock along the coast looks like this
Apparently science cannot explain how this section of cliff formed into layers, like a stack of pancakes, but they are - unscientifically - 93.2% impressive.
If you catch them when the tide is right and the wind is blowing, the crashing waves produce a big blowhole effect through some of the rocks. But we missed this by 3 hours. Oh well, still worth stopping here.
We stopped for a couple of nights at Greymouth, one of the biggest towns around - which isn't saying much. Over the last few days it's really struck me how sparsely populated NZ is. Only 4 million people in an area similar to the UK, so you can count the number of cities on the fingers of one hand, and you'd probably get towns too if you used toes. Huge stretches of beautiful country with nobody living in them. Well, I guess that's why they're still beautiful.
Speaking of beautiful, the brilliant sunsets went up a level here. The colours on our first evening were amazing.
Sadly no scenic backdrop...
Greymouth is the original home of one of NZ's three major brewers, Monteith's, and they have a fun little brewery tour. It's now one of three breweries Monteith's operates, but we were amazed how small the staff is - just 6 full-time people including the woman giving us the tour, regularly working 12-hour days. Apparently they love their job.
We took it easy the second day, with a short drive out to the beautiful lake at Brunner with a backdrop of mountains. We pretty much had the place to ourselves and Lilly went for a swim. The weird thing around here is the very brown rivers - must be some mineral - but fortunately the lake was blue. (The following day we'd see blue rivers - full of glacial particles, just like we saw in Canada last year - and gray ones running off the glaciers here.)
On the way back we stopped in a tiny place called Blackball, an old gold mining town - NZ had its own little gold rush - that switched to coal mining and should then have died. It persists, and in Formerly The Blackball Hilton it has one of our favourite pubs in NZ, oozing with character without feeling contrived. Felt a bit jealous of the people checking in for a night here.
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