West Coast

25th May was George's birthday. As is was a Monday, we both took a day off and made a long weekend out of it. Esther booked a B&B on the West Coast, about 15km north of Greymouth. It's quite a hidden place, with direct access to a private beach. 2 days of relaxing, walks on the beach and in the forests (where we came across some blue mushrooms) and a tour in Monteiths Brewery with beer tasting of course, awesome.
The pancakes rocks are also in that area. We have been there before on our holiday in 2006, but at that time it was pouring down (as it usually does on the West Coast) and we couldn't see much. This year somehow the weather is all mixed up. It keeps raining on the East Coast and the West Coast has a brilliant sunny winter. So this time, we actually saw some layered rocks.
The 4th and the 5th were taken on the way home to Christchurch. It's only a 3 hours drive but the scenery keeps changing. From beaches to forests with fern trees to lakes (Lake Brunner) to mountains (Arthur's Pass) to the flat Canterbury planes.