Rainforests equal.......rain!

Literally as soon as we disembarked the train and re-joined the bus the heavens opened and it proceeded to persist it down from the remainder of the day!

The west coast is temperate rainforest and such a dramatic change from the "bush" on the east coast. The rain comes across the Tasman Sea (which looked less than inviting), dumps all the rain on the west coast as it rises up towards the mountains and then has nothing left for the east coast!

When Thomas Cook sailed to New Zealand he complained about the noise of the birds keeping him awake (the feathered ones!). There were originally no mammals on the islands, apart from some bats, but either the Brits or the Aussies are blamed for introducing rabbits, possums, stoats, deer etc that have decimated the bird population. The best possum is a dead possum!

We headed to the pancake stacks and blow holes at Puna Kaiki, but to be honest given the rain I was past caring! The walk was supposed to take an hour. I did it in 17 minutes (including photo stops) and may have wiped out a few Chinese tourists on the way (acceptable collateral !)

All very geologically exciting I am sure, but this girl needed warm socks and a glass of wine!

Hokitiki was our place for the night. Whitebait capital of New Zealand apparently! But the highlight, I am told, is the sock knitting museum. I kid you not!

It rained all afternoon, all night and was pouring down the next morning. I finally gave in and bought a hat, scarf and gloves. 30 minutes later the rain stopped and it has been clear ever since. I am now being forced to wear the hat every day to keep the rain away! It is a very lovely hat though!