Westport

On Sunday, we headed north to Westport. We’d been expecting rain almost completely throughout our sojourn on the West Coast – it is famous for it, and it’s part of the “West Coast Experience”. But Sunday was warm and sunny. We’d left the sun screen back at home in the expectation of not needing it, so were caught a bit short there.

Our first stop was at the Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki. We’d set out reasonably early, and this proved to be a boon, because we got there before the car park had filled up, and also it was high tide at the time we were there, which is the best time to get the full effects of the surf and blowholes. It’s almost as though we’d planned it that way…almost.

The pancake rocks are a geological formation of questionable origin. Seriously, the scientists don’t have an accepted theory why they formed that way. The current theory is that it’s something to do with grain aggregation which leads to layers of rock forming with differing rates of erosion, which leads to their appearance, like a stack of pancakes. Also, the sea has eroded various blowholes and caves throughout the rock formation, so at high tide the air and water are forced up through the blowholes into the clifftops above. There is a specially-constructed walkway through the rock formations, where we saw korimako and white-fronted terns as well as more common seabirds.

Observe the pancake-ness

Korimako (bellbird)

Tara (white-fronted tern)

After a quick beverage at the café, and the purchase of a been-there-done-that t-shirt, we continued northwards to Cape Foulwind. The opportunities for fnarr-ing here should have been endless, but we failed to find a signpost at sufficient elevation to get a picture. The main purpose of the visit is to see the seal colony, which is at greater distance, and more protected from, the general public than the one at Red Rocks in Wellington. I didn’t have my long lens with me so the pics aren’t great. We did, however, witness a fight (it was more handbags at dawn, really) between two males, and also saw a seal pup.

Get off my rock!

Cuteness

Most of Westport was shut as it was Sunday, and they still do things like that round there. We found a café open for lunch, though, and after that we headed inland. We stopped to take pictures of the scenic scenery, and this is where stage two of our unpreparedness struck. Despite having managed brought insect repellent with us for just such an eventuality, we hadn’t actually taken the precaution of using it…largely as we hadn’t expected to leave the car. As we were returning, I noticed insects on my legs and swatted them off. Too late! The problem with sandflies (for it was indeed they) is that you don’t feel the bites, and you don’t notice until much later that you’ve been bitten. As it was, I suffered several bites. Fortunately, as antihistamines course through my blood throughout the summer due to the hay fever tablets I take each morning, it wasn’t too bad. Should really have learned this lesson by now, though.

We continued along the inland road until we reached Reefton. Again, not much was open, but we found a café for a refreshment stop, before heading back to Greymouth. There, we discovered that the hotel restaurant was closed because they only have one chef, and he needs a night off. We were therefore directed to the Monteith’s bar further down the road for dinner.

Hokitika

The first day we spent in the West Coast was centred on Hokitika. It was raining overnight (we could hear it on the roof of the hotel, we’re on the top floor with panoramic views over scenic Greymouth), and continued to rain as we set out to Hokitika. The west Coast is known for its rain: it’s the rainiest region in New Zealand, with some places measuring rainfall in metres rather than the more traditional millimetres.

Our first stop was the Hokitika Gorge, where we saw the spectacularly blue Hokitika river. This is due to the glacial meltwater and clay-sized rock particles in the water. It was still raining, so we decided not to do the entire one-hour loop track, but instead made it as far as the swing bridge and beach before turning back – about 15 minutes’ walk. We then headed into Hokitika town, in search of lunch. There’s not a great deal of choice so we ended up in Stumper’s Bar, where we had pub food. The rain was easing but never completely stopped throughout the day.

After lunch we went for a drive around Lake Kaniere, stopping at Dorothy Falls for some scenic pics. We then drove back the way we’d come to Greymouth, where the weather had cleared up a bit and we were able to explore the river bank a little, before going across the road to Sevenpenny, one of the few establishments in the town to catch our eye. 

Dorothy Falls

The weather forecast looks better for Sunday...

