Up and out of camp today before too many murderous Sandflies attacked our two intrepid surf explorers! We had a slight run of bad luck to start us off. Less said the better really, but let's just say that the brown water from the 'drinking tap' can be replaced, the sandfly bites will heal, but Barry the surfboard will never be the same again. A close encounter with the bottom of the van means that he's now a fin down and feeling the pressure somewhat!
The day was picked up from this low point, by discovering a deserted beach, with greenish waves just a few kilometres further south from Charleston. We checked a few spots out, before deciding where to get in, then after nursing Barry with a few gaffa tape repairs, we took to the ocean!
There was a steep entrance into the water so we had to time our wade in so that the waves didn't dump down on us, then paddled out fast! There was a strong cross shore rip and to be honest there was a lot more paddling than surfing going on, but it felt great to be out in the water. Inland the skies were darkening above densely forested mountains, and to our sides were big cliffs and sea stacks. It all felt very adventurous!
Further down the road we stopped at a geological curiosity known as 'Pancake Rocks'. There is some impressive coastal erosion of some layered limestone, with big arches and blow holes.
We'd missed high tide, where a big blow hole forms in rough seas, but enjoyed a little look around anyway.
It would have been cool to kayak though on a calmer day!
From there (after posting a few more postcards - none of our previous ones made it to the UK by all accounts!), we set the compass to South and followed the only road there is, towards Greymouth.
The weather had really turned ugly by the time we passed Greymouth, where we stopped briefly for fuel. We carried on driving south in some impressively heavy deluges.
It was pretty much one long straight road, with a short hill to climb. There were many bridges to cross, as big grey rivers descended regularly from the mountains. One of the bridges involved driving on the train track as the railway line also used the bridge!
Apparently you get a cracking view of Mt Cook and the Southern Alps along this road on a good day. Well, we were having a good day regardless!
Made camp near Franz Joseph Glacier, ate a curry, watched a movie and had showers. All from the comfort of the van!
No comments:
Post a Comment