Once we crossed the continental divide, the moisture content of the air quadrupled. As such it started raining. It rained most of the remainder of the trip. No problem for us as we got the be in the viewing car without the rest of the crowd. We got closer to the coast and the rain picked up. The train stopped at Moana, a lakeside town with lots of holiday homes. Lakes led to rivers which led to the Grey River from which Greymouth gets its name. Greymouth is located at the mouth of the Grey River and it is pronounced "grey-mouth" as in the body part. We pulled into the station in the hardest rain of the day. We had pre-ordered a taxi and as we were waiting for our bags Leslie went out, with her umbrella, to make sure that the taxi knew we were here. While she was standing there two groups of people tried to grab our cab. She put her shoulder bag into the car to mark her territory. I was still waiting for the bags to come out when she came back and we stood there until the last bags came off of the train. They were ours! By this time the rain had stopped and we loaded up the taxi in the clear air. It was just a few minutes to the AirBnB, Greymouth is a small town. It is so small that there are only 10,000 folks in the town and a total of 12,000 in the "metropolitan" area. What is even crazier is that this 12,000 is 45% of the entire population of the West Coast of New Zealand. WOW! We settled in, walked to the store for supplies and then went to dinner. This restaurant was recommended to us by the host of the AirBnB and it was very good. We got a whitebait appetizer, a quirky larval fish patty dish that is a New Zealand delicacy. Then I ordered a snapper with shrimp and Leslie got a ribeye with mushroom sauce. Both were great and at $70 US it was quite a bargain.
The increase in moisture was immediately evident
Otira NZ gets 5 feet of rain a year. The rivers can rise to flood level in just two hours
Clouds thick with moisture
Gollum on the roof
Old railroad worker pre-fab houses
An old church
Moa sculpture build to scale
More rain
This is deception pass
Named by the guy who surveyed it thinking the railroad could use it to cross the mountains
But it led to a steep box canyon
Bridges are built up high over the water
A car stopped by the road
Just to wave at the train as it passed
These cows have a white stripe in the middle
Waterfall
We followed a few rivers
Passed a few lakes
The rivers got bigger
and bigger as we got closer to the sea
A Lake Brunner
A big waterfall
Blue skies off in the distance
Our last stop before Greymouth
The rain is coming down harder
Wetlands
A bit swampy
With ponds along the way
A slow river
That meandered along
Clumps of plants growing right in the middle of the river
This explains the slow flow of the river
A very elaborate water containment system
Closer to the Tasman Sea
The more rain
It is pouring down now
As we have reached the Grey River
Look a waterfall
And another
A very old railroad bridge
Cast iron and cables
A moss heart in the sidewalk
Not many folks out in the rain
We had dinner in th\is place
Recommended by the host
She is pointing at the barefoot guy
More whitebait
Little eyes and fins are so tasty
Snapper and shrimp was so tasty
Rib eye and mushroom gravy
A good place to eat
Masked lapwing
A distinct style here in Greymouth
Rainbow fence
Dahlia
