Life . . . Reframed: Hokitika, Greymouth, and Gypsy Caravans

NZ South Island west coast: Haast to Greymouth highway

It was about a 5 hour drive from Haast to Greymouth, and we managed to stretch that out to about 7 hours with our usual stops along the way. The coastline here is very dramatic with lots of big rocks sticking out of the water and beautiful plant life along the way.

We stopped at a remote beach because we saw 'penguin crossing' signs on the road ( I missed getting a picture of one of those ). Gorgeous powdery sand and then small rocks where the tide was going out. We wandered along picking up some bits of green stone that is called, cleverly, New Zealand Greenstone. It's the local form of jade. We didn't see any penguins, but as we were leaving, we saw this pile of white rocks that were signed by different people who had visited the beach. You can probably tell by this that there are a lot of white rocks in New Zealand.

Remote beach at the side of the highway. Lots of fun
stones to find . . . but no penguins visible!

Autographed rocks at the side of the beach

From there, it was a short drive into Tai Poutini National Park. I LOVE this name - I don't know why, but I just like to say it! This is where the Fox and Franz Josef glaciers can be seen. We stopped at a place where several hikes to the Fox glacier start and did a quick 45 minute loop on one of the trails. One of the many things that New Zealand does so well is trail maintenance - they are all beautifully cared-for and make hiking a pleasure. As well, there is an abundance of clean, free public washrooms pretty much anywhere we stop. We didn't hike all the way up to the glacier - we've both done it in Banff, and didn't feel a need to go where it's cold. Just as we were about to leave, we ran into our new Jasper friends Carol and John who were about to hike up to the glacier. We had a laugh about them following us around, and carried on our way.

Giant fiddlehead

Fox Glacier - lousy pic!

Glen's favourite fern trees.

Pretty roots

A little repetition!

Beautiful trails for walking

A better view of the glacier. It was a long
walk up there, and they only let you get within about 500
meters, so we had a look from here.

Rocks beside the river with the most beautiful red lichen on them.

Fun rental camper van we saw on the road.

We stopped in a little town called Harihari for a bite to eat and then carried on up the road.

In Harihari - cute little building.

Harihari - the restaurant across the street. Probably should
have eaten there!

Since we needed gas, we decided to stop at the town of Hokitika and were quite glad we did. There's a beach here (naturally) and it seemed like a good time and place to take a walk. The first thing we saw as we parked the car was this driftwood sign on the beach:

The beach at Hokitika. Complete with cement chair.

As we got closer, we realized the beach was literally a jumble of driftwood creations. It was really fun to walk around and see what people had done. I thought perhaps this was normal, but we found out later that they have an annual driftwood sculpture competition and it had taken place the previous weekend.

At first we thought there was just a lot of jumbled driftwood

Loved this one!

Not sure what this is, but it's very elaborate.
They even wove some flax leaves into the design.

Loved this dinosaur and its prey

Dinosaur with the beach in the background.

Beautiful beach!

As we neared the town of Greymouth, we passed through Kumara Junction and crossed this crazy bridge, which is on the main highway into Greymouth. Note that this is a fairly large sized town. The bridge is a one lane bridge that is shared with the railroad!!! New Zealand has a very strange fondness for single-lane bridges on small, medium and major roads. But sharing with a train takes the cake.

Love this roadside sign.

Taking turns on the bridge

This is not a small bridge

Driving on the bridge / railway tracks!

Our home for the next couple of nights is one of the old style New Zealand homes that I've been admiring since we arrived. They are typically single-storey, wood siding houses that look like they were built sometime in the 30s or 40s. The couple we are staying with are so hospitable and welcoming. Rick had a stroke a few years ago, and so is a bit slow with speech and getting around, but has maintained a wicked sense of humour. Lynnette is a cheerful, friendly bundle of energy who operates her own catering business as well as the AirBnB.

Home in Greymouth

Part of Rick's collection of whiskey jars

A very formal conversation pit!

Rick and Lynnette . . . and a wicked good fruit cobbler

Our first night there, we were joined by a couple from Beijing, Rick and Lynnette's daughter and her husband, and the permanent boarder, Mark. We had a wonderful BBQ dinner with everyone around the table, like a big family, and a giant pavlova for dessert. It was an international feast and so much fun to sit and chat with everyone. The second night, it was just Mark, Lynnette, Rick and us and it felt a bit quiet and empty! Lynnette made a beautiful leg of lamb roast, along with several yummy vegetable and salad dishes, then topped the whole thing off with a fresh fruit cobbler. This, after working a full day. Breakfast and dinner were all part of the deal staying here, and I really think we came out on the right side of that deal.

International dinner table

Giant Pavlova

Lynnette in her element!

There were a couple of great beachcombing beaches here - Glen added to his pile of 'gemstones', and I admit I got caught up in it myself. We had a fun time looking at some gypsy caravans that were beginning to gather for a festival on the weekend.

Fun with rocks

Scenic beach for rock gathering. It kept threatening to rain, but never did.

I found a heart rock. For you Obie Warnica!

Gypsy caravans are arriving in town for a festival on the weekend.

Can't imagine what this weighs.

A little more 'normal - the trailer was painted with fern leaves.

Lynnette and Rick took us out to the local brewery where Glen sampled some of the local brews, and then we carried on to the town breakwater where we watched a fishing boat being rescued in some very large waves. The town 'network' was working very well - people kept arriving to watch the drama. We had to leave as dinner was in the oven, and they still wanted to take us up to the top of the hill to get the panoramic view of Greymouth. It's not a huge place, but a nice friendly town. Glen got his watch strap fixed at the local jeweller for $7 and a lot of conversation! A great spot to stay for a few days and do some exploring.