Another Earthquake???

Happy Labour Day Weekend (I think)

Up about 8:00, went to have a shower and crappy showers. You have to press a button on a black box to get hot water for the shower, then it takes 3 minutes for any warm water to reach the shower, and you climb in, and start shampooing, then the black box times out, you're out of hot water, and have to wait 2 minutes for the black box to reset before you can press the button again. And you never do get hot water anyway. It's not even luke warm. THIS IS NOT THAILAND, GIVE US PROPER HOT WATER!! (That's what I wrote in the hostel's comments books).

Finished showering and then ate, checked out, left Westport about 9:30. Drove along the Buller Gorge. The road is very picturesque. In a couple of spots, the road reverts back to only one lane, as it careens around a sheer cliff. You have to wait for any oncoming traffic (if you can see it!) before going forth. Hawk's Crag, one of these, is a half-tunnel chiselled out of the rock cliff in 1869.

Stopped at the Buller Gorge Swingbridge and walked over from the parking lot to the bridge only to find out that you have to pay $5 to walk across it. I paid it, because on the other side of the bridge, there was a faultline that slipped 4.5 metres in a 1929 earthquake. CAlled the White Creek faultline.

As I was walking along the faultline, a vague memory inched into my mind. I had a very vague recollection of something happening last night, but couldn't quite remember. I kept thinking about it as I walked, and slowly I remembered being awakened by a low rumbling sound last night. I kept thinking about it more, and then I remembered hearing the house joints pop and crack and rattle and squeak a bit. That's about all I remembered, just barely, and then started wondering if it was maybe a dream, which is why I was having trouble remembering it. I made a mental note to check the NZ geoscience website when I hit the internet next.

Continued along the highway, stopped at Kawatiri Historic Railway Bridge and tunnel walk, about a 30 minute walk over and through an old railway bridge and tunnel that was built and then enver used!

Kept going, stopping at Bell Summit for views before hitting Nelson about 3:30. Checked into the Green Monkey hostel, then walked downtown to use internet.

Checked the geoscience website and sure enough, there was a quake last night!!! It was centred only 10km from Westport (I was in Westport!). It happened at 11:58PM last night. It was only a crappy 3.3 on the Richter Scale, though. Two earthquakes in two weeks! How lucky can I get??? Maybe with a little luck, one of the volcano's on the north island will erupt when I'm there!!!

Back to the hostel, had supper, then wrote in journal, read my Lonely Planet and Let's Go, trying to decide what to do tomorrow, decided to head up to Abel Tasman National Park area, apparently one of the most beautiful areas in NZ. Watched TV, then to bed.

Heard on the radio today that Sept. 4 is National Penis Day in NZ.

When I was walking downtown, passed a pub, the Pheasant Plucker. Reminded me of an Irish Rovers Song, Pheasant Pluckers Son. Goes something like:
I'm not a pheasant plucker
I'm a pheasant plucker's son
Sitting plucking pheasants
Until the pheasant plucker comes.