Punakaiki, Hokitika and a Probable Change of Plans

In miserable weather we set off from Karamea and headed south. All the rivers which the previous day had been trickles running through stone beds were now raging torrents. In hindsight I wish we’d taken pics of some of these torrents but at the time we didn’t want to get soaked.

By lunchtime we’d reached Punakaiki famous for it’s pancake rocks which are a section of layered limestones carved by the wind and sea into some very interesting features. The weather by now was easing and by the time we’d eaten lunch the rain was down to a fine albeit cold drizzle. We set off to see the rocks. The path that took us round the formations was very well laid out and informative and bar a voluntary donation at the end it was free. It even stopped raining during our hurried stay.

We pushed on south. By the time we reached Greymouth the northerly moving front passed us by and suddenly we were in full sunshine. We soon reached Hoktika and we found a backpacker lodge called ‘Birdsong’ to stay for the night in a very nice double room overlooking the still raging sea. Having acquired the room we drove into town to take a look around. The town is famous for it’s jade shops which we took a brief look at. The big surprise was last week on the beach they’d had a driftwood art competition and all the ‘sculptures’ were still there. They were fascinating and a complete surprise.

In the evening we had a takeaway and spent the time after in the communal lounge chatting with a couple of the other guests, both of whom were quite interesting. One was cycling round New Zealand and the other was the only female salvage team leader in a male dominated industry.

Looking ahead the weather dominates the picture. On the west coast, today remains fine for most of the day but then turns foul for days on end. Over on the east coast it is forecast to be fine for many days. So we’re thinking about deferring on the glaciers until a later date as we really want to see them and hike amongst them in full sunshine. Christchurch is 3 hours away through a mountain pass. There could well be things to do along the route. We have some planning to do.