Ramble
Quest - Wild Wet West Coast.
I suppose I owed the heavens a great debt for my perfect Abel Tasman weather. If so, I certainly repaid some of it while traveling down the West Coast. This area once thrived as a gold mining region, but the towns have shrunk or disappeared with the gold.
Even under the best circumstances the torpid West Coast towns seem to shrink into the rugged landscape. Seen from within raging storms and howling wind (all too comon here), a cold, wet bored tourist might be excused for denegrating these unfortunate places. Still upbeat with the momentum of my AT luck, I try to make the best of it. The stormy weather can actually add effect to Punakaiki's famous blow holes and pancake rocks. Likewise, the many waterfalls so near to the main but narrow road flow with full force.
Greymouth, a grey town at the mouth of a grey river under grey skies, is a properly dreary place to try and wait out the rain. Everyone else is heading swiftly down to the glaciers, but who wants to see glaciers in the rain?
I choose Greymouth! When the awful weather improves to miserable I can only be enticed outside of the Noah's Arc (cutesy animal decor everywhere) hostel for brief periods. Otherwise I'm reading Stendahl's "Red and the Black" -- a fascinating book that is often hilarious but like the weather change I suddenly read down to the weird and creepy ending. Or else I'm cooking -- fresh oysters and pasta, but there's little else in the pathetic grocery. I learn that New Zealand is home to the world's worst salsa. Or else I'm watching bad movies or rugby (dull as baseball) or just blathering in the journal.
Despite my late start I have no trouble getting back to camp well before dark. I enjoy a beautiful, peaceful evening by the beach after one of my best day's hiking. I'm treated to amazing stars at night.
The ride to Franz Josef is again under clouds and rain, over wide rivers and narrow iron bridges. However it's not raining when I arrive, so I guess my "plan" worked. Actually fate played a hand (as always, right?) because for the first time during this trip, or really any trip in recent memory, I couldn't get a bus ride out because they were all full! I considered hitching, but didn't want to stand in the rain. Looking back, I'm happy for this down time because I had lots of busy times and great weather ahead.