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Punakiaki Travel Blogs

Background: The Polynesian Maori reached New Zealand in about A.D. 800. In 1840, their chieftains entered into a compact with Britain, the Treaty of Waitangi, in which they ceded sovereignty to Queen Victoria while retaining territorial rights. In that same year, the British began the first organized colonial settlement. A series of land wars between 1843 and 1872 ended with the defeat of the native peoples. The British colony of New Zealand became an independent dominion in 1907 and supported the UK militarily in both World Wars. New Zealand's full participation in a number of defense alliances lapsed by the 1980s. In recent years, the government has sought to address longstanding Maori grievances.

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By Dan n Nic
December 30th 2008

Coast hopping!! Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » West Coast » Punakiaki

Found a little Pixie in the forest!

Hello From the glaciers in the West, we made our way up the moody Coast which changed from thick cloud to bright sunshine in the space of a few minutes! The rugged coastline is almost desolate - not many tourists venture over this way, and only 1% of the population lives here, so, at times we began to feel like the only ones in New Zealand! It was a long, windey drive but each new view of the rocky coastline gave us amazing views, and it made us make a comparrison to Oz - NZ, seems to be so comfortable with [View Full Entry]

By Benje
February 20th 2007

The Trip down the West Coast Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » West Coast » Punakiaki

The ruggid Beauty of the West Coast

The Drive Down the West Coast of the South Island in nz is beautiful. It has such a strange combination of rugid beaches with vast Mountains boarding next to them - weird heh? We stopped in a place called westport Where I decided to try and put some of my training from Australia in surfing to the shores of New Zealand. I went to an area called Tauranga Bay well known to be a good venue for surfing. It was good fun but the water currents in nz are extremely strong not to mention all the undercurrents. I did Okay but [View Full Entry]

By Ebo
December 29th 2006

Nelson, West Coast to Shantytown Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » West Coast » Punakiaki

Nelson

29/12/06 In the morning we went into Nelson and had a coffee at one of the cafes, and had a walk round the shops. It is a lovely place and it was very hot so made it more enjoyable. After that we decided to have a drive up the coast but on the way we stopped at Richmond because there was a market on. It was big and we walked about for around an hour. The only thing we bought was a couple of books for Aunty Tina. Then we drove further on to Motueka on the coast and had lunch [View Full Entry]

By jcwbudworth
November 24th 2006

I love Pancakes Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » West Coast » Punakiaki

Me at the Pancake rocks and blowholes

I decided to stop over for a night at Punakaiki to split the journey from Nelson to Franz Josef. Punakaiki is in the Paparoa National Park and has some famous pancake rocks and blowholes. These are formations of thinly bedded limestone that has been carved over the years by the sea into interesting shapes. I soon realised that the west coast is very wet and windy, a complete change from sunny Abel Tasman. When I arrived in the rain fortunately the owner of the hostel was there to give me a lift. So after getting sorted in the hostel I headed [View Full Entry]

By PhilAndShell
November 24th 2006

Day 18 - Tauranga Bay & Punakaiki Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » West Coast » Punakiaki

Our first stop today was Cape Foulwind. Not much here other than a path along the coast and a lighthouse. After just a few minutes we left again. Our second stop was at the Tauranga Bay to sea a Seal colony. Here there were many seals; pups and adults, males and females, sleeping and playing. There weren't many in the water as there was a huge swell so there was plenty of surf and large crashing waves in every direction. As we followed the West Coast Road south, the sea to our right and huge cliffs and mountains to our left, [View Full Entry]

By Tamsin
October 18th 2006

West coast Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » West Coast » Punakiaki

Split apple rock

Wednesday I had decided I had done enough walking the last few days and it was time to sit down to view the scenery so I got a 3hour water taxi up the Able Tasman coast in the morning and saw some seals- including a baby and split apple rock. The coast line is similar to golden bay- forests on big hills. I then started my 300km journey down the west coast. I stopped of at Buller Gorge with its longest swingbridge in NZ and did a superman swing back across. Not very scary but fun (photo to come). The sandflies [View Full Entry]

By Greeney
July 16th 2006

Fox River Cave Trail Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » West Coast » Punakiaki

View from trail over low fox river

After leaving the pancake rocks we hiked up one last trail before heading back home. Quite fun due to having to cross a river and hiking up some steep sections of rocks and streams. The river was low so we didn't have to cross too large of one but we did have to walk through the freezing snow melt at one part for a bit. [View Full Entry]

By Greeney
July 15th 2006

Paparoa Pancake Rocks Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » West Coast » Punakiaki

View of the coast road

After leaving Arthur's Pass, we headed North on the West Coast up to Punakiaki and Paparoa National Park. We set up my brand new tent which worked great and then walked out to the beach to watch the sun set over the sea. On Sunday we walked the short path out to look at the pancake rocks in Paparoa. After that walk we had a muffin at a cafe where the funny looking bird was walking through all the tables outside looking for food. After finishing the muffin we headed up to the northern edge of Paparoa National Park and went [View Full Entry]

By Tubs
July 8th 2006

On The Road Again. Going Places I Have Never Been. Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » West Coast » Punakiaki

Unbelievable Jeff

Yes we were finally on the road, touring around New Zealand at our leisure. Our first stop was at the town of Hanmer springs. The drive there was a bit crap. It was really drizzly and foggy so we didn't get to see much of the surrounding countryside. The main reason for going to Hanmer Springs (the clue is in the name) was to experience the amazing hot springs they have there. The day as I've already explained was very cold and foggy so stripping of our clothes to bath in the hot springs did at first seem like madness. And [View Full Entry]

By ec
July 7th 2006

Hanmer Springs and Punakaiki - Banana Pancake Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » West Coast » Punakiaki

150 Days on the Road

You join us on a very significant day in our travels. Myself, Mike, and Jonny (the original 3) have been travelling for 150 days now! Whenever I tell anyone this, they always knock me for my enthusiasm over this number. I'm sorry, but when we were around 50 days travelling I said to Mike 'hey, it's almost 50 days gone of our adventure. We should celebrate somehow'. Then we worked out we'd missed it by a day. Then for the ton, a similar conversation arose. And we worked out that we'd missed it by 2 days. So I put the 150 [View Full Entry]

Travel Blog » Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » West Coast » Punakiaki