Haast to Hokitika

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Another 4 hour drive which took us along the west coast past 2 glaciers and Mount Cook. We didn't see any of it as the rain came down like stair rods all the way. It was fine the following morning but we had no time to return so we continued our journey north to Westport. On the way we stopped at Punakaiki which is famous for the pancake rocks, so called because they look like stacked up versions. They were formed 350 million years ago by a build up of marine fossils and subsequent erosion has exposed them in their current state. The incoming tide combined with a large swell from the Tasman Sea crates a spectacular sight as the sea explodes through the blowholes in the rock formation.

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Photos

Old man of the sea
This drifted up from the shore and I couldn't resist a sit down

Pancake rocks
350 million years old and after the hike down here I feel like it.

There she blows
No not a whale but the blowhole in the pancake rocks. The fine spray makes a rainbow in the sunlight

Raw power
Another wave crashes through the blowhole and you can hear a deafening roar

More pancakes
A different view looking north

Is this a mermaid
Despite recovering from a chest infection and breathlessness, Sue made the effort to see this spectacle.

Comments

[josie]

Different clothes! yay! home mum feeling better soon x