11th April - Shantytown and lots more

Today we drove further north up the west coast from Hokitika to Westport. It was again a beautiful day weatherise.
Our first stop was Shantytown http://www.tourism.net.nz/new-zealand/attractions/sightseeing-and-leisure/theme-and-leisure-parks/west-coast/shantytown/. This replica village really brings to life what conditions were like during the gold rush 150 years ago (minus the picnic tables of course!)

We had the obligatory ride on the steam train. The locomotive (known as 'Gertie') was built in Bristol in 1877.
From there we drove to Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki. These are incredible limestone rock formations, like pancakes stacked on top of each other. At high tide, when there is a stiff breeze






the seawater spurts up through blowholes. Unfortunately while we were there it was not high tide nor was there a stiff breeze. From there we visited Mitchell's Gully historic gold mine at Charleston. This was a bit of a disappointment after reading a huge write-up in a local tourist newspaper. But it was nonetheless interesting. We followed the track and walked through


several old tunnels. Terry said 'look out for cave wetas, they are sure to be in here'. Not entirely sure what they were I asked 'what are they and how big are they?'. Her answer somewhat disturbed me and made my quicken my pace 'a sort of grasshopper that would probably span a saucer'. Luckily we didn't see any!
Whilst we were riding on the old steam train at Shantytown earlier in the day the 'guard' told us of a hidden gem in the Paparoa National Park so we duly followed his advice and drove down a narrow gravel road to the Nile River, not exactly sure where we were headed. At the end of the road we were not disappointed. It was stunning - a beautiful river flowing at the base of huge limestone cliffs


and there seemed to be an entire miniature forest growing atop this island in the river


After checking into our motel in Westport we drove to Cape Foulwind (as named by Captain Cook, and it was not misnamed as it was very windy there) to the seal colony. But what grabbed our interest was not the seals, but watching birds (we think starlings) swooping and sweeping before settling on the trees on the small offshore Wall Island for the night. It was an amazing sight but difficult to capture on camera, although I did my best


Following that, we were treated to a lovely sunset.


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