Day 10 - Westport to Lake Mahinapua

I had a bit of a lie in over Kamal this morning. He was up to surf at 7am and I had until 8:15am to go horse trekking. By the time we reunited we had stories to swap. I'd trekked through bush and waded up a deep creek with my lovely horse and Kamal had finally managed to stand up and surf but is now absolutely exhausted!!

We then met up with the bus and continued on down the Ghost coast. We saw what is left of small town Charleston that once was bustling during the goldrush. The town thrived so quickly back then that there wasn't a proper authority and it had quite the 'Wild West' reputation. Finally an Irishman was tasked with building a jail, as people were murdering one another for gold with no punishment. The building took him 3-4months and on the day he finished he rightfully celebrated by getting drunk - a little too drunk though as ended up being the jail's first inmate! 

There are only a few buildings left nowadays. Our next stop was for a little walk in the Paparoa national park where we walked the Truman Track down to the beach.

It's strange to be in the cold South Island and be surrounded by Palm trees! But the waves roll in from across the Tasman sea and bring Australia's heated waters with them, allowing a higher micro climate than the rest of the South.

Then it was down the road to Punakaiki which means 'stacked up high'. Here, the build up of Sedimentary rock over the years has left a stacked aesthetic, and what's left has become known as 'pancake rocks'.

Then we had a quick stop off at Greymouth, the largest town on the West Coast to pick up some face paint for this evening.

We got to Lake Mahinapua and enjoyed a stroll before sunset. It was so still and quiet and wih such a beautiful view I didn't want to move. 

But the. We headed back to the hostel to have a go at carving some of this famous greenstone. Kamal and I got busy in the workshop making jewellery.

Then we were treated to a roast dinner before the evenings celebrations where the theme for dressing up was 'glad I'm not a...' - old face painting skills came in handy! 

After an evening of people dancing on tables and downing drinks Kamal and I opted to play some more pool, briefly being interrupted by a flying glass smashing into the wall beside us... I know they call it the Wild West but come on!!! With that we headed off to bed and woke up to a cooked breakfast of bacon pancakes mmmmm!

Special shout out to the guys at Lake Mahinapua hotel though, who sadly recently lost their founder and family member Les and put on a great night nonetheless. In true Les fashion, they gave a toast to the guy who partied right the way through to 85. Cheers Les! 

And now on to our next stop and one we've been excited about... Franz Josef!