Today began as most days do now; on a bus in the early AM. A little ways outside of Nelson en route to Greymouth, we came across a bicycle race with loads of participants that slowed us up considerably and took up valuable time in the day while stuck behind them as they took up a whole lane on a narrow 2 lane twisting road. Stopped for breakfast at a little cafe and then kept on going towards our destination. We had 3 stops along the way: one to take photos of a river gorge, another to do a little hike down to a coastal beach surrounded by cliffs, and a third to an area called Pancake Rocks. This area is named after the limestone cliffs that due to erosion and such have lines across them and look sort of like pancakes. There were some good views, but for all 3 of the stops it was raining (heavier as we went along) so we were as speedy as possible to avoid being soaked. 8 and a half hours after we had boarded the bus this morning, we arrived in Greymouth, which isn't much of a noteworthy place. As it happens, late last night (while we were in Nelson) there was a mine collapse just a few KMs outside of Greymouth, trapping nearly 30 miners and they're unsure if the workers are alive or not. So the mood amongst the citizens of Greymouth was somewhere between gloomy and cold when we rolled in. Did the check-in dealio and hustled over to the Countdown store for groceries for the next 3 days, since there are no supermarkets in Franz Joseph (our next stop).
Just as we finished and dropped our stuff back at the hostel, the shuttle bus came to pick us up for a Monteith's brewery tour we had signed up for. $30 got us a tour of the factory, beer samples and a dinner tonight, so it was a pretty decent way to spend the evening. The tour ended up being very dull and very scripted (terrible in comparison to the XXXX tour in Brisbane). Afterwards, we got to sample the 7 types of beer they had (about an ounce of two of each) and then pour our own glass worth. So the lady stood there and watched as we each poured a glass, then went to the other room for awhile, so myself and a few others poured and quickly drank full glasses of each kind before her return. There was no limitation on amount, just on time, so after the approximately 10 minutes we had between when we could pour our own first beer and when the taxis arrived to take us to the restaurant for dinner, I was feeling mighty fine.
We went to a place called the Railway Station for dinner, which was amazing and included a lamb chop, a burger, green salad and potatoes. Washed it down with a pitcher of beer from the tap and thus the night began. After this, there was chatting, Sing Star karaoke sessions, and even a little bit of dancing. Wandered back to the hostel and called it a night probably too late, as we have to be ready for the bus at 8 AM to go to Franz Joseph tomorrow for our glacier hike.
No comments:
Post a Comment