Christmas Day

Christmas morning at the Lazy Cow consisted of waiting for our turn for the shower and a hurried breakfast of porridge and toast. I threw out the coffee-I couldn't wait to get out of that place. For some reason it gave me the creeps. But once we were on the road I was able to relax again. We drove through the mist-shrouded forests of the Buller Gorge. Our first stop was the Buller Gorge Swingbridge, New Zealand's longest swinging bridge of 110 meters. We had to wait our turn to cross since we got stuck behind a group of Japanese tourists who were filming every step of their journey across to the other side.

We drove through Westport and stopped at Tauranga Bay to see the seal colony. Seal pups are born from November until late December, so we got to see the baby seals as they swam in the "nursery pools" on the rocks with thier mums. They stay on the rocks for about a month before they venture out to sea. From the seal colony we went on a 4 km walk along the coast to the Lighthouse of Cape Foulwind.

The sun came out and we enjoyed the beatiful scenery as we drove further south along the coast. In Paparoa Natinal Park, we stopped in Punakaiki to see the Pancake rocks. These rocks were created by wind and waves eating into the softer layers of stratified limstone (called stylobedding) giving them a distinctive layered look.

We spent a little time getting lost in Greymouth, which is the biggest town on the West Coast, a wopping population of 13,500. After we got out of Greymouth, the sun had disappeared and it started raining-not just little sprinkles, but a torrential downpore. We made it to the town of Hokitika where we were lucky to find accomodation at the Fitzherbert Motel. I was a little leery of backpackers, so I convinced Amy, through begging, to stay at a Motel for the night. After all it was Christmas! We were glad for our groceries that we bought the night before. There was absolutely nothing open during Christmas. So Amy and I ate a Christmas dinner of packaged rice and canned beans with chips and salsa. We had microwave chocolate pudding to finish off our gourmet meal. After dinner I got to open presents! Amy didn't get any because I forget them at home. Of all the people I wouldn't have to mail presents to, I actually forgot to bring her present with us. Oh well, at least I got mine!