Greymouth

Greymouth didn't get a lot of our attention. It essentially was a stopover on our way north. However, we did get a chance to enjoy it a little bit. We arrived in town after visiting Franz Josef Glacier earlier on. We thought about making some other stopovers, but decided to get to Greymouth, hit up the grocery store, and visit Monteith's Brewery. And that is exactly what we did.

Monteith's Brewery.

We arrived at the brewery shortly before the 6pm tour. The cost of the tour included 3 tastes of beer, so we went ahead and got our first one before the tour started. But even before we did that, we had to put our safety gear on. Which included a bright orange florescent vest and rainboots (aka gumboots).

Safety first.

We did the tour, which is pretty similar to most other brewery tours. It went by relatively quick, and was just about standard. The brewery is about mid-size and only does the specialty craft beers at that location. The main beers are produced elsewhere in New Zealand. After the tour, we got to try their American Pale Ale, in addition to the 3 tastes we were able to choose from the bar.

American Pale Ale.

After the tour, we continued to drink the rest of our tastes and then hung out for a while since they had reliable wifi. It's possible we got a little tipsy. I'm not sure how that happened, but maybe it was all that hiking and not enough snacking. That was a sign to get something to eat, not get another drink. So we headed back to the hostel to make dinner, drink some wine, and play a version of Heads Up with some other folks. Definitely entertaining when you have 2 Germans, an English guy, and an American in the mix. Surprisingly TV shows was a good category to play.

Before leaving Greymouth the following morning, I went for a short run around town and to see the Tasman Sea. There were a couple of reasons we weren't staying long in Greymouth. It was pretty much just a town to stay in on the way to the northern part of the South Island and we didn't really hear much about it. During my run, it validated only one night. There really isn't too much going on, even though I think they are trying to revamp the old mining town. This part of New Zealand was also known for the gold rush, and has a deserted feeling to it. But I did take my run to the sea, and it was nice, even in it's bleakness. Quite beautiful actually. Maybe not good for swimming, but cool to look at. 

The Tasman Sea.

I got back and we did our normal routine, and got on the road. We were trying to meet a friend of mine in Abel Tasman Park, and I was hoping that timing would work out. Although we had a bit of a drive ahead of us.