Greymouth to Westport

Next morning the rain has let up. I break camp and hit the water. The sky actually clears and the lake turns to glass. A little reward after last nights woes. But it’s short lived and I just as I make it back to the car and start to repack my gear it starts to rain again. I head on to Greymouth which is the first real town on the Western end of Arthur’s Pass and stop to get a bite to eat and get some seam sealant for my tent. I go to a pizza place just so I can tell Stephanie that I had pizza in New Zealand. Nothing really, it’s round, it’s red on top but the taste is nothing like pizza. Just as I return to my car there is a huge down pour. Hail and buckets of water. The traffic is stopped in the street. I was lucky to just get into my car before it started. I didn’t even try to move until it passed a few minutes later. I decided to get the back tire fixed here so I pull into a Firestone tire place and the it ends up that they have to but a tube in it as the nail was in the sidewall.
I head out again heading to Westport and I stop to pick up a hitchhiker on road just leaving Greymouth. His name is Jeff and he is from Scotland. He is traveling around until his money is gone. He is going to see Pancake Rocks and so am I so we chat about his life and and how New Zealand doesn’t have near as many sheep as he thought they would. Of course he is from the West coast of Scotland where they also have an abundance of Sheep so I guess it’s all relative. When we get to Pancake rock there are hords of tourist. The place is a zoo. We walk along the path looking at the rocks and shoreline. It like Mendocino with its caves and blow holes, but the “pancake rocks” are quite unique. I offer to give Jeff a lift all the way to Westport and he accepts. I drop him off in town and I pick up supplies. I then start heading up north to Nelson and Abel Tasman. I am supposed to meet up with Matt Foy to help with his Politic kids group. I end up spending the night off the side of the road in what appears to be a car graveyard.