The West Coast

After making knives, we stayed at the Greymouth Top 10 Holiday Park. Dennis likes the Top 10 parks since they usually have things like a trampoline or bouncy pillow. As the sun was setting over the Tasman Sea, I motioned Tom and Dennis to come and see it. We were rewarded with a "green flash."

On Wednesday, 15 December we headed south along the West Coast. On our right side was the sea and on our left was bush and mountains. We stopped in Hokitika for me to do some walking and shopping. I bought a pair of wool socks from a store that uses old fashioned hand machines to knit them. I also bought some tasty looking bread from a bakery since Tom wasn't baking while we were traveling around.

In Hokitika we could see the Southern Alps in the distance and the town is also along the sea. The South Island has many places with a combination of mountains and water.

We started looking for where we would camp for the night. We wanted to try out a DOC (Dept of Conservation) place. DOC camping is basic--toilets and water, no showers, no kitchens, no playgrounds. It is also cheap. We considered Lake Paringa but decided to go further on down the road to Pleasant Flat.

At Pleasant Flat we found out how hungry the sandflies were. I thought mosquito bites were unpleasant! We brought along insect repellent. However, I found out my skin doesn't like DEET.

It was interesting cooking sausages on Tom's unconventional wood-gas stove. It took a while and I was wanting a more conventional camp stove.