Scenes from the West Coast

Welcome to this week’s odds and ends in photos!

These images were taken during our time on the west coast of New Zealand’s South Island.

After our morning in Blackball, Stray bus driver Spoon (they all go by funny nicknames) plants a new tree as part of Stray’s efforts to be environmentally friendly.

A pretty shot of the mountains around Blackball:

We stop at this one-lane bridge because it’s Spoon’s favorite stretch of road.

Here’s the narrowest part. You can’t really see it until you round the bend in the above photo, so it takes a certain leap of faith (and extra pressure on the break) to confidently turn this corner.

I can’t imagine the water level that high. Crazy.

And this is hardly the first scary, one-lane road we’ve driven on in New Zealand. In fact, this country is full of them. Here’s video footage of Spoon leading us through a one-lane bridge that is also a train track:

We also explore the Cape Foulwind walkway (it’s not as odorous as you’d expect) to witness some dramatic wave action:

And here are the Kekeno fur seals who call this area home.

We spy a weka bird in the parking lot. Some New Zealanders call them “short-billed kiwis” to make tourists feel better about not seeing actual kiwi birds (which are difficult to spot due to their nocturnal nature).

Later that afternoon we swing by a jade factory to watch the artists’ carving in action.

Here’s a view from our accommodation in Franz Josef. Not bad, eh?

Note the little green kiwi birds painted on the side of the kiwi Wildlife Center.

After our heli-hike tour, we visit the hot pools across from our hostel to lounge for a few hours. It’s an incredible way to round out the day.

And I devoured this book at warp speed — Delirium by Lauren Oliver. It’s part one of a trilogy and sort of on par with the Hunger Games books (i.e., it’s a dystopian YA novel). I’ve already hunted down the second book.