Greymouth and the West Coast

The weather forecast on the west coast was looking nice and sunny, so we thought it was the perfect opportunity to check out that side of the island. Bonus that we were escaping a wet and dreary week in Kaikoura! There were a few things we wanted to see on the west coast, so we based ourself in Greymouth which is the largest town and also pretty central to everything. Our hotel was a bit out of town, but right along the beach which was nice for Dexter! Also it had a bathtub, nice for Scott :)

The west coast of the south island is often described as "wild", and it was indeed that: windy and big crashing ocean. I was surprised at the vegetation though, and discovered that the area is actually temperate rain forest. They get a lot of rain in this region, and we felt very lucky to be experiencing it in a sunny streak!

The Monteith's Brewery is in Greymouth, but unfortunately it is under renovations right now so we could not do the tour. But we were still able to get a sampling tray, mmmm! At least it's not closed down though! Apparently they closed down the brewery in 2001 to move it elsewhere and save on costs, but after public outcry, it reopened 4 days later.

Ironicallyish, Monteith's owns the trademark on the term "Radler", but their Radler beer isn't even a true Radler. It's just fruity citrusy 5% beer. 

Lewis Pass, on the way through the mountains from one coast to the other.

Dexter getting a break from the car.

Dexter, Jax, and Binney! Our van's still truckin along.

Dexter enjoying the Greymouth Beach. Nice mountains in the background!

Look at how high that flying fox is! No safety clips, nothing! Just a regular NZ playground.

Monteith's new brewery! Pretty nice.

Our sampler tray. Pretty good beers. Scott's favourites were the cider and radler.

Greymouth's huge flood barrier on the river.