7/8/9 Westport to Poo Pub

Today's drive is the most spectacular of the trip down the West Coast of South Island. We were picked up for our quad biking by Jason our guide. We got kitted out in helmets and waterproofs and drove along some farm tracks until we reached specially made trails. we had great fun riding through deep sand, mud, creeks and going up and down steep slopes and tight turns. The ride was two hours long and was really good fun. We were covered in mud when we got back and were treated to hot chocolate and the fire again which was really welcome. Cam met us to pick us up and we travelled along the coast making several stops to look at the amazing views on another bright sunny day. We walked down to one beach which had amazing rolling waves crashing on it. Phil and some of the others went right onto the beach for photos and Phil got stranded on a rock as a huge wave came over it and soaked him to his knees. he thought he had a safe high spot but had to spend all day in soggy trainers....nice. Next we stopped at Punakaiki pancake rocks to see the limestone rock towers which look like pancakes after millions of years of erosion. There are several blow holes there and we stayed to see the massive waves hitting the rocks. Walking back along the truman track through native flax plants we had a lunch at the nearby cafe before travelling to our next stop at Greymouth. At Greymouth we all piled into the Salvation Army shop to find props and costumes for the evenings party. We had a few options and a few props to use too after hunting local cheap shops. Once we had all bought the stuff for the party we headed for the venue, the imfamous "Poo pub" with NZ oldest publican 83yr old Les. He has hosted parties at his pub for 15 years and they are legendary in Kiwi bus circles. Les jumped onto the bus to say hello and tell us about the evening ahead and let us know his rules. He was a straight talking, dishevelled swearing old b***** , we loved him. He cooked up a huge barbecue of steaks and salads and a venison stew which we all tucked into. We all went off to our rooms to get dressed up for the party. We dressed Phil up as Freddy Mercury in the video of "I want to break free" so he had full make up, stockings, a bra, a moustache and a fetching outfit as well as some bright red nail varnish. Liz failed to mention she had no remover until she had finished all his nails !!! Liz dressed as Crocodile Dundee complete with soft toy dinosaur disguised as a crocodile!!! We all met up in Les's bar and there were somer brilliant costumes considering all grabbed in 1 hour from the charity shop. There was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Don Johnson, Smurf, Beetlejuice, Blondie and lots more great ones from the 80s and a couple of lads came as 80 year olds...brilliant. We had 80s tunes from the jukebox all night and played a few drinking games too. We went to bed at 2.30am leaving the others left partying till dawn !!!

We bought some green stone from Les as it is carved locally and the only green stone from NZ is in the South island. In Maori it is called Pounamu and is used in symbolic jewelery and for weapons.