Subject: December 28: Drive down the east coast, another quest to go see a seal colony, and a National Park
Date Sent: Sun, January 3, 2010 3:54:32 PM
Kia ora,
My cold was getting worse, and I had somewhat of a long driving day today, so I left Nelson pretty early around 9 AM.. My "desired route" would be 500km -- Southwest from Nelson, a circle around Victoria Forest Park, cut across to the West coast, and down the coast to the town of Greymouth. By the time I got to the "start of the circle" I decided I didn't want to go all the way around -- go to the hotel early and get some rest. So I skipped that and went straight for the coast, just a little south of the town of Westport.
When I made the left turn on Hwy 6 to go South, I saw a sign that said "Cape Foulwind, Seal Colony" ... "----->" THAT way... That name was too funny so I decided to go check it out -- if it's called "Foulwind" there must be a lot of seals there!
The beach didn't stink at all, and there was a walking trail to go see the seal colony, so I took it -- about a 1/2 hour walk 1-way. I never did find a whole "colony", only about 3-4 seals sitting on rocks, but the walk was nice -- like I said in my last email, reminded me of the California and Oregon coasts! I also saw a few "wekas" there -- more native NZ birds.
Next was Punuakaiki viewpoint in Paparua National Park. This is a lot of limestone formations in the ocean, very similar to the Twelve (now eleven) Apostles along the Great Ocean Road in Australia. There are a few places that act as "blowholes" and during high tide, when the waves come in hard the water sprouts up through these. I only saw it happening once and I waited for about 1/2 hour after that to photograph the next time it happened, but it never did... nature sometimes has it's own schedule of doing things.
There was a cafeteria there with a wonderful "opening hours" sign that I photographed... I've been waiting to photograph a sign like that throughout my entire stay in New Zealand and I finally got it towards the end of the trip! The sign reads:
"Opening Hours:
Usually we open about 8 am
But sometimes as late as 9 or 10 am
Or sometimes not at all.
Usually we close about 6 or 7 pm
But sometimes as early as 3 or 4 pm
Or as late as 11 pm.
Some days we don't open
Or some afternoons,
But lately I've been here most of the time
Except when I've been away"
I've never seen this kind of a sign in other businesses in New Zealand, but it pretty much sums up the attitude of everyone around here! When you ask someone what time some place opens or closes, there is never a definitive answer -- "around 9 or 10am" or simply "late" for closing times... It's all very informal and laid-back :)
Since I was there between the hours of 9 or 10 am and 3 or 4 or 6 or 7 or 11 pm, I helped myself to a treat before heading to the town of Greymouth for the night.
I took a picture of the treat too :)
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| Dec 27 | Contents | Dec 29 |