Westport (for Jan. 21)

I meant to mention yesterday that there must be a busker convention on, because they seem to be on every street corner. Also, I meant to say that there is quite the family entertainment complex behind the beach. There is a huge playground, playing fields, picnic areas, a skateboard park, etc. And a question: Why are we the only ones wearing New Zealand T-shirts? And an observation: This car does not have near the reflection of the dashboard in the windshield as the previous one. That is a welcome relief.

We took in some lookout points this morning, and then went to the weekend flea market in the centre of town. I wasn’t too keen at first, thinking it would be all the same old stuff, but it definitely wasn’t. Nelson is known as a bit of an arts town, and it was evident at the market. Some very high quality and very unique items (in addition to the usual stuff). There was a performance artist there acting as a moving statue blowing bubbles. Very cool. We picked up some German salami (Mmmm, garlic), a 20 pound loaf of pumpernickel, and some fresh blueberries (Blueberries and strawberries are in season now; Mmmmm).

On the way out of town we found a park and had a picnic with our purchases before hitting the road around noon. Our drive today started the same as yesterday: orchards and vineyards near the coast; grazing sheep giving way to cattle and lumbering as we climbed into some low mountains. After a couple of hours we found ourselves in a National Park. It was much more naturally forested on low mountains, kind of like around Hope, BC. The last half hour was down a narrow river gorge. There were a couple of places where a narrow track was hacked out of the side of the mountain and only one car could pass at a time, but, overall, the road wasn’t as bad as some of the others we have been on – or am I just getting used to it? There are numerous places where they could widen and straighten the road if they wanted to, but apparently, they like them this way. The surface is sure good, though. When it is built on rock, gravel, or sand and there is no freeze/thaw cycle, they stand up pretty well.

We reached Westport around 3 PM and headed out to the seal rookery near town. That was pretty interesting and very scenic. We came back to town, got a motel, and did some more exploring down to the beach and around town. The beach here is very wide too, but it is not sheltered like the one at Nelson. So it is not much for bathing and it is littered with driftwood. A great place for bonfires!