Before leaving Westport, I decided to take a quick look around some back streets.
Around one particular turn, I discovered this magnificent monument to the town’s fallen soldiers – their Gates of Remembrance:
I hopped off the bike and walked through the right hand smaller gate near the middle arch, letting my fingers stroke the stone as I passed.
Nearly all the towns I’ve visited appeared to have varying displays honouring their dead from both world wars. In retrospect, I suppose the length of the lists determined the eventual size of the monument.
There was a large, grassed area further along the path. I presume they hold their memorial parades there.
Seapuppies
Sea doggos, ocean puppies, fur seals, call them what you will. I had to see the colony.
As promised, a short ride out of Westport led me to the gate at the end of the Cape Foulwind Walkway.
A nearby sign proudly stated that the walk would take an hour to complete.
AN HOUR?!
Yep. The seapuppies were 2.9 kilometres away.
What happened to the 10 minute walk from the carpark?!
Adding insult to injury, the gate was chained shut.
Frustrated, I pulled out my phone and fired up Google Maps.
Yes, the walkway would take me to the seal colony. But so would… ah! There was a turnoff further down the road that would lead to the carpark I heard about.
A short ride later, I was in the right place and trekking once again, to meet some fur seals.
Despite my whinge, it really did only take 10 minutes to get to the platform, so, sorry lady at the counter.
As soon as I arrived at the platform, a fur seal fumbled its way out of the freezing water and sat on a rock. If it wasn’t moving, I wouldn’t have been able to pick it out from the rock it was on.
Once I got the hang of spotting them, I realised they were everywhere!