Sunday 30th November 2008

Foul Wind Seals Super Birthday

The seal colony at Cape Foulwind was the attraction for this afternoon. The Cape was named by Captain Cook in 1770 when his ship was hammered mercilessly by gales on March 20th and 21st but we spent an hour there today in beautiful sunshine.

The kekeni or fur seals were almost wiped out when Europeans arrived in New Zealand and slaughtered them for their pelts but numbers are rising now and the colony here is well set.

The birthday morning started in fine style with a birthday text from Ruth and several presents and cards, including some lovely jewellery from Dave and more from Tina & Charlie and a fluffy scarf from Gwen.

After a relaxing lounge in the large spa bath we had breakfast watching England v New Zealand from Twickenham and Boro v Newcastle from the Riverside.

Several lovely birthday emails followed before we set out to explore the town - not much to discover! - and visit the Coal Town Museum.

This evening we plan to eat (courtesy of our delightful five “children”) at the Yellow House, conveniently situated next door.

Jean

Westport is nothing much to write home about but its museum tells of more interesting times when coal mining and logging in and around the area were big business. Mining at Denniston about 10 miles away was 600 metres up and coal was brought down in rail wagons on an amazingly steep track which at times neared a 1 in 2 drop. The brake (pictured) was obviously an important part of the set-up described by fans as the eighth wonder of the world. Operations ended in the mid 1960s after 80 years of producing high quality coal. Dave