Nelson to Arthur's Pass via Buller Gorge, Westport, Punakaiki and Greymouth
6th April to 9th April

After a quiet night at the old railway line in Kawatiri we awoke to the pounding of rain on the roof of the vehicle, all be it, it was our first real session of rain but still, it sucks. As Rachel's bladder screamed at her, probably brought on by the running water all around I drove us over to the loo to avoid getting a morning drench. After organising ourselves we set off, unsure on how the day would pan out with the weather being as miserable as it was. Our journey along SH6 was slow; the roads were wet and the rain relentless. Lorry drivers did not seem to care which scared us even more, especially ones we met on corners, there out stretched arms and face told the picture of how fast they were driving in dangerous conditions. As we looked out to the fields the cows had been replaced with hundreds of red deer, they stood so proud even though they were soaking wet, a specie becoming rare in the UK seems to be more than common over here, a real treat for the eye to see and with such a gorgeous landscape for them to live on it is no wonder they are more common to spot.

After a tough drive Rachel pulled in to the Buller Gorge Swing Bride, the longest swing bridge in New Zealand. Although the rain had not stopped we were not having our day hampered too much by it, after paying the small fee to walk the bridge we strolled out in to the canyon and watched as the water raged beneath us, now starting to turn a murky golden yellow with the sediment washing down from the hills. We strolled around the region, the epicenter of an earthquake from 1929 and 1969, and the white cliff fault line clearly visible with a giant crack through the earth's surface. At the time of the quake it was interesting to know that locals dived into the crack as it was filled with gold, it kind of made me wish for another one to see if there was any left for us poor travelers. As the rain continued we made our way back round to the camper and we stopped off at a small picnic site at Lyell where a village once stood on the hill we had parked on. Here we stopped for a couple of hours, hoping the rain would subside and the air would clear, eventually after a number of games of cards and lunch it did, the sky cleared slightly and the sun started to evaporate all the surface water. All of a sudden we were in the clouds; well it felt like it, with all the trees around a damp mist rose from within, it felt like we were in the misty mountains in LOTR a strange site. We continued our journey out to the west, the clouds still looked fierce, the Buller river raged at the side of the road, now completely yellow in its color and waterfalls poured down on to the road from above. The place had a Jurassic feel to it; it felt like we had gone back to a land before time.

It did not take long before we arrived into Westport a town that sat at the base of the mountains and on the coast itself, our trip her was rather dull, we completed our laundry and picked up so change for Doc sites, as the sky cleared once more and the sun came through we headed out to the coast to check out another seal colony. Once we got there we were not disappointed as there were baby seals everywhere playing in deep pools of water with the waves crashing behind them over towering rock edges. We watched as the sun gradually turned the sky a fiery red and the sea seemed to become more savage as it raged into the shore. They do say the west coast sees some of the worst weather in the whole of New Zealand; we had already experienced some of it. As the night started to pass Rachel drove us about 20km further down the road where we stumbled across a great little holiday park called Jacks Gasthof, a house on the side of the highway that provided the perfect nights rest, they also had a huge black dog which would scare any unwelcome guests off.

The next morning we awoke to thunder, hail and battering winds, yes we were prepared for slightly bad weather down the west coast, no we were not prepared for another cyclone. As we slowly headed for the road the weather only seemed to get worse in the distance entire hills were there one minute and engulfed the next, as the hail pelted the vehicle we meandered our way to a town called Punakaiki, famous for its blow holes and pancake rocks. As we waited for a break in the weather which when it eventually came was short, we took the opportunity to get out and experience Mother Nature's power in person. The huge rock formations of limestone calved by a ravage sea to look like stacks of pancakes were only the half of it. As we looked over the edge, the waves grew once more in size, then boom, water projected right up in the sky with a thunderous thud, the waves power rammed the water so hard against the rocks that small tunnels had formed to the surface which only excelled there power, I stood in wonder taking photo after photo waiting for the perfect shot, Rachel desperately tried to avoid the drips of water coming from the sky and from the sea. As the sky turned dark once more we made our way back to the camper, not before taking advantage of some lovely flushing toilets.

As we hit the road once more we watched as the sea battered the shore and sometimes over the road, apparently this is an everyday occurrence in the region, a strange one if you ask me. However saying that driving down the west coast of New Zealand showed untold parallels to The Great Ocean road, bendy roads with stunning views and a ravage sea. As the journey continued it did not take long for us to arrive in Greymouth where the heavens opened once more, we jumped in to Jeannie Café for coffee and a slice of Cheese and Bacon Quiche. Once the weather cleared we strolled down the street fighting an ever strengthening wind, it just felt that today was not the day to be outside for a change in this spectacular country, so we headed over to the warehouse where we brought some extremely cheap DVD's for rainy days just like this one. After a bite to eat we headed off to the camp site for the night, a little earlier than planned but with torrential rain falling we had to choice. After a check on the weather forecast we decided to head to Arthur's Pass, a region layered by mountains snow capped most of the year round. We decided to only drive to Goldsborough camp site, an area made famous for its gold rush back in the 1800's. As we entered the dirt track we spotted the mountains for the first time, mainly covered in cloud we would hope that the next few days would clear that. We spent the afternoon playing with Kiwi's or Weakes whatever they are, about 9 of them, "there not shy, they just keep on starring until you open the door then they seem to want to play" as we drove in the camp site we could not actually decide where to park, so as we drove up and down behind us was a Weake running on his two legs full pelt towards, only to look bemused when we turned round and drove back towards him.

Eventually the rain cleared once more, we hoped outside and followed the stream for about 20 minutes, there we attempted to find some gold, I mean there was loads of the stuff back in the 1800's bit selfish of them to take it all and leave none for the 2009 travelers though we thought. As night drew in we prepared ourselves for a cold and wet night, blankets at the ready hot chocolate in hand and DVD in front, we were set and ready for a relaxing night before the mountainous hikes in Arthur's pass.