I am sitting here in my camping chair with birds chirping behind me in the trees and the sound of crashing waves of the ocean in front of me....I can't see the beach but I can hear it and smell it.....I am in a small place called Carter's Beach just outside Westport. I really had no plans for today other than to get to Westport or Nelson....I was looking in my lonely planet book last night and I had a vivid memory of my first day on the Camino.....I was sitting on a rock halfway up the Pyrenees waiting for my mom with my face inside my Camino guidebook.....an old German man came up to me.....he tapped my book in a way to say put it away.....then he said while pointing his hands to the valley and the mountain and said in his broken English ....just live....just live.....I put my book away....he gave me a big smile and a thumbs up and off he went....so today I put the book away.... I got in the car and hit the gas station first.....$2.38 a litre!!!! Wowsa and I thought Yellowknife was bad at $1.50..... Ouch....had to get moving so I filled up the campa and was on my way! The beginning of my drive was quite windy and by windy I mean switch backs again!! Is windy (curving....winding) even a word?? tried to look it up....no luck....guess not but you know what I mean..... I was clearly getting further away from the snow capped mountains when I was stopped for about 20 minutes while a farmer moved his cattle from one field to the other across the highway....was just like a bison road block when driving to Yellowknife....the cattle sure left a mess on the highway!! I eventually made it back out to the ocean.....today was one of the most spectacular coastal drives I have ever done.....even nicer than the Great Ocean Road! Winding up the coast....at some points along the beach....at some points along the cliffs.....so many amazing views I wish I could share but again....the roads around here are not the pulling over on the side of the road kinda roads!! I did stop along at a few pullouts for pictures though! I stopped in a place called Hokitika which is known for its Jade....I went to a factory and watched them cut, carve and polish....I did not buy anything as I pendent for a necklace was $550!! Who knew Jade was so precious..... I stopped and had a snack on the beach there and watched these fisherman netting something but not sure what.....I wasn't able to ask as they were out on a sand bar..... I passed through Greymouth, which in its day was a booming gold town....and kind of had that old frontier feel.....I did not see anything of interest so I kept on moving....I came upon a place called Punaikiki....it had a little hike out to these rocks that they called pancake rocks...they looked much like stacks of pancakes would....there were also some amazing blow holes....as I was walking up I could hear the rumbling thunder of the blow holes but could not see them....was a bit of eerie feeling! The blow holes were spectacular!! Finished up the hike with a steak and mushroom pie....my sister in law Kirsten told me about these pies....I have only had 2 but they a sooooooooo good! Back on the road....stopping to take pictures along the way and playing on beaches.....just as I was nearing Westport I saw a brown tourist sign that said Seal Colony....it didn't give me much notice so I had to find a place to turn around. I drove the 14 kms off the highway then a quick 15 min hike out and voila.....seals....this is a popular breeding ground because of the way the rocks are it is a bit sheltered from the big waves of the ocean which is good for the babies....WHICH are so very cute! So I spent quite a bit of time watching them....then hiked back out.... It was now around 3 and the drive to Nelson is 3 hours....I did not feel like another 3 hours of driving so I found this lovely little caravan park and I can fall asleep to the sound of the ocean tonight.....I went for a beautiful walk along the beach.....there is a lot of driftwood on the beaches along this coast..... Minor panic at the end of the day....I called the ferry company because I was not able to make a booking online.....I was told there are no bookings till January available.....???? So I asked if I had to stay in New Zealand till then...or could I just show up...I couldn't imagine that till this point I had not heard this!! A ferry had gone out of service and has caused mayhem.....she told me eventually that there is another ferry company that crosses so I immediately made a booking on that! Finished the evening off with an amazing sunset walk on the beach....Beautiful!