Michelle driving in the pouring rain (!) between Greymouth and Hokitika.
Andrew pouring himself a beer at the Monteith's factory.
Lagering room at Monteith's brewery.
Old Chimney at Brunner Coal Mine.
Suspension bridge at Brunner Coal Mine.
Michelle on a random rock on a random beach between Punakaiki and Greymouth.
The Wild West Coast!Today we travelled from Punakaiki to Hokitika and got a taste of true West Coast weather for the first time - it poured with rain most of the afternoon! We stopped at a few spots on the way to take some of the classic "West Coast" shots before the weather set in. We also visited the old Brunner Coal Mine Site just before Greymouth - site of NZ's worst mine disaster, in the late 1800's. Very interesting to see the workings of an old coal mine and brickworks.
We then drove into Hokitika and went on a tour at Monteith's Brewery. Very informative, but mostly lots of tanks, pumps and pipework. Apparently their engineer is a bit of a true Kiwi inventor - he made both a de-pallitiser for the bottles (completely automated) and a machine for straightening out dented kegs (a big money saver at $400 a pop). Of course, at the end of the tour we got to taste all the beers and pour our own glasses direct from the taps. Andrew took full advantage, and made sure he got his $15 worth, so it was left to me to drive the rest of the way to Hokitika - in the pouring rain - so not fun in a camper!
Tomorrow we are heading towards the glaciers, and hopefully we will either fly or hike the glaciers on Friday.
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