Just for a change Matt was first out of bed and took a stroll down to the beach before giving me a prod. A shower and toast to welcome in the day, what a treat! Today was going to be a travel day with a few distractions along the way.
I had been looking forward to seeing Pancake Rocks (limestone layers) so pulling in to Punakaiki I was out of the van and strolling off before Matt could point out the smell of freshly brewed coffee emanating from the cafe...most unlike me.
The rocks were immense
and it felt like you were walking through the ruins of an old temple or castle.
Even the blowholes said hello, with just enough wind and wave to produce a show.
Saying goodbye, Matt couldn't resist a last photo.
Most of the fur seal colony at Tauranga Bay doing a spot of rain bathing whilst one showed off, there's always one.
Our destination for the night was Owens River campsite and as you can see we arrived just in time before the really bad weather rolled in. You may also notice that, whilst this is in the middle of nowhere, there happened to be a tavern on our doorstep. As it would have been rude not to pop in we decided to have a couple of beers and a hot meal. To set the scene this tavern had been bought by a couple from Hong Kong twenty years previously and I don't think they'd changed anything in that time. Full of old boar or stag heads, sticky tables, mouldy carpet and an emanating sad cry from every wooden board which seemed to scream "help me"!
Sadly this couple had obviously given up but unerred we pressed on and I actually had a really decent Hot and Sour Chicken dish. We had the whole place to ourselves until in strutted, and I mean strutted, a kiwi guy followed dutifully by his wife/partner/prisoner and son. For those of you who have watched Sexy Beast with Ray Whinstone and Ben Kingsley this guy was the spit of Ben's character Don Logan only taller. After ordering their drinks, his wife disappeared to the corner and never said a word, just sat drinking. The son wondered aimlessly around, every now and then adding money to the jukebox so that a the pub resonated to various 80's Rock ballards. Don, meanwhile, continued to strut around the pub, wound as tight as Tom Jones's eyes afer the plastic surgery. Eventually, having circled us a few times he headed in, crashed his bottle down on to the table and began interrogation. It transpired that he was from Rotorua in the North Island, having stayed with friends in Wanganui and was now planning a family holiday in the South Island. It came out before I could stop myself and I heard myself say "Wanganui, I lived with a guy from Wanganui for six years and he was completely useless". Don looked at me, eyes darkened and reduced to pin holes, and then said to Matt that he hoped we had a good holiday. Abruptly turning, his family moved as though a remote control button had been tapped, their drinks left unfinished they trooped out in his wake. I shook my head, what an idiot to dis one of Don's fellow countrymen, and immediately began to imagine him returning in the middle of the night, ripping open the campervan door to head butt me to an early end (those who have seen the film will be able to envisage this but with a lot more swearing).
Matt laughed at me as I insisted we tried to park the campervan so that it couldn't be seen from the road. We settled in, the wind, rain and darkness enveloped the van and I had a very very uneasy sleep.
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