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Yesterday morning we awoke at 7.30am to the sound of rain pouring! After breakfast we were ready to leave at 9.00am, we were delayed slightly by the loud, messy ones having to return to tidy the kitchen. Once underway we made a supermarket stop in Motueka, then drove straight through to Murchison where we ate our pack up (tuna sarnies). After another hours drive we called at a seal colony to look at the seals 'rainbathing!' We got soaked on the 15 minute return walk. Our final stop of the day, also our wettest, was at the Pancake Rocks, on the coastline of Paparoa National Park. We did a 20 minute loop walk to look at the layered rocks in the sea, we both got drenched. Our trousers were like drinking straws, slurping up any rain towards our bums! Back on the coach, it was just 15 minutes to Barrytown, a tiny village with a pub and a few houses. We were staying at the pub (All Nations Hotel, which ironically was playing Phil Collin's - Rain Down as we walked in!). After we dried off and changed our soggy clothes, we chilled out in the tv room watching 'The Forgotten', 'Motorcycle Diaries' and 'Oceans Eleven' (yes 3 whole films!) whilst enjoying a sausage casserole.
This morning we were up and ready by 9.00am to be collected for our morning bone carving session. We quickly (yep quickly!) chose our design and, once a piece of cows bone had been selected for us, we got under way using the machines to cut out the outline we had drawn on the bone. Once we had neatly completed that, we rounded the edges and added the necessary grooves before spending ages using numerous different pieces of sandpaper to smooth the bone. The final polish was added and we had successfully made our own, tradition fish hook, necklaces - get us! We enjoyed a well earned brew then headed back to the pub for our 12.30pm departure (almost leaving with a kitten on-board)
We headed straight down the rugged, but beautiful, west coast, calling at Hokitika to stock up, eat pack up and succumb to a frozen yoghurt ice cream mixed with real boysenberries. We arrived in Franz Josef and checked into the Rainforest Retreat around 6.00pm (after a quick glacier briefing). We headed straight to the kitchen for a gorgeous chilli (once again eating so much we could barely stand!) before having a chat with Dan (from Australia) in the bar and retreating in the common room with Desperate Housewives!
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