Hey, I'm back!
Not that I really went away this summer, keeping it pretty local in Lyttelton, gardening, surfing with my sister (who has moved here to Christchurch, woop, woop!) and hanging out with her and our other sister and family over the Christmas break. Our only real trips this year have been exploring the rugged West Coast of New Zealand's South Island.
The West Coast is famous for the wild coastline of the Tasman Sea, which stretches for 2,500 miles between New Zealand and Australia, with nothing in between. It's also known for its not-so-tropical rainforest, sandflies, and unpredictable weather. What's less advertised, however, is its attachment to the past. Coal mining remains a major industry, and many homes burn the dirty stuff all year round. Despite being surrounded by breathtaking wilderness, people let their cats roam free to prey on native birds. And though we love local pubs that are rough around the edges, it’s confronting to encounter nudie calendars from two years ago proudly displayed behind the bar.
It's like stepping back in time, but not always in a good way.
So the best of the West Coast is the nature and getting into it. We went to a fantastic, dog-friendly (most of the Coast isn't) campground, called Gentle Annie's, for a few days. It's north of Granity (most famous here for the houses which are being lost to the sea) and smack dab on the beach, next to a beautiful river which Molly and I paddled up without being bitten by too many sandflies. Stunning.
Molly the Jack Russell loves paddle boarding even more than I do
Then the boyf was groundcrew as I pedalled the West Coast Wilderness bike trail from Greymouth to Ross, a total of about 150 km (just under 100 miles in old money) and almost all off-road. The second day was mostly uphill, over 50 km and it didn't stop raining, but I loved it.
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More about the NZ West Coast Wilderness bike trail in the next post.
This is an extract of my Illustrated Epistle, which goes out once a month-ish. It is a behind-the-scenes look at my cartooning life. I'd love it if you signed up at the bottom of this page, or here:
http://eepurl.com/cCOOeD
Or head to the archive to read more here.