As Chief Route Planner and Campsite Researcher I'd plotted our way from Greymouth to Nelson, calling in at Punakaiki to see the Pancake Rocks, and an overnight stop at Murchison.

I'd favoured the Kiwi Campsite at Murchison over a serviced DOC at Nelson Lakes as it was on a farm and on its website I'd read the owners did evening farm shows. Richard agreed that although the DOC was a little cheaper, the show would make a nice change.

The drive from Greymouth to Punakaiki was a pleasant surprise. The twisting roads and rugged coastline with tall rocks sticking up out of the sea made it the most picturesque part of the west coast we'd driven along.

At Punakaiki there was a looped walk past the Pancake Rocks. The limestone rocks were formed in layers, giving the impression they are stacked like pancakes. Richard thought they were miles more impressive than the Moeraki Boulders.

We arrived at Murchison late afternoon, I don't know whether it was because the sun was shining and there were few clouds in the sky, but our first impressions of the town were positive. It's on a flat plain with rivers running through and surrounded by hills. It also had three supermarkets and at least two pubs.

As usual Richard went into the reception of the campsite to book us in. He asked about the time of the farm show and the owner asked how many kids we had. Richard said none, and to get me back for all the times he has to book us in on his own because I don't like dealing with people, he told her it was me who was desperate to see the farm show.

As it turned out I wasn't the only adult prepared and ready to feed the lambs and merino sheep, watch the sheep dog do his job at a moment's notice, the ducks scuttle around, and finally the hand shearing of a sheep. The adults easily outnumbered the children.

After the sheep had it's 12-month coat reduced I had a feel; it looked and felt soft, but also had an oily texture which keeps the sheep dry in the rain.

The owners kept some of the animals as kind of pets, these were the lucky ones because if an animal got a name then they wouldn't eat it!

On the farm there were also two families of ducks who quaked their way round the campsite looking for food and dodging the group playing bouls. Plus two cute pigs, some geese and a herd of cows.

As the weather was lovely and we aren't in a hurry we decided to stay an extra night. The next day the sun was still shining so we went to do the Skyline walk. In the leaflet we got from the I-Site it said the walk was about an hour and a half return trip, and you got beautiful views over the town and rivers.

Like all these walks I think the guide time is way over estimated. We made it up to the top of the hill in half an hour and stopped for a while to take in the views and eat our lunch.

In Murchison town Richard had spotted shop called 'Somebody's Treasure'. It was a junk shop and to Richard's delight contained some cheap second hand books. He bought a bunch of books for $9. The amusing part came shortly afterwards when we were in the supermarket. The woman who had served us in the junk shop was buying scratch cards with the $9. As we walked past her shop we saw she'd put a 'Back in 5 minutes' notice on the door. We assumed she needed some treasure of her own.

Katy