Day 13 - Westport to Franz Josef

We left Westport at 8:30AM under light rain. We stopped for a viewpoint on the rugged west coast before a longer stop at Punakaiki, where the Pancake Rocks are. We viewed the rocks and some had pancakes in the local cafe. From there we headed to Greymouth.

In Greymouth, we had a plan: grab some food, find some clothes for the 80's party on Friday night, and pick up 6 new passengers for the bus. We succeeded at all three (although there are a few of our old passengers that have started returning to the bus 10-15 minutes past the appointed time).

We had one more stop at Hokitika before our final destination at Franz Josef. Hokitika is one of the best places to buy greenstone (i.e. jade), so we all did a souvenir shop there. We started up into the big mountains to get to Franz Josef. After a quick tour of the small town, and a quick briefing of the glacier walk (that 20 of our 22 passengers are doing), we checked into our accommodation: the Rainforest Retreat. This place looks great: big clean rooms, beautiful setting, free hot tub, free breakfast, and one included dinner (tomorrow night before the 80's party). Tonight, we went to the onsite Monsoon Restaurant and Bar for all-you can eat pizza ($18.50 and includes a drink, fries, and garlic bread). I couldn't quite keep up with the boys who ate 18 to my 16 slices (more than 2 whole pizzas) ... the bus record was, and still is 24.

We stayed and chatted at Monsoon until nearly 11PM, then noticed the hot tub had closed at 8PM.

So Yohan (new guy from France) and I are the only two not doing the glacier walk in the morning, so we don't have do wander over to the office until 10:15AM. The others will be on the glacier by then. This gave me time to blog on the room's (0.5Mbps!) Internet connection.