After a lovely couple days in the Abel Tasman, we left the gorgeous sandy beaches for a slightly rougher coast. We drove south west along the Buller River through gorgeous valleys and even came across an international kayaking and other watercraft competition. We pulled over to enjoy the unexpected entertainment and watched several kayakers battling the rapids in an attempt to paddle upstream to make it through one of the hanging gates in the river. We enjoyed the drastic landscape changes from vineyards to high mountains and river valleys as we headed to the west coast for some more site seeing.
We stopped for some walking near Cape Fowlwind at Tauronga Bay, where we watched the waves crashing loudly on the rocky shore (and surfers attempting to get a wave...) while seals enjoyed the sun. We then headed further south to Punakaiki, taking the curvy and windy road along the coast enjoying the views around each bend. We stopped near Fox River after spotting some really neat rock formations from the side of the road. We walked across the strong current in the river to reach a massive rock cave right on the beach and climbed over huge piles of drift wood (all of which mom wanted to collect) to get to fun rocky archways and beach pools.
With the sun getting lower, we headed to our final destination for the day, Punakaiki - known for its pancake rocks and booming blow holes. It was a lovely walk through a small park to the pancake rocks, which are worn in a variety of neat formations by the power of the sea. Since it was near low tide when we arrived, we didn't experience the force of the blowholes but we were able to see numerous underwater caverns and carved rocks only visible with the tide out.
After enjoying the rocks at Punakaiki and listening to the waves echoing within the caverns, we took a walk on the Truman track to another nearby beach with beautiful rock formations and that, instead of sand, was made up of tons of tiny little rounded pebbles. We stood under mammoth rock formations, were sprayed by a waterfall, and enjoyed the feel of the pebbles on our feet. We could have stayed for hours but decided to go find our accommodations while there was still light on the road and people to help if we got lost.
After a lovely evening in Punakaiki, we awoke to Mom's birthday and headed back to the pancake rocks to get one more look at the spectacle before heading east. Timing it so the tide would be higher, we enjoyed the boom of the blow holes which were just starting there explosive pattern (this was still about 3 hours before high tide!).
The Buller River
We stopped for some walking near Cape Fowlwind at Tauronga Bay, where we watched the waves crashing loudly on the rocky shore (and surfers attempting to get a wave...) while seals enjoyed the sun. We then headed further south to Punakaiki, taking the curvy and windy road along the coast enjoying the views around each bend. We stopped near Fox River after spotting some really neat rock formations from the side of the road. We walked across the strong current in the river to reach a massive rock cave right on the beach and climbed over huge piles of drift wood (all of which mom wanted to collect) to get to fun rocky archways and beach pools.
The West Coast of the South Island
With the sun getting lower, we headed to our final destination for the day, Punakaiki - known for its pancake rocks and booming blow holes. It was a lovely walk through a small park to the pancake rocks, which are worn in a variety of neat formations by the power of the sea. Since it was near low tide when we arrived, we didn't experience the force of the blowholes but we were able to see numerous underwater caverns and carved rocks only visible with the tide out.
Punakaiki
The Truman Track
The beach at the end of the Truman Track
Cool rocks stretching out into the ocean that have been worn away by the waves
Gorgeous sunset on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island
After a lovely evening in Punakaiki, we awoke to Mom's birthday and headed back to the pancake rocks to get one more look at the spectacle before heading east. Timing it so the tide would be higher, we enjoyed the boom of the blow holes which were just starting there explosive pattern (this was still about 3 hours before high tide!).
Punakaiki Blow Holes (half way to high tide)
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