Further Travels With the Parents

After Kaleb left us in Christchurch, my parents and I boarded the TranzAlpine Scenic train. Though very windy and raining much of the time, it was very scenic. Luckily we were going west to Greymouth a day after it had rained about 1/2 meter in the span of 24 hours. One of the few passenger trains left in NZ, the TranzAlpine winds its way from Christchurch on the East coast to Greymouth on the West coast and through some very scenic mountain passes.

Greymouth was quite grey, as it was still raining when we got there. Luckily it was more of a mist, so the flooding was going down. We walked down to where the river emptied into the ocean, and it was very impressive. The pictures don't do it justice. Really, there were whole trees hurtling down the river and getting flipped like toothpicks in the waves resulting from the river crashing into the ocean. We stayed at a very nice hostel, probably the cleanest I've ever seen. It was decorated in Africa style and had a beautiful kitchen and common rooms. If the weather had cooperated, we would have been able to hire kayaks and bikes free of charge. If you ever find yourself in Greymouth stay at the Global Village.

Luckily the flood waters had receded the next day and the roads to the north were open, so we were able to take a bus to Westport as planned. We were flying home (my home) from Westport, a small coal mining town on the coast. The bus stopped at a national park on the way, allowing us to do a short walk and see the pancake rocks. The Westport airport was awesome. If Kaleb thought security was easy in Christchurch, he would have loved Westport. It was a one room airport with 2 employees, 1 to load the bags and be a rampee and one to be a gate agent and air traffic control. The computer system was down, so we had to get hand written boarding passes and (ominous tone) luggage tags. Needless to say, my bag didn't make it home. I give Air New Zealand credit though since I received my bag by noon the next day, unlike the Delta 6 day wait.

I then sent my parents to Rotorua for a few days, so I could get some work done and they could see a human zoo. They picked me up on Friday and we travelled to the far north, to Paihia in the Bay of Islands. Forecast for the next few days until my parents leave (and beyond) rain, rain, rain. Those of you in the drought ridden U.S. are probably jealous, but the rain impedes on the beauty of this sea playground. We took a boat trip today and saw dolphins playing. The rough seas made for a roller coaster of a ride in some areas, but our skipper did a great job of keeping us out of the biggest troughs.