Charleston

From then till now, where have we been? Payne's Ford was amazing as was the whole northwest/Golden Bay area of the South Island but, as a traveler who has respect for his profession (traveler), I needed to move on. It's funny really. Before coming here I had a "fantasy" of sorts regarding what being in New Zealand would encompass. One of the things I really looked forward to was the whole "going slow" aspect of things. Living a "mini-retirement" with no agenda present or future. I pictured staying in places for weeks at a time and truly wearing out each location. What I am realizing and what I've heard before but never grasped is what seems to inevitably happen when you become a traveler, at least in my case. Someone famous once said, "Life is like a book and those who don't travel read only the first page." What I've come to find is that once you do finally turn that first page the second comes much easier, even as if with momentum, and that nature/flow becomes a part of you...or maybe it was there all along but now uncovered. For me it seems a more natural way. All the places here are amazing but it feels so good to get on the road and go someplace new, even if it's only a town an hour away.

So off to the West Coast... We drove through Westport down to a little coastal town called Charleston. It was very small but beautiful. What attracted us to the place was a climbing area by the same name found right on the beach known for trad climbing (a style of climbing where you place your own protection in the rock's weaknesses). Now this is the West Coast mind you, the Tasman Sea, known for being a rough SOB. There are climbs that traverse out on cliffs with massive waves breaking below the climber threatening to take out the belayer. All the local climbers warn of rogue waves, making sure the belay ties himself to the rock on certain routes for fear of being swept away, and even tourists that drowned while scavenging for shells. Unfortunately for us the stories were the most exciting part as we were there for two days but the rain never let up enough to climb and we had an important date to keep with the Wild Foods Festival.