The South Island: Day 2

We started the day off with a ride in a Haagland (the vehicle pictured below).  Our driver took us through a river, rain forest and over muddy hills and valleys. It was a bumpy fun ride.

Flamm Family after our bumpy dirty Haagland ride.

    

After our ride we visited Shantytown, a town that is reminiscent of the early days of Greymouth.  We learned about panning for gold, rode a train powered shoveling coal to produce steam, completed a picture scavenger hunt, and played at the playground that had a fun zip line.  Overall a fun experience.

We then drove to our next destination only 40 minutes north, Punakaiki.  After checking into our room (the middle one in the picture below), the younger kids and I climbed down to the beach.

 The beach was beautiful, although a little chilly.  The kids enjoyed having their feet sink into the sand near the rocks.  The following morning the tide was in and the rocks we were sitting on were completely submerged.