Day 7: Arthur's Pass to Monteith's Brewery
The train stops at Arthur's Pass before continuing on to Greymouth. We are headed to Greymouth, but we get off the train at Arthur's Pass to join Ricky and the bus because it is faster to drive the rest of the way than to stay on the train.
The bus stops so we can see a viaduct that we will be driving over. At one point the slope of the road reaches 16%. I'm happy to leave the driving to the professionals.
We also stop briefly by a hotel that has a Gollum statue (from Lord of the RIngs). I think there were also Smaug and Gandalf figures.
We also pass by a town called Moana (not making this up), by a lake
When we reach the town of Greymouth, we first stop by the area where the Grey river meets the sea. The town gets its name from this, being placed at the mouth of the Grey river. We see the turbulent Tasman Sea that separates New Zealand from Australia. There is also a restored WW II pillbox that you can check out.
Lunch is at Monteith's Brewery.
ABD covers 2 beers per person of drinking age, plus the buffet lunch.