NZ: Lewis Pass and the West Coast

"On the road again" (I'm missin' Texas!), we stopped for lunch in the small town of Waiau, and the kids played on a fun playground. Then it was on to Hanmer Springs, most famous for its thermal hot springs and water park. We just had to soak awhile! Cooler air temperatures made the warm pools feel delightful, and even the kids preferred these to the colder pools with the slides. (Here in Malaysia, all we want is to jump in cool water!)

Afterwards, we enjoyed appetizers and drinks at Monteith's Brewery Cafe. Adam was excited to try local brews and was impressed with/jealous of the beer selection everywhere we went. I'm more of a wine girl and enjoyed sampling various local wines, both from restaurants and from the comfort of our van in the evenings!

That night, we ventured beyond plug-ins for the first time and freedom camped. We chose a wonderful spot on the Lewis Pass highway, parked for the night, and temporarily claimed this spot "for the Dews". When the sun finally set (close to 9:30), we marveled at the stars and even saw the Southern Cross!

After "brekkie" in our van, we enjoyed a brief stop in the historic mining town of Reefton. At the I-site, we saw a steam-powered elevator in action and walked thru a recreated quartz mine. We also chatted with some old guys with long beards at the Bearded Miners' Company.
 

We reached the West Coast, then headed 35 km north of Westport to hike the Charming Creek Walkway, promoted in Steve Cook's NZ Frenzy. And how charming this walk was; so glad we made the detour! The easy path took us walking on old train tracks through tunnels, across a swing bridge, and past an amazing waterfall.

That night, we freedom camped at Fox River near Punakaiki. Mark found a ninja stick and had fun being a boy and throwing rocks in the river. =)

The next day, we slathered on the sunscreen once again and took a short but delightful hike to the geologic wonder known as the Pancake Rocks (Paparoa National Park). During high tide, the waves come in and crash majestically at the blowhole, but unfortunately, we didn't time our visit right. Even so, these incredible stacked rock formations are truly unique! I wished that I had my geologist dad with me to explain how the tides had formed these over so many centuries.

We had fresh pasta for lunch at Ali's Cafe in Greymouth, then spent the next few hours reliving old mining days at Shantytown. We tried our hand panning for gold and came away with a (very) small fortune in a bottle. We also rode a steam-locomotive, wandered down main street, and watched our kids fly down a zipline!

After a busy day, we parked our van early at Jackson's Retreat on the Arthur's Pass highway. Our kids played in the freezing cold stream while I sipped wine. =) We were not intending to go this way but were going to continue further down the coast to the glaciers, but a storm earlier in the week knocked down the bridge on the only major highway. That's okay though, 'cause the pics below of Devil's Punchbowl Falls and the top of Arthur's Pass are major eye candy--wow!!