NZ Day 7: Go Westport

What to do when you have no whales, no food-look-a-like rock formations, no fiords? Some people at the Buller river decided to create their own tourist attraction by building the longest, one person, swing bridge of New Zealand. Walking on a shaky construction high above the Buller makes it instantly clear why it is called a swing bridge. For the way back, the enterprising bridge builders came up with a second thrill: riding back across the river in a harness suspended from a wire. I found that the 35$ they wanted for this 30 seconds of additional adrenalin was a bit steep, so I walked. A group of 75-85 year olds from the North Island seemed to be more adventure minded. They all went on the ride. "Got to do these things while you are still alive", one lady told me. She does have a point.

Tonight in Westport, after a great dinner at the Yellow Café, we tried to catch the sun setting in the Tasman Sea. Unfortunately it was hidden by some low clouds. On the way back from the sunset point, we caught a wonderful moon rising instead.