NZ Day 5 - Punakaiki

Christmas! The idea was that the coastal towns of Greymouth and (the nearby) Punakaiki would be the perfect place to relax while we celebrated Christmas. And stay, relatively, in one place.

After getting ready, we headed up the coast about an hour to Punakaiki. Punakaiki is mostly known for its pancake rocks and blowholes. Its coast, in general, is beautiful, as well.

To get to the pancake rocks (see photos to see where they get their name), we had a wonderful hike through some low-lying vegetation to get to Dolomite Point (location of pancake rocks and the blowholes).

We spent quite a bit of time watching for water shooting out of the blowholes (didn't see much) and the waves come crashing in underneath us (the walkway goes over arched rock where the water flows under) and crash into the walls and churn around. The scenery, of course, was plenty to take in by itself, as was the sounds of crashing waves.

Next up we drove a little further north to another hiking trail through some rainforest and down to a relatively secluded beach. This beach was unique in that the "sand" grains were rather large... more like millions of very tiny multicolored stones. Very beautiful to see... kind of challenging to walk on barefoot.

There were also these big sandstone boulders which were nigh perfect for bouldering on. Though, walking on them was quite prickly. Nevertheless, Robert, Vanessa, and I climbed on top of them and walked around.

This beach was part of a small bay and the waves sharply crashed into the beach; the water was very choppy. Since the terrain wrapped around the beach pretty well... the water didn't have much area to flow back out and there were signs posted warning people not to swim. I think it mentioned undercurrents. There were probably some rip tides in there, too... had to be... I'm just not trained enough to easily pick them out. So, bottom line is that swimming, despite the water being very chilly, would be a 50-50 death wish. We very much enjoyed watching it, though.

Random side note: Inward was a nice waterfall with a dead seal close by. About 100 yards from there was a live seal. Strange and cool to see. With the live one, I stayed away as I read they can be aggressive if you come between them and the ocean (and it was up near the rock wall); implied here, you see, is that I DID get a close inspection of the dead one. :)

At this beach we did learn about sandflies (and experience all of their biting wonder). New Zealand is amazingly absent of anything that harms you or is a nuisance... no snakes, few mosquitoes, very few harmful spiders (someone mentioned there is one with a poisonous bite that could kill a person if the bite, say, got infected and wasn't treated), no big cats... I mean... there are sharks as with most beaches... probably jellies in there, too, but really... in NZ the weather is one of the most dangerous things. However, sandflies are special.

We walked all through the jungle and weeds/grasses, and whatever... nothing bothered us... except sandflies.

And my, oh my, are those little black things aggressive. They can even draw blood. And their bite can leave a mark that, besides itching, can swell and last for over a week. While we did eventually learn to tolerate these little guys and also buy some repellant, we got quite a few bites... especially Robert (which led to him to going through more than one tube of anti-itch gel). Personally, I think God was teaching Robert some kind of lesson... because I think he has been making fun of Vanessa since mosquitoes seem to be so attracted to her in the States.

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Moving on. We headed slightly south from there to a massive beach that we had to hike out along a river to get to. The trail was barely visible through tall, thick weeds and grasses as well as some overhanging trees... one of my favorite types of trails. :)

Along the way Robert and I took off our shoes and walked out into the very cold water of the river to look for interesting rocks and particularly any that looked like jade (NZ has a lot of jade and, while we found a lot of green rock, we're not sure if it jade or not... though it looks *reeaally* cool -- nevertheless. Lots of wonderfully colored rocks to look at, pick up, and throw.

After hiking for awhile, the river and trail flowed into the beach and ocean. This beach was almost the opposite of the first... huge, wide open, and quite flat. The sand was less finer but still dark.

We walked around for awhile. I collected some seashells. Robert and Vanessa wrote "Merry Christmas '08" in the sand to take photos of to remember the occasion... as well as taunt family and friends. Did I say "taunt"? Nooo, I meant "share with". Surely.

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It was then back to the hostel for an early Christmas dinner. It was a wonderful atmosphere with such an eclectic group with people from places like Germany, Israel, Britain, Asia, etc. Some of them cooked dishes from their home country. I don't really remember what we had... but I do remember that I loved sharing it with them.

Of course, I missed my family and friends back home. I usually do. But this was such an enriching experience and I'm glad for it.

After dinner, Robert spent probably an hour cleaning dishes with me mildly helping while talking to various people in the kitchen. Dishes are not my favorite thing to do... and unless it needs to be done I shy away from it. So, I was glad to see Robert so ambitious about it (Thank You! Robert :).

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There was still plenty of daylight, so we took a long walk and looped around town and through a park. It was very quiet. There were a few skateboarders and some random people driving around. Even for Christmas, though, it seemed so very quiet.

And strange. To see the Christmas lawn decorations on perfectly manicured green grass in front of houses reminiscent of 1950's suburban architecture (the houses may have been built back then... but most were in good condition).

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Sometime during this day, Robert and I played a game of chess while Vanessa graciously and patiently watched. He won (which I guess was revenge for the smackdowns I've laid on him the last few times we've played :). Of course, I'm looking forward to playing him again, hopefully, soon.

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Sooooo, it was a very merry, warm, and pleasant Christmas day. One I'll remember for life (and really, how many Christmas' can we say that about? This one probably falls in the top five, somewhere behind probably my most memorable (and cherished) Christmas... my family's Pioneer Christmas way back when I was 15... but that is another story.

We then got some sleep. The next day it was back to crazy long days of driving along the NZed coast and through hilly/mountainous terrain (and probably dozens of one lane bridges). Oh, and one amazing hike through a rain forest and on a glacier. More on this to come. :)

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