West Coast

We’ve lived in New Zealand for 12 years now, and I’ve never visited the West Coast. Nicola has been here once before, around 20 years ago. The region is known for its wet weather, but we thought we might get lucky. We left Wellington in sunshine, but there was a low brewing in the Tasman Sea…

We decided to use a reward voucher at Wellington Airport to use the lounge, as these were due to expire soon. This provided us with a free lunch, and we then flew to Christchurch. Our accommodation was centrally located on Bealey Avenue, and from there we walked into town for a pre-booked dinner at Twenty Seven Steps. This is in a newly-built area of central Christchurch, and it was noticeable – to me, at least – how ersatz it all looks. All the buildings are new, mostly characterless modern blocks, and some are built in old-style looks, but appear completely fake. I dunno, maybe it’ll look more natural in fifty years’ time, but at the moment it’s ugly.

No matter. Up the stairs (I didn’t count) and we were seated with efficiency, cocktails brought, and food ordered. The food was delicious – grilled sardines, venison and chocolate mousse for me, smoked salmon, hapuka and crème brûlée for Nicola – and the service excellent. Definitely gets a thumbs up from me!

We were up at sparrow fart the next morning to get on the Tranzalpine train at 8:15. I tried ordering a car from Zoomy, having checked availability whilst we were having breakfast. Looked like there were cars in the area around seven minutes away, so it seemed like no problem. When I tried after breakfast, that had gone out to 10 minutes. Then I clicked “book journey”: no cars available. What the actual? Why not? So a bit of a panicked call to a local cab company, who were fortunately able to send a car and got us to the station in time to get the train. Not trusting Zoomy again.

The Tranzalpine does exactly what it says on the tin: it goes across the country, via the Southern Alps. It’s a scenic journey, with scenery, and the train includes an open-air viewing car to be able to take it all in, and take unobstructed photos, as we traversed the Alps. We stopped at Arthur’s Pass and a number of passengers disembarked at that point for a day’s tramping in the Alps. We were sternly admonished not to wander off with these groups and miss the train, as they wouldn’t be checking us back on. We managed to safely reboard. I was on the lookout for kea, but there weren’t any. At Arthur’s Pass they add a few more engines to the train to complete the final incline, then it was downhill all the way as we headed into the West Coast and arrived at Greymouth at around lunchtime. We went and got ourselves a lunch at the Speight’s Alehouse opposite the station, then picked up our hire car for our final journey to the hotel (around 400m away), and checked in.

In the afternoon we had a look around Greymouth CBD. It’s not exactly a tourist town, more a functional place, so there’s not really much to sea. As the afternoon progressed, the rain set in…we dined in the hotel rather than venture out into what passes for dining experiences in Greymouth. Maybe tomorrow night?

 

 

Owls Do Cry

Owls Do Cry is an iconic New Zealand novel by iconic New Zealand writer Janet Frame. It was her first iconic book. She also wrote the iconic An Angel At My Table, filmed by iconic New Zealand director Jane Campion. Have you got that? It’s iconic.

Making a theatrical production of such a work has its challenges. The book doesn’t follow a traditional route, and is informed by Frame’s struggles with mental health, being variously institutionalised throughout her young life. One of the characters, Daphne, reflects this, and another, Toby, is epileptic. Because of this, Red Leap Theatre have decided to do an “interpretation”, rather than just adapt the book into a play. There’s a lot of singing, dancing, acrobatics, lighting effects, and general mayhem, interspersed with moments of lucidity that the ordinary punter can understand.

At the beginning of the performance, the cast handed out copies of the book to all of the audience, and then encouraged us to use the books as percussion instruments – variously tapping on them, banging them, and riffling through the pages. This is supposed to help us familiarise ourselves with the work.

For those of us who haven’t read the book, this performance is a confusing display of disparate elements without a real story to tie it together. Those that have read the book apparently say the same thing. Yes, it’s interesting to go and see new things in theatre; they don’t always work though. This one was a definite “miss” for me.

Afterwards we went for dinner at Field & Green. They’ve changed up their menu a bit to the now-ubiquitous “shared plates” and “we’ll bring you the food when it’s ready” model, which can be a bit tiresome…especially if the kitchen loses your order. After receiving the ceviche fairly promptly, we had a 30 minute wait before the next dish arrived. They gave us a free scoop of their legendary ice cream as an apology, but overall, the concept Needs Work. The food is good, though, when it finally arrives.