Rain

It was pouring today. We drove from Westport down to Franz Josef taking about five hours.

Although it was a full day of driving, there were a couple of sights that we wanted to hit along the way which were outdoors.

The first was Cape Foulwind. Yes, quite foul today indeed. From the car, we saw the lighthouse, admired the waves crashing against the rocks and drove on.

We didn't stop until the Punakaiki Pancake rocks. Along the way, the highway ran along the coast which was pretty dramatic because of the wind and rain causing some pretty impressive waves.

Even though Punakaiki should have been a free walk, because of the rain, the iSite got us anyways when we bought ponchos.

We got out and got wet! The iSite agents told us that what made this afternoon spec was the fierce wind. Usually, it only just rained.

The track out to the ocean and pancake rocks started off with rainforest, then tall grasses that reminded me of a corn field. Then all of a sudden it gave way to the full brunt of the wind and rain.

The sea had carved out impressive caves in the multilayered rocks and with the weather, ocean sloshed around eroding the cliffs further.

Now that we were wet anyways, it didn't matter so we backtracked a bit on the highway to Truman Track. This 20 minute walk was well worth it too, taking us to the beach. The rain let up slightly but the wind continued to howl making the caves and overhangs along the way good reprieves. Towards the end of the track, a waterfall fell and flowed out to crashing ocean waves.

The drive was really quite long and I was at the wheel. But with my audiobook Moneyball, the driving was surprisingly not tiring at all. I'm always impressed at how audiobooks totally make a fatigue fighting marathon of a drive completely different where I sometimes hope the drive to be longer just so I can find out what happens next in the book.

In Franz Josef we booked a full day guided hike and I was really annoyed that they didn't apply the $10 off coupon to both our tickets instead of just one, because we only had one coupon. I told Shannon that while Southeast Asian countries rip off tourists for a dollar or two here and there, here you still pay more as a tourist but it's a factor of ten more.

We pretty much checked out all the accommodations in Franz Josef and even a couple places just outside of town. I was not surprised that everything was much more expensive. We ended taking a room with the smallest sink we've ever seen (but at least there was an ensuite) for $68 a night at Chateau Franz. Shannon used her charm to talk down the friendly host from $76.

We had a very nice dinner at The Landing. The lamb shanks were good! So good in fact that we would return the next evening as well.