Our little private cottage
Drove to the Wild West Adventures base in Greymouth town. It was a grey morning and it was drizzling. Apparently, the west coast of South Island receives rain most days of the year. Yucks, I can't tolerate such a shitty weather. At the base, we grabbed and put on the necessary gear - thermal wear, socks, helmet and a rubbery overall wetsuit with boots. Slug and I were joined by a Caucasian couple and a guide. After we got everything ready, we boarded a van that took us to a section of Grey River 30 minutes away from town.
Alighted at a field strewn with cow dung and soggy mud, and we trekked our way through the rainforest to the river bank. There, the guide handed us each a tube (like some inflated rubber lifesaver) which we sat on, and pedalled our way down the gentle rapids of the river. The guide taught us the art of river tubing. It had been raining, so the river flow was a little challenging. I was swept away from the rest a few times, but the agile guide would help grab onto me. I surely underestimated this shallow river.
At some point of the river, we got to the entrance of a cave. Apparently caves like this are protected by Taniwhas, underground dragons based on Maori mythology, and in order to be protected against as well as show respect to them, we had to streak our faces with mud. Then all of us started floating on our tubes into the pitch-black cave. As the cave was narrow (and felt really claustrophobic to me), we had to float in a line, by propping our legs on the shoulders of the person in front. Slug was made to lead us and steer our way against the river flow (poor thing!) into the cave, while the guide watched our backs behind.
Halfway the guide told us to stop and we looked up and realised the cave ceiling was lit up with numerous bluish-green dots, like a starry night sky. It was breathtaking. These were the glowworms, the larvae of a type of fly which spend the most of their lives being a larva and glow to attract prey. We spent the next 15 minutes or so admiring the glowworms, snacking on a chocolate bar and sipping on hot chocolate (brought by the guide) in the dank, enclosed darkness.
After that, we floated our way out which was easy as we were now going along with the river flow. Once outside of the cave, we trekked up the river bank and back to the dung-covered field. It was amazing that the wetsuit kept us warm in the water in such a chilly weather. We got back to the base where we took a hot bath, and ended our adventure on a sweet note - with a blueberry muffin and lemonade.
We got back to our accommodation and saw Michael busy mending a stone wall for our cottage. Slug borrowed fishing equipment and got some fishing spot recommendations from Michael, and we spent the afternoon exploring Greymouth and its many creeks.
A cow on the farm
We came to this wide river
Wonder what lies beneath the surface
My efficient and trusty road companion
Exploring Greymouth
Singaporean style? Since when we add those keropok things into our veggies?
No luck with fishing, so we returned at dusk. We bought some foodstuffs for cooking dinner at a nearby supermarket.
Slug looking at Michael's cows
The kitchen was well-equipped with the necessary cooking ware and condiments, and Slug whipped up vegetable soup and stir-fried chicken chunks with onion. While Slug was busy, I was slacking away reading some farming magazine.
Very hardworking Slug
Watched two more movies after dinner. Also browsed through three huge guestbooks that contained lots of thank-yous and well wishes from guests coming from all kinds of countries.
It was extremely cold at night. The air-con unit could hardly toast the whole cottage. The compound and its forested surroundings were very dark, but that made the stars appeared brighter which was really stunning. Wanted to just lounge around at the front porch to star-gaze, but it was simply too cold.
Would be leaving Greymouth for Fox Glacier the next day. Hated to leave this wonderful B&B, and return the unwatched movies!
No comments:
Post a Comment