We've just tavelled the west coast road from Hokitika to Nelson, stopping off at Punakaiki to see the pancake rocks - they really do look like giant piles of pancakes! The coastline here is so different from England. We went through Papora National park where what seems like a dense tropical forest grows right into the coves & onto black sandy beaches strewn with enormous fallen rocks. The landscape then changes through the Buller Gorge & becomes more open - lots of farmland & fir trees. As we got nearer to Nelson the roads became busier - we actually saw more than one car at a time & the buildings started to be more modern. Just as well as Les was beginning to feel like Marty McFly from 'Back to the Future' as everywhere seems to be set in the 1940s. As you can see we have managed -at last - to put a few photos on here. Will do some more when we reach North Island at the end of the week. Looking forward to the ferry trip across Cook Strait.