Rain in Greymouth

The road went north without too many problems, only slight flooding. Arrived at Franz Josef and inteded to walk to the glacier but you had to walk across the river. Some people took their boots and socks off and walked, some people just walked across, and some lucky ones were carried. E was not feeling 100% and chose none of these alternatives so, regretting it now, there was no glacier walk. There was nowhere to stay eithor so they pushed on to Wai something or other where they also did the white heron tour. That was fun. On a diet of almost nothing E feels fine so, first, a bus ride to the river. Then a 20min fast jet boat ride to the estuary and a few slow minutes up an inlet. Then a walk through the forest to the hide and there was a colony of nesting white herons that the visitors could study for 30 minutes. It was awesome. There were royal spoonbills too and the coromants who are everywhere. Talking of birds look up a weka. Saw one at Shantytown the next day. E stood in the phonebooth trying to find somewhere to say and finally found a place north of Greymouth for a reasonable price. Arriving there it was panoramic double glazed (first time) windows and door with a fantastic sea view, the biggest and most modern place they have found. There they washed and dried out but the rain has started again. Greymouth has a couple of shops but also a very interesting tax office. E payed a visit, and had a long chat to the lady behind the counter. She had no other customers at the time.