DAY 10 FOX PUNAKAIKI to NELSON

Again we wake up to a beautiful sunrise and the waves crashing on the beach below.  It is a scene that reminds me of our Oregon coast line with all of the similar attractions.  About 500 meters from our accommodation there are pancake rocks with blow holes similar to our own Depot Bay.   The area is just a wide spot in the road so there is not much to describe it.  Most of the Tour buses stop, discharge their passengers, then load them up and down the road.  It is probably a good way to see the country unless you are fortunate enough to be able to ride a motorcycle.   We met a couple from Seattle (small world) following the same route with another company.  They were the only people on the tour so the company honored their contract and took them on a private tour.  It seems to be a trait of the New Zealand people to honor others before self.  This is a characteristic that has been totally lost in our country.   The Seattle people will leave us here and head to Christchurch to fly home.  We slide through Westport to a destination road that will wind up a mountain to a spot where coal mining once thrived.  The remains of the equipment and mine site are preserved with information of life in a mining camp.  Without OSHA there were many mining accidents and a fair number of miners paid the ultimate price for their toil.  We carved down the mountain to return to Westport and Hwy 6.  We follow this road through some beautiful mountain country to ultimately wind up at Nelson, our home for the next two nights.  During  the ride we got split up and Harvey went on his own, Masa and our German friends and I separated while I stopped to relieve.  So the irony of it all we all got lost in Nelson trying to find the motel yet arrived within 5 minutes of each other.  It is now close to 80F so it is shower time and the luxury of a washer dryer in each unit.  We washed everything even though most of us have washable under garments and our clothes are wash and wear.  It still feels good to have clothes that have gone through a machine.  Our dinner reservations are across the street at a Hotel called the Trailways.  It is a modern facility with dinning on a tide flow that could be mistaken for a river.  It is very good and again we could not say enough about the NZ food presentation and quality.  After Dinner Thomas and I walked into the town and around the Cathedral.  More on that tomorrow.  

Rail car at coal mine

View from top of Mining Camp.

Wild Game! Very tame.

RV NZ Style!