After studying the short term weather patterns we decided to risk heading to Westport on the West Coast. We left Richmond a couple of days ago and the road through to Murchison had many indications of how bad the area was hit with rainfall, drenched but drained paddocks and and slips every where, fortunately the roads had been cleared of the slips that included them. We spent a night in Murchison, nothing different from the last time we were there apart from a new 4square supermarket being constructed. We enjoyed a beautiful sunny day sitting outside the tavern sipping back a nice cold Grizzly Porter. The next day we cruised through the Buller Gorge, every time we’ve travelled this road it’s always been a stunning drive through to Westport, wet or dry. Crossing the Buller River bridge into Westport is a spectacular view of the size of the river.
The first night at Westport we stayed at the NZMCA Beach park and while the weather was still acceptable, unhook Jimny and drove out to Cape Foulwind for a quick visit to the lighthouse which had some spectacular views.
On returning to the NZMCA beach park, Jude does a walk along the beach to the moles where the Buller River exits to the sea and took a couple of snaps to grab the moment of the early evening which produced an awesome but ominous sunset.
The next day we will moved to the Star Tavern at Cape Foulwind to ride a section of the Kawatiri Trail.