Week 8 - 9th & 10th Nov.

Leaving Pohara Beach, Drive to Westport
Monday Nov 9th, 2009

We are up early this morning as today we are going to drive to Westport. We quickly pack our gear and head off to breakfast.

We keep seeing these large purple flowering trees... quite beautiful.

During our coffee an American fellow stops in and chats for a while. He is here for three months and is a painter. His name is John Torina and you can see his paintings at johntorina@hotmail.com. He took us over to show us his paintings. He kept them under a blue tarp leaning against a picknic table. His paintings are beautiful and he has quite a few on the go. He plans on completing about 12 paintings then is heading back to the USA.

Part way to Marble Mountain, we stop to purchase homemade salami. We carry on to Motueka and stop in for cake and flat whites. We also wander around the town and stop in to get some groceries. On the way out of town we stop at a road side booth and purchase fresh asparagus.

The trusty GPS is taking us to Tapawera for lunch where we enjoy our cold chicken, salad, kiwi fruit, kiwi juice and a few chips. There is a small museum in Tapawera and we look at the building and the pictures then head on down the highway. At the Buller Gorge, we stop to see the suspension bridge. The gorge is beautiful and we stop frequently to view the gorge, take pictures and see the sights. We finally arrive in Westport by six in the evening.

The room is very nice and we decide to stay. We cook our supper of toast, ham, cheese and eggs with fresh asparagus. It is delicious.

The beach is beautiful and the tide is out. Alan and I walk the beach for an hour before turning in.

Seal Colony, Taraunga Beach, Westport, Lighthouse & Beach
Tuesday 10th November.

To get to the seal colony you have to drive windy roads down the coast past the Holcim Cement Plant and on to Tauranga Bay. All along the road and onto the pathways we kept seeing this brown bird called the Wekea. It is referred to as a bush chicken. On the rocks below the seals congregate on the rocks below. The lookout is sufficiently high enough that you can see the colony but high enough to prevent disturbing it.

The older male seals are sleeping on the rocks, the younger babies were feeding and young female seals were frolicking in the water amongst the kelp.

As usual we take a gravel road not knowing where it is going. We turn towards the beach at Tauranga bay and leave the car on the roads edge to check out the beach. To our surprise there is a tractor running down the beach with a large group of horses behind. It is difficult to get a good view so we jump in the car and drive further down the road toward the end of the beach. There is a track to the beach leading from the farm where I think the horses have come from. Alan and I climb through the deep sand to watch for the horses.

The farmer is still trotting the horses up and down the beach and we watch for a long time. After we have decided he is not going to quickly exit the beach we head back to the car. We have a few good pictures. I think they are some sort of race horses.

Just as we are about to leave, we can hear a tractor in the distance. Then up and over the dunes comes the farmer with his horses. He stops just at the road where we are parked, so of course I have to go and chat with the farmer. They are trotters being exercised. The farmer explains the sand and water builds up their stamina and he can exercise more horses at once this way. He explained that they also practice with the sulky on the beach and in the water.

On the way back, we stop to see the local lighthouse at Cape Foulwind… what a name! Apparently Captain Cook named this area because the weather was foul and it was difficult to land a boat.

Later in the evening, when the tide was going out, Alan and I return to Cape Foulwind and walk down to the lighthouse beach. The stones are all rounded, most are egg shaped and the size of a loaf and a half of bread. Quite a pretty beach.

I thought this firewood was stacked in an interesting mannter!

We chatted with this fisherman who was fishing Whitebait.
Tomorrow we are heading to Franz Joseph Glacier.