The previous night, Shweth snd I watched the last Hobbit movie in the theater. It was filmed in NZ so we saw a bunch of sites we'll see (I think), like Glenorchy and Tongariro Crossing.
The first few hours of drive from Nelson to the west coast passes through some beautiful, idyllic sheep-filled valleys, and rivers. We stopped at Westport for a quick lunch then drove south on the coast. Having driven south from SF many times, I'm quite spoiled when it comes to costal scenery. Still, the "wild west coast" was still quite stunning. It's different than the california coast in that it's more rugged - the beach quickly ascends into mountains, leaving little room for houses. So, you have the feeling of being quite remote.
We stopped at the "pancake rocks," which are rock formations that have many exposed layers... They look like pancakes. They were kind of interesting, but mostly... They're just rocks. In the parking lot we ran into yet another current Fuqua student.
It doesn't get dark here until about 9:30, which really distorts your sense of time. We arrived in Hokitika, a small town known for their jade products (jade is harvested from rivers near Hokitika), around 5. Only one jade shop was open: Heritage Jade. We talked to this young guy Colin Davidson, who owned the shop and made everything he sold. Fun conversation, mostly about dating and the differences between city folk and country folk.
Most everything in NZ closes around 4:30pm (inexplicably... I guess everyone just goes home), so we ate at one of the few restaurants open and continued on to Franz Josef. I slept about 10 hours - so, so needed after a few nights of poor sleep. Buying that pillow was a master stroke.
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