Maybe we should find our campsites earlier ...

I was awoken on the morning of the 7th to the sounds of my travel buddies hastily packing up their tent, followed by the car starting. I thought that perhaps they were trying to prank Derek and I, but it turned out they had all frozen the night before and were trying to warm up! They were revived by coffee and breakfast in Murchison, after which we were able to continue our journey.

The first stop of the day was at a small but gorgeous beach near Greymouth where Derek attempted to surf but got a bit sketched out by being out alone in murky water ... there are Great White sightings in the area!




Our second stop was at the Pancake Rocks and Blowholes, a geologically exciting site. The rocks look like giant piles of pancakes, and at high tide certain areas allow the sea to come crashing upwards in big sprays.

Derek checks out the surf at lunchtime in Greymouth

Once we'd tired of the car again (it was a long day of driving!), we stopped at a random beach somewhere between Greymouth and Hokitika. We had it all to ourselves - a private oasis! So we sunbathed and re-gained our energy for an hour or so.

At about seven o' clock we arrived in Whataroa, a minuscule town that is close to Franz Josef. We booked a glacier hike for the next day, ate a delicious dinner at a place boasting "Meals, Beer and Beds" then continued on toward our campsite at around 9:00pm. It was completely dark and we drove too far past our campsite (about 30km too far) and had to drive back ... not so fun when you're tired!