Up and around the shoulder he goes

As planned, our journey along the west coast took us down to Greymouth. We stopped at Punakaiki on the way to take a look at the ‘Pancake Rocks’. Here, repetitive layers of limestone and mudstone have been eroded into rock features that resemble stacks of pancakes! One of the coolest parts was that geologists still don’t fully understand why this has occurred, giving Josie a chance to put her degree in bullshitting (*ahem* we mean geology degree from a reputable university) to good use and speculate some answers.

Once down in Greymouth, we explored the town before parking up along the seafront for what turned out to be a restless night. We were both woken at 4am to an incredibly loud crashing sound that shook the van and our minds were racing with what had just caused such a loud bang. Seconds later our questions were answered as the whole sky lit up with a deafening crack as another lightning bolt struck the sea just beside us. Whilst spectacular to watch, we were very aware that we were lying in a metal box out in the open - completely the opposite of safety guidance for thunderstorms. Luckily, in typical New Zealand fashion it blew through quickly and we were able to get back to sleep once our heart rates had slowed sufficiently.

From Greymouth we began our journey across to the east coast via Lewis Pass. Our first stop was Reefton, a small ex-gold prospecting settlement. As we arrived we noticed some fair ground rides and food stands, so parked up and wandered into our first New Zealand A&P show. Similar to both Chulmleigh and Ugborough fairs we felt as though we were back in Devon, albeit with slightly fewer cider tents. This was until we stumbled upon the grand final of the regional sheep shearing competition. We settled into our grandstand seats with a bag of warm doughnuts and were treated to a four man showdown, with each competitor having to shear his way through 20 hardy NZ ewes. Despite our country roots, we’d never witnessed anything like this before, and were both impressed by the speed at which they were able to get through the sheep. The real star of the show, however, was the commentator, who animatedly updated us on each competitor’s progress. “Up and around the shoulder he goes, under the final shoulder and down the brisket” were repeated over and over in a thick kiwi accent… alas, there are only so many parts of a sheep you can shear. These phrases have quickly become catchphrases for the trip and we’ve both concluded that the whole NZ sheep farmer stereotype is entirely accurate, and that’s coming from a Welsh girl!

The rest of the drive over Lewis Pass was spectacular, giving stunning views over the snow capped mountains of the Southern Alps. 

Eventually it brought us to Hanmer Springs, a spa town nestled amongst native forest and mountains. We arrived on Waitangi weekend, a NZ bank holiday celebrating the signing of the treaty with England, this meant the town was buzzing and made for a very fun few days. The main attraction of the town was the thermal pools, which turned out to be the closest thing NZ has to a water park. It had water slides, a lazy river and huge array of geothermally heated pools - we enjoyed it so much that we decided to come back two days later and do it all over again!

In between our trips to the pools we headed over to Kaikōura for a night, as we’d booked to go whale watching. The coastline here is famous for its huge array of marine mammals, but in particular it has a semi-resident pod of sperm whales which we were hoping to get a glimpse of. We woke up early and checked in for our trip, caught the bus to the harbour and boarded a large catamaran. Eyes peeled from the moment we set off, we managed to spot some seals, dolphins and albatross before the boat came to a stop so a hydrophone could be lowered into the water to try to locate the whales. No such luck, so the boat tried a different location… two, three, four stops later and still no sign of a whale. On top of this, it was incredibly rough out there so many of the passengers got sea sick, making for a delightful atmosphere on board. Finally the crew decided to cut their losses and take us closer to the shore to see some dusky dolphins. As soon as the boat slowed we were greeted by a large pod which came and rode on our bow wave, jumping and giving quite the acrobatic show. The dolphins really helped to lighten the mood on board but that was quickly outdone by the captain announcing everyone would be receiving an 80% refund for the trip as we hadn’t sighted a whale - result! So whilst we were disappointed to have to continue our search for whales in NZ, with nature you win some, you lose some. All in all, £15 each for a two hour speed boat ride and dolphin watching trip actually turned out to be a bargain!

Our whale woes were quickly forgotten as we returned to Hanmer Springs and took another ride on ‘Conical Thrill’ and ‘Super Bowl’ (no sign of Taylor Swift at this one though!). Nathan’s parents have arrived in NZ this week, so our plan for the next few days is to head south to meet up with them as they explore the country. NZ review from Alan and Briony to follow next week.