Friday 18th February. Hamden.

We or rather I found the light switch! I was lying in bed and saw some switches just behind my head on the roof of the van and suggested that they may be for the lights!! Trouble is when the garage man showed us round the van there was so much to take in that we had forgotten where they were!! Panic over - we have lights for the rest of our trip which is a relief! What an amazing camp site this is, a real Kiwi camp with no extras just the basic necessities. There are 2 toilet blocks, one with hot showers no charge, a small, well stocked camp kitchen and great hosts. There is plenty of space and as it is right by the beach no passing traffic to speak of. Alex is always around and is only too keen to be of help and to give out information. In the morning we walked along the beach and saw the Moeraki boulders which look as if they have come from outer space!
"The Moeraki Boulders are huge spherical stones that are scattered over the sandy beaches, but they are not like ordinary round boulders that have been shaped by rivers and pounding seas. These boulders are classed as septarian concretions, and were formed in ancient sea floor sediments. They were created by a process similar to the formation of oyster pearls, where layers of material cover a central nucleus or core. For the oyster, this core is an irritating grain of sand. For the boulders, it was a fossil shell, bone fragment, or piece of wood. Lime minerals in the sea accumulated on the core over time, and the concretion grew into perfectly spherical shapes up to three metres in diameter.

The original mudstone seabed has since been uplifted to form coastal cliffs. Erosion of the cliffs has released the three tonne captive boulders, which now lie in a haphazard jumble across the beach. Further erosion in the atmosphere has exposed a network of veins, which gives the boulders the appearance of turtle shells."



During our stay I spent many hours walking on the beach sometimes with and sometimes without Nigel. Most of the time I/we were the only people on the beach. For me it was just a magical place and I know that we could both return there and spend much longer there. 
Later in the day I walked up to the village shop, quite a steep hill up there with the added excitement of crossing the railway line. Railway crossings here don't have any barriers or bells just a sign saying that one has to give way to trains! Whilst it may not be a busy line there are several freight trains a day so, especially when in the van, it is wise to make sure that there isn't a train in sight. The village shop is very small and just stocks the basic necessities but it must be a life line for people in the village as it is a fair way to any supermarket. I was much surprised, when chatting to the owner, to find out that he comes from Barnsley (Yorkshire)!!
We both walked up to the village in the evening to buy some fish and chips, real fish and chips, what a treat.
And so to bed with lights working and an improvement on putting together the jigsaw of a bed!