Punakaiki to Westport

Biked about 35 beautiful, lush, hilly miles today. We left the campground around 9am and only made it a couple miles down the road before stopping at a trail head that took us through the rainforest to the coast in about 15 minutes. The coast was rugged with limestone caves and outcroppings that have been carved by the pounding waves. It was a beautiful way to start out our ride. We continued riding North up the Punakaiki Coast. The road was windy, hugging the coast for the first 1/3 of the day. Lots of hills made for a good workout. Fortunately, the weather couldn't have been better for our ride. Cool and slightly overcast. No real wind to speak of. Dad is back in the saddle and we had a good day's ride. About 1pm we came into a town that had a pub and we tucked ourselves into a delicious lunch. We had worked up a serious appetite with the hills.

We got into Westport at about 4pm. Found another campground with a small chalet that had our name on it. It is nice to be able to have the luxury of a bed and a roof over our head but still have the conveniences of a kitchen, etc. We cleaned up and checked in with home, then headed back to town to explore what the little town has to offer. (Dad said it reminded him of Crescent City if that gives you an idea...) We checked out the harbor. One boat was named President Kennedy. Go figure. We also saw a large vat of oil sitting open on a platform overhanging the water of the harbor... Hmmmn, is that why the water looks so shiny and swirlly??



Dinner was our best meal yet. Found a great pub in town. So all is good. Two tired kids are gonna sleep good tonight!