Punakaiki to Karamea

Pictures will never do justice to Punakaiki's Pancake Rocks because half of their beauty is in their music: Shocking booms, bass teapots coming to a boil, the slap of spray like giants rinsing clean a flagstone floor.


You can see why the mysterious Pancake Rocks are thus labeled... 


The Surge Pool when a swell arrives. Swell, huh! 


The Surge Pool when the swell is sucked back out again.  

We arrived about an hour before high tide, and thus were the only ones in the park as we journeyed along the short bush walk to view the Tasman Sea and the Pancake Rocks.

We were lucky in that the Pancake Rocks are so spectacular, as the king tide rolled in, so did all the tour buses. We've never been so appreciative of travelling during the off season!

We continued our drive in our fabulous rental: a Holden Cruze. Grey clouds and grey rain pouring over the grey sea proving "Grey Valley" an apt name for this region of NZ. We arrived safely in Karamea and checked into The Last Resort, a very decent place with a tree-house-like feel to it. (Their restaurant serves a decent fish-n-chips, too.)

Being Safety Girl, I pulled on my raingear before we continued on to the Oparara Basin and the Honeycomb Caves for our guided tour to see fossilized bones of the now extinct moa and Haast eagle. I was particularly excited about the Haast eagle.

As we walked through the rainforest en route to the caves, it began to pour as befits a rainforest. I was extremely thankful for my Marmot breathable raingear and my waterproof Gortex hiking boots! I could really enjoy the rainforest in all its glory - as an astute Swede once pointed out: "There is no bad weather, only bad gear."

Regrettably, although Laura and Melanie had brought their raingear along, in the process of putting it on in the middle of a torrential downpour, they became soaked. Except for Melanie's feet, which were clad in her new, waterproof hiking boots. We sloshed along, Melanie occasionally remarking how nice and toasty her feet were.

In a while, we entered the shelter of the Honeycomb Cave, accessible only with a guide or special permit. We saw many moa fossils, but I was quite shattered to discover that the Haast eagle bones had been moved to the Te Papa museum. Melanie assures me that I did in fact see them when we were there.

Ah well, win some, lose some, and it's hard to lose when one is in NZ. I learned a lot from our guide, and Melanie was delighted by the magic of subterranean NZ.

Kia Ora!