The Central West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand

Great Friends, Great Food, Great Conversation, Great Scenery

March, 2016

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After our good luck on the east side at Mt. Cook, we were hoping for some nice views from the West Coast. But when we arrived at Haast it was still cloudy, so rather than hike in the mist where we couldn't see very far we headed on up the coast.

We stopped along to way to peer out to sea, and slowly started to see things. We found this plant with really cool translucent blue berries, the Brown-stemmed coprosma (Coprosma brunnea) . At the time I didn't know if they were edible or not, but they looked like they would make a tasty jelly. I've since read that they are edible and sweet, "but with little flavour." Bummer.

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Brown Stemmed Coprosma (Coprosma Brunnea) West Coast
Photo by Dona

We stopped several places to try to see the large glaciers coming down from Mt. Cook (Aoraki), but all we got was a peek at the top of the mountain through the clouds. Since we didn't have a lot of time, we decided not to stop and hike. But it's clear it would be really impressive in nice weather.

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A non-view of Mt. Cook and its Glaciers

When we got to Pancake Rocks the weather had improved and we enjoyed checking out the flapjacks and surge pools.

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Pancake Rocks

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WCst Pancake Rks
Pancake Rks
Photo by Dona
WCst Pancake Rks Pebbles
Pebbles
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Photo by Dona
WCst Pancake Rks Surge Pool

WCst Pancake Rks Bird Xxx Heron
Xxx Heron

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Photo by Dona
WCst Pancake Rks
Pancake Rks
Photo by Dona
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Flower Xxx Yellow
Photo by Dona

WCst Shrub Xxx Red Blossom
Shrub Xxx Red Blossom
Photo by Dona

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Starfish Seaweed

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Nikau Palm Flax (Harakeke)

It was getting late, so we continued on up the coast to our accomodations at Beaconstone Ecolodge .

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Beaconstone Ecolodge Cabin We had a Room with a View
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Inside Showers and Composting Toilets

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Beaconstone Ecolodge Kitchen and Community Room

The next day we headed out to the coast to look for birds and seals. We found some Weka, a native ground-dwelling bird that reminds one of a chicken; a number of different shoebirds; and some New Zealand Fur Seals.

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Weka (Gallirallus Australis)

WCst Bird Dominican Gull Larus Dominicanus WCst Bird Arctic Skua Stercorarius Pomarinus
Dominican Gull (Larus Dominicanus) Arctic Skua (Stercorarius Pomarinus)

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White Fronted Tern (Sterna Striata)

WCst New Zealand Fur Seal Kekeno Arctocephalus Forsteri
WCst New Zealand Fur Seal Kekeno Arctocephalus Forsteri WCst New Zealand Fur Seal Kekeno Arctocephalus Forsteri WCst New Zealand Fur Seal Kekeno Arctocephalus Forsteri
New Zealand Fur Seal (Kekeno) (Arctocephalus Forsteri)

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Walking is Not Easy for a Seal...

WCst New Zealand Fur Seal Baby
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Flower Xxx White
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WCst Bird Paradise Shelduck Putangitangi Tadorna Variegata WCst Bird Silvereye Zosterops Lateralis
Paradise Shelduck (Putangitangi) (Tadorna Variegata) Silvereye (Zosterops Lateralis)

We had an incredible meal with our friends Mike and Phyllis Wells and thier friend Susan Playfair. Susan was on her way home from the Phillipines, where she had started out helping teach the locals how to do marine surveys, but ended up helping "put things back together" when a huge hurricane hit. We should all be so fortunate as to be able to help in situations like that.

Mike and Phyllis served us whitebait, a New Zealand delicacy, beans fresh from Phyllis' garden, some exquisite New Zealand lamb, great wine... Great company, great conversation, great food, great weather (around dinnertime, anyway...) what more could we ask for?

That night we drifted off to a contented sleep in our cozy bed at Beaconstone, storing up energy for our travels through the Nelson Lakes region the next day.