Our Last Dinner

Carrying my suitcase all the way back, through the forest and up the driveway, in the rain was not the highlight of my morning.  Luckily for us the rain let up while we visited the Pancake Rocks and Blowholes in town.  The limestone formations were quite neat and the wild water made everything rather dramatic looking with all the white sea-foam, gray skies, and crashing waves.

Our next stop was Greymouth, a large town where the TransAlpine train stops after coming through Arthurs Pass.  It's a cool town and while wandering around we stumbled upon "The Lifeboat".  It's an actual boat, and there were three people inside selling homemade stroopwaffels and coffee.  I was so excited because I absolutely love stroopwaffels.  Oddly enough, I think I first had one on our plane ride to Guatemala.  Anyway, Sarah had never tried one, and Vivian (who is Dutch) was keen as well so we all bought one.  They were amazing, so much better than ones from a package, even Vivian confirmed they were top-notch.  It didn't hurt that they were nearly twice the size of the ones you buy in the store either.

From Greymouth we stopped at Lake Kaniere and Hans Bay.  I can't say that I was impressed with either one, but the weather didn't exactly help enhance their natural beauty....  The weather did, however, enhance the natural beauty of Dorothy Falls (which is located in the Lake Kaniere Scenic Reserve).

Lake Kaniere

Dorothy Falls

Another 30-odd kilometers and we were at the Hokitika Gorge.  That lovely slate-blue water from the glacial flour again.  It never gets old.

We had all of Drifting Sands B&B to ourselves for the night, and we were loving it after the last few places.  All I'd honestly wanted out of the accommodation was indoor showers and bathrooms, but this place was a house, and it felt like a home.  It's right on the beach, so I walked out back and some photos before it started to rain again.

Justin was kind enough to cook us all dinner, and his vegetarian curry was delicious.  With the whole house to ourselves it felt like a family dinner.  It was our last night together so we sat around the table chatting for a long time.  Lucille and Sarah had made another kiwi-passion fruit pavlova and it was perfect as well.

Claire, the lovely owner of the house stopped by to tell us we should walk down the street to the Glow Worm Del, so we took her up on her suggestion. I did not put on shoes for this walk, shocking, I know.  The locals always seem to underestimate how long these walks take and my toes were so cold by the time we got there.  The glow worms were very neat and we also had a lovely view of the moon and the stars on the walk back as well.  No permanent damage was done to my toes either, it's hard to keep flip-flops on your feet when your feet are numb though (in case you never have a chance to test that theory - you're welcome).

Glow Worms