The West Coast

The New Year got off to a sunny and warm start and we headed out to the nearby Kawarau bridge where we resisted the temptation to repeat our bungy jumps of 2000 despite enthusiastic encouragement by Mattéo! We crossed the impressive Crown Terrace, reaching 1121 metres to reach Lake Wanaka. Great fun in the huge labyrinth at "Puzzling World" and the next day some catamaran sailing for Mattéo and Alister as Maman and sister looked on admiringly.
The decision was taken to drive late into the night. Whilst the children slept "upstairs", Alister took the van down the Haast Pass to the coast and then up past the glaciers just short of Hokitika - a journey of 400 kms taking 7 hours !!
The fabulous and famous west coast awaited us - it has the distinction of being one of the wettest areas on Earth - and we were treated to blue skies and warm northerly winds (the same as in 2000). We found a fine stretch of beach just north of Greymouth and Alister enjoyed some decent waves on his boogie board. Our first proper encounter with the fearsome sandflies happened that night as we camped on the beach.
Some more unsuccessful fishing on the beach and also in the stunning setting of the mouth of the River Punakaiki (famous for its unmistakable "pancake" rocks) and then up to Westport at the mouth of the Buller River.
We enjoyed two days discovering the Buller Gorge which has great vegetation and unique geology thanks to constant and powerful earthquakes. Some lovely walks (Mattéo and Juliette are very enthusiastic and playful walkers - even over 2 - 3 hours) and we even had a private jet boat ride at the Buller River swing-bridge.
New territory for us as we left sunny Buller Valley and entered the fertile fruit growing area of Nelson. From our campervan, we admired the Kahurangi National Park to the west and the Abel Tasman National Park to the east as we made our way to Pohara Beach near Takaka. We booked in to a huge but beautiful campsite and got a spot right on the beach. Before long, Mattéo was playing cricket and skidding across shallow pools with his boogie board with other children from the site - which is just what we had hoped. We chose a glorious day to make the perilous trek to the turquoise waters at Totaranui and the Wanui Falls.
As we write this, bad weather (warm rain) has caught up with us and appears likely to stay for a few days. We're still having fun on the sand and has given us the excuse to spend some time on board games with the other kids in the neighbourhood.
What a truly fascinating island this is. We will soon have had the privilege of spending 4 weeks touring the coastline and there is plenty more to explore inland.