After we phoned up the Kiwi Experience office and the driver that had forgotten about us came back to collect us, we were on our way down the west coast to Westport for a couple of relaxing days.

Along the way we stopped at Nelson Lakes national park for a while, and went for a walk around one of the lakes. The water was so calm that it reflected the mountains in the distance perfectly, and we managed to skim a stone about 10 times on it (we were so proud of our new record!!) before it was back on the bus again.

We got to Westport around mid afternoon and into our hostel, which was a big, rambling old Victorian house. After walking the length of the main road (and only road really) we popped into the local bar, and lo and behold....free pool all evening!! There was a pub quiz as well, but given recent performances we declined in favour of the magic green felt.

Today we took a walk along the beach and up to the harbour. The sand was all volcanic and so it wasn't exactly the kind of place to spend hours lazing around. On the harbour there were quite a few rocks with plaques on them, dedicated to people that were lost or had died at sea. Looking around it wasn't all that surprising that there had been so many deaths as the water was really rough, but what we couldn't understand though was the harbour itself.

On either side there was a beach that stretched in for miles and the waves were breaking and coming into the sand like any normal beach would. However, the harbour passage stretched back beyond where the beaches ended and the tress started, and the water was coming right into it. It was as if the water was choosing to go into the harbour rather than over the sand. Very strange indeed!!

After this it was back towards the town for a few more games of pool, and then a quiet night in the hostel watching Blade II (so bad!) as tomorrow we head to the Poo Pub in Mhanapua for an evening of fancy dress and much merriment!!