The West Coast on the South Island of New Zealand seems to have a culture all to its own. Allen told us that it was the prettiest drive on the South Island route, but sadly the fog rolled in and completely clouded over any view we may have seen. On the North Island, I could not pull my eyes away from the window. The view never got old. On the South Island, Allen's voice and something about the bus lulled me to sleep every time the bus started moving. Luckily, the Magic Bus stops about every hour to do more sight seeing, so I didn't ever sleep the whole day away. One stop on the west coast was Cape Foulwind, named so by Captain Cook. It's a fur seal breeding colony, and after walking 10 minutes down a path, you can get really close to them. The stop also had a bunch of Weka, native New Zealand Birds that look similar to a kiwi since they don't seem to want to fly, but they have much shorter beaks, and are not nocturnal. I had just woken up from a nap, so I was late getting off the bus. The fog was intense, and I walked all the way to the look out on my own which made the path all the more ominous. Still, it was gorgeous.
Our lunch stop was at Pancake Rocks, which I had heard a lot about before hand, but it never seemed that impressive. I took a bit of a time out to call home, since my family was all together for my little niece Taya's first birthday. After that, I headed out to the rocks, which were actually fantastic. Unsurprisingly, the area was full of rock formations that looked like stacks of pancakes. My favourite part was near the end, where the path curved through the rock itself and I could touch the stone. Once again there was fog everywhere, but it added to the appeal.
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