Last weekend in Punakaiki

Every week we usuall retreat back to Punakaiki for the weekend. This is our last weekend here however because next week we are working in Otago and then at Southland the following week so we will be staying down there for the weekend.

We thought we'd make the most of it and decided to have a go at hitch hiking, it worked a treat and we managed to get a lift 1.7km up the road to the Truman track, its been a hot day and the last time we went there it rained so we thought we'd take a dip under the waterfall. It was freezing.

Unfortunately we wern't able to get a ride back but we came home via the beach and spent a few hours making and lighting a fire. This time we remember our bugspray so the sandflies didn't bite.

In our time off in Punakaiki we've visited the Blow holes,  Pancake rocks and the Punakaiki cavern.

On Monday we'll be getting up at 6am to go down to Otago which means that tonight will be our last night at the tavern. Everyones coming down and we're going to make the most of it, the only problem is that VAT went up yesterday and the beer has become more expensive. You win some, you loose some.

Week 4 (Karamea)

Last week we were further north of the West coast in a town called Karamea. It was another remote town with a population of 650, the locals call it the end of the road because there isn't a road going through it. On our first day of work we were welcomed by a guy called George who gave us a welcome speech in Maori, something about being at one with the wind and the mountains. Another of the locals called Hamish translated the speech (it definitely sounded better in Maori). When it wasn't raining were working in an area along the estuary and on the beach. We helped to maintain one of the paths along the estuary and made a new track through about 200 metres of gorse. As usual we planted more trees, about 600 this week. All along this West Coast has had very heavy rainfall this September and on our last day of work we had the heaviest rain yet and there was alot of flooding. We were unable to work outside so went to two of the local volunteers house (Hamish and Margaret). We spent the day collecting seedlings from there land and potting them up in the Nursery to enable that they could grow to a good size before being replanted at the reserve. Hamish and Margaret owned 7 acres of land where they grew organic veg, reared sheep and had a tea tree plantation which they made tea tree oil. We were give a bottle each when we left which was useful as I've been bitten about 22 times by sandflys.

In our spare time we also visited some natural limestone arches that were in the middle of some forest, they were the biggest natural arches in the southern hemisphere. We also went caving and saw some glow-worms and some interesting landforms.

We are back in Punakaiki for the weekend and will be heading furter south next week to Otago and will be doing some work at Sinclair wetlands. Only two more weeks left of work in NZ until i get a week off and head to Australia.

Week 3

We were back in Punakaiki for our third week, its our last week here. Planted about 700 trees this week, went litter picking in Greymouth lagoon (its amazing what sort of things get washed up) and have spent a few hours looking for jade on the beach. There was torrential rain for most of the week which was good because it meant we finished early. Its has been a warm weekend, sunny both days which is unusual. We went kayaking up the local river and bought some whitebait, a very small fish that is a delicacy over here and had it for our lunch. I wasn't overly impressed.
We also went for a swim in the river without a wetsuit, it was freezing and the current nearly swept us down stream but it was good fun.
The pub has been lively this week, we've know all the locals now but met alot of backpackers this week who all seem pretty cool and a stag party of about 30 people came to the pub Saturday night, it was great and we all managed to get a few free drinks out of the drunker ones and then went to a local house party! This week we also acquired a playstation with 4 singstar (karaoke) games so its been a little wild.   

Next week we are heading further north but still on the West coast to a place called Kamera. Hopefully it will be a bit more populated than Punakaiki.One of the locals also has promised us that its going to get warmer in the next few days so hopefully there will be less rain!

Truman Track, Punakaiki

Yesterday we went on a short, popular walking track called Truman track. We walked through rain forest and ended up in a small beach cove with a waterfall falling from the cliffs and some good rock formations. The sea is very rough and nearly caught us out a few times. The weather was temperamental, sunny one minute, torrential rain the next followed by a hail storm.

It takes along time to upload photos on the computer at the volunteers house. Next time we go to Greymouth (the closest town) i will find an internet cafe and upload some pictures for the last few posts.

Friday 17th ( Snowday!)

Yesterday we travelled back from Otago to spend the weekend and next week in the Punakaiki volunteer house. To get back we had to come through a mountain range along a route called Arthur's Pass. Apparently there is a storm the size of Australia in the sea just North of the North Island and its heading our way. We are starting to feel it, we're experiencing heavy rain and strong gusts. When we were getting close to Arthur's Pass, it started to snow. We had to pull over and put the chains on the mini bus tyres. While we were stopped we though it was a good idea to build a snowman and have a snowball fight. I didn't expect to get any snow while i was over here but it's good fun.