Day 2

We woke up at 8 and were out of the hostel by 9. We decided to get an early start to Hamner Springs. We heard there were thermal pools so we couldnt' wait to jump in them. Especially in the freezing cold weather. So we drove off into the mountains once again. The sad part was the way we had to go was the 2 hour scenic route we decided to take the day before. So once again we saw the deer and the hills, which pretty makes up all of New Zealand. It just wouldnt be a rode in New Zealand if it didn't turn every couple of meters.
WE arrived in Hamner springs and saw the Thermal pool entrance. we were so excited and we walked up and it was just man made pools that a bunch of old people were floating in. It was not at all what we imagined. We imagined small little pools in the mountains that were made by nature. Instead we found man made pools with a few rocks placed around them to look like nature. We decided it was not worth $12 or our time to sit in a small heated pool. So we decided to go to a 30 minute climb to the top of Conical hill. The hike was straight up hit so it was quite a work out. The scenery was absolutely beautiful. you could see for miles and miles. There were small houses below that outlined very small countrylike towns. It overlooked 3 or 4 small towns which looked like about 500 people lived in each. In the background in all directions was hills and mountains. Beautiful green trees where everywhere in all different shades of green. It was absolutely stunning. WE stayed up there for a while to take it all in before we hiked back down.
WE decided to stop in the library to use the internet to book the next two days.
It was time to hit the next destination. We were off to Greymouth. Greymouth was another 3 1/2 miles across the country east to west. We arrived and found our hostel that we had booked earlier that day. It was a great hostel with cute litte rooms. The theme was somewhat myan or aboriginal. It had masks and Myan looking designs all around. There was a spa, free bikes, kayaks, a bbq, and a fire pit. It was an awesome backpackers. The best I have stayed in yet.
On our little tour around the hostel we saw the kayaks and immediately ran to our room changed and hopped in the kayak. We rode down a little river in the back of the hostel. Another girl was getting in at the same time so we rode with her a little bit.
We went for about an hour then it was time to head of to see the pancake rocks.
The pancake rocks were about a 40 minute drive. We made our way out there to see these rocks that were stacked like pancakes. We arrived and took the walk down to the rocks on the beach. It was absolutely beautiful. The sun was setting and it made the sky an amazing orange that coated the sky right about the water and the rocks. It was truely picture perfect, and I have the pictures to prove it.
We hung out by the pancake rocks for a while. Hight tide was at 8:30 and sunset was at 8:45. So we wanted to see both. The rocks looked like giant pancakes stacked on top of each other. They were everywhere. There were caves underneath in some places. In one place the top of a cave caved in and it formed what they call the blow hole. At high tide the water comes up through the hole and spouts out. unfortunately it didn't do that while we were watchign so we missed out. It was quite impressive nonetheless.
As were there we met two people from America that were doing a mission across New Zealand to I guess spread the word about Jesus. For a few minutes she tried to convince me to read the bible and wanted me to go the hostel with her so she could give me a travel bible.
A little bit after that we started talking about New Zealand and places they have been and all that kind of stuff. It was nice to hear from other Americans.
After that we headed back to the hostel and something jumped out in the middle of the road. It was a possum. not the ugly ones we have, but a cute and innocent one just walking across the street. And I ran right into it!! There was nothing I could do, I tried to swerve but these roads are so narrow I would have driven straight off the side. Oh it was the saddest thing I've ever done. What a horrible feeling too as it made a clunk a few times as we ran over it. Oh it was just so sad.
We are back at the hostel safely now. Just hanging out in the lounge and writing on the internet. Tomorrow we are going caving with intertubes and glow worms. I will write about it when I get a chance. Thursday we are doing a full day glacier walk and Friday we are in queenstown! We are thinking of bungee jumping. So that's it for now and I will keep you posted on my travels. For now I'm signing out and freezing in New Zealand. =)