Onwards, ever onwards

I'm learning as we go. All sorts of things. How tired Jude can get if we aren't off the road by 3.30 4ish so that she can have a snooze when we are booked in to a motel. I'm learning that there is a whole different set of muscles that you bring into play pushing a wheelchair. That it pays to reconnoitre before you go walking somewhere & make sure it is wheelchair friendly. That going sight seeing with a wheelchair is easier if you know how to handle it, not as a complete bunny learning on the job like me. Most importantly, if you put your hand in the wrong place when you're opening one, they bite hard. Another thing learned is that if your partner is too tired, or just plain physically unable to go look at something, bring them back a little keepsake. A rock, a bit of driftwood, or even a hand dipped in the water & rubbed onto a cheek can mean so much. Also meals. If your partner is, like Jude, totally dependent on Fortisip via a PEG tube, don't feel guilty about stopping somewhere for a leisurely lunch. It took a little persuading to get Jude to come with me, but at least she got to taste local delicacies even if it was only a little taste on the end of her finger. It means that you get a decent break from driving too, which is very important.

Greymouth was our next stop of any consequence. After Shanty Town of course. What a wonderful asset this is, providing not only a great tourist attraction, but also employment for local people, who were very helpful, even moving the train so that Jude could take the ride up through the bush.


This desperate pair in the local saloon weren't very cooperative however....




















In Greymouth we were quite tickled to find this somewhat realistic piece of concrete sculpture on the foreshore.

Anyway, onwards & upwards as they say. Punakaiki is a good example of doing your homework. I went & checked at the visitors center to find that the circular path at the top has steps on one side of it, so you have to come back the way you went. Doesn't really matter, because you can get right round anyway by going back the way you came.
















Anyway, after all this vigorous (on my part anyway) sight seeing, it was a pair of very weary but happy travellers who finally booked in to a motel in Westport for a couple of nights