As we left the Nelson region we decided to stay one night in St. Arnaud, and complete a walking track on Mt. Robert. The track was a variety of switchbacks up the mountain and through some beech trees, across the top and then more switchbacks to complete the loop...all total 9.4km. It was a perfect day as the sun was high and the breeze cool. We checked out a couple of the huts along the route for overnight campers and met a DOC (department of conservation) volunteer along the way who checked to make sure we were warm enough and enjoying our walk. From St. Arnaud we headed west toward the coastal highway for Greymouth. We will were provided with great scenery the entire drive, starting with Buller Gorge to Cape Foulwind and then onto Pancake rocks. We were told to get to the rocks by high tide, which we did, and we were not disappointed!
At the end of the day we are now in Greymouth listening to the sound of the ocean from our Airbnb room...more exploring tomorrow!