My eyes opened and found not a cloud in the sky! Back to the little café named Gusto and we had a quick breakfast and of course another flat white! We loaded up the car and set out toward Greymouth on the west coast of NZ. We passed through eh Wairua valley and countless wineries and into cattle country and then into sheep country. The valley narrowed and the hills became taller and finally the beginnings of the northern tip of the Southern Alps. The trip took about 3-13 hours and traveled through rough farm country and crossed endless small streams and countless one-lane bridges. The temperature was around 20 and it was nice to travel with the windows open and experience all the smells as we passed through the countryside. We arrived in Grey mouth at around 3:30 and went to an I-site to look for lodging. We decided on a motel in Hokitika about 40 minutes farther south and thanks to a very helpful attendant booked our motel in Haast and Queenstown for the next following two nights. We had an and hour to kill so decided to take a tour of the Montieth Brewery and spoke with the tour guide who was originally from Victoria BC and had settled in Grey mouth to take a two year course in Jade carving. Jade or NZ greenstone comes from the area and there are galleries in Greymouth and Hokitika that are world famous. The prices they charge attest to the fact. We finished the tour and samples 7 different beers or more correctly I sampled the beers and left for the 40 minutes drive to Hokitika. We checked into the motel and headed into town to have dinner at the Café de Paris. Once again we had another wonderful meal and finished it off with…….. flat whites.
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