Over the rainbow

North from Westport into wild and remote beauty primarily by enjoyed by the cows. What I've seen of the west coast is mostly miles of farm land bumping up against a ferocious ocean (definitely no swimming). Spent the first night at a really old campground at Mokihinui. Here's a panorama from the sea wall behind the campground to give you an idea of how desolate and beautiful it is here:

Went inland a bit to hike an old mining road near Seddonville and ended up staying at the Seddonville campground for 2 nights - it is an old schoolhouse that the community maintains as a disaster relief place for people to congregate at when it floods (happens a lot apparently) - I had the whole place to myself and very much enjoyed a day of reading and relaxation. Then off to the end of the road north of Karamea to the start of the Heaphy track (another great walk that I would love to do someday). Took a day hike to Scott's beach enough to get a feel for the beauty of the track.
The shabby sunset last night ;)

Woke this morning to a reminder of the power of mother nature. Hard wind and rain put a damper on my plan to return back south a bit to the Oparara basin to hike to the arch and start of the caves of the region. A real cave tour must be guided and booked in advance for a minimum of 2 people - it's a protected area. Rain here swells creeks and prevents a lot of day hiking besides this was a gale not just a bit of rain. So I headed back for Westport, only to be stopped at Ngakawau (knock-a-wow) the bridge was flooded out and likely won't be open until tomorrow. Back to Mokihinui but this time I'm staying over the river at Gentle Annie campground where I can get the first wifi I've seen since leaving Westport. The sun is out at the moment, we'll see what tomorrow brings. I heard more rain tonight but the weather forecasts here seem to be especially bad and the weather changes really fast. I'm tempted to return over the mountains to try the Oparara Basin again it really seems like something I don't want to miss.
I'm starting to wonder if I took the wonderful weather for the first month I was here for granted. I suspect fall and winter might be a bit harder to get out into and enjoy.
  
On another note, I'm loving the freedom that a vehicle provides (buses don't even run where I am atm). It is barely big enough but with a small air mattress in the back it's actually pretty comfortable to sleep in. I would really like to buy a camp chair but there is literally no place to store it.

I opened up comments to the world - so please post something and let me know someone is reading all this drivel! Love you all :)