Before we started our tour we had to transfer our Natural High rental bikes from Christchurch to Greymouth. Actually meaning at first we had to get used to left-hand traffic and also to the narrow streets. Even if we had some nice views during our ride over to the West Coast, we were glad when we arrived safely and started our tour in the late afternoon. After a quick lunch at McDonalds we prepared our bikes and drove off in the southerly direction.

West Coast Wilderness Trail

The first kilometers on our stage from Greymouth we followed the main street. But than we discovered a sign which showed us the way to the West Coast Wilderness Trail. The trail leads through the beautiful environment of the west coast. The path is mostly gravel and there are a lot of climbing passages, but you really feel like being in a jungle with a lot of exotic bird voices. Also bridges were built about gorges from where you had really stunning views. Beside this, we found a lot of signs along the route explaining the nature and the history of the trail.

As it was getting later we hoped for a supermarket option to get some food for the next day. But as not many people live at the West Coast the few shops present were already closed. Our original plan was to finish at a free campsite somewhere behind Kumara but when we crossed the little town we saw a sign for a nice campsite and stopped by. We had a great stay at the Greenstone Retreat despite our first introduction to sand flies. The owner was a welcoming and lovley person. Furthermore, we met another german guy who stayed with us for our Christmas dinner that evening. He had also a tiny plastic christmas tree to bring along.

Tour

The the complete tour is here.
This post arose from various tweets on twitter.