We woke up this morning and... Ray was not joking about the cold - it was bloody freezing! Nikki made us bacon and egg sarnies for our breakfast, which went a long way in lifting our spirits (just joking - it was cold though).
After we'd left the camp, we drove into the centre of Greymouth, but we were too cold to get out of the van, so we drove around, window shopping, and then moved onto a place called Shantytown, which is a small custom-built town in which everything is as it was 100 years ago. We had a lot of fun and got to ride on a real steam-train, got to buy sweets at old prices and even got to pan for gold! The highlight of Nikki's day however, was when we went into the restaurant and there was a large buffet cart which included cauliflower-cheese. When she asked how much it was, the chef told her that it wasn't for everyone - it was for a certain party, but said if we came back then he'd do us a deal. When we went back about an hour later, the chef said he'd get us a plate and we could help ourselves... kerching: a free meal!
We left Shantytown and drove South towards Glacier Country. On our way, we passed through a town called Hokitika where we stopped and went into a Jade factory where they were carving all sorts of jewellery and things.
Our drive took us past Lake Moprika, just as the sun was setting - the scenery was amazing - everything was a shadowy blue and the water was so calm and clear that the trees around the edge were reflected perfectly. It was almost too perfect!
We continued our short drive into Franz Josef, which is a small town not far from the famous Franz Glacier and booked ourselves into the Rainforest Holiday Camp. This place was very cool - with some of the lodges built up in the trees (like tree-houses), but these didn't have heating - so we stuck with our little van!
Here's to our free meal - long may they continue!
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