Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Greymouth to Fox –part one

After lots of tips from Jan about where to stop and what to see I set of south this morning. Breakers B&B is certainly the place for a relaxing stay in this part of the West Coast …

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Spotting a quilt shop was an unexpected treat just after Greymouth –my fabric purchase was well within my rules being light, flat, local and a useful addition to my stash. With more time I might have stayed for the experiential learning about label making that was offered –lets hope I can remember the instructions when I get home.

Next I came to Glow-Worm Dell where, naturally, all the glow-worms were invisible in the bright sunshine and then a song about glow-worms rang out from the dreadful cd –glow little glow-worm, glitter, glitter, glow little glow-worm- someone sang! Rather eerie …  P1020064

The roads are easy driving but there are an amazing amount of road repairs in progress, lots of rail crossings –not that I’ve seen a single train, and one way bridges are a regularity. At one place today a one way bridge in need of repair was shared with the railway line. I followed the car in front (thank you driver) that straddled one track which meant keeping very close to one edge!

I stopped in Hokitiki and Ross –towns with lots of history and connections to pounamu (greenstone or jade) and gold mining, and by Lake Ianthe where forest meets water. P1020078

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So much sightseeing meant I left lunch rather late but a kind person in Harihari opened the cafe’s kitchen and made me a whitebait sandwich. I could taste the whitebait filling – so much better that the whitebait omelette I had in Greymouth and healthier than continuing to eat the cranberry chilli chocolate bar that’s lived in the glove locker since Nelson. Soon I had my first glimpses of the mountains and then, on this perfectly still and cloudless day, a mirror lake. Continues …

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