26 January 2011

220 Km (by Lucy)

The skeleton key rattled in the keyhole while Gina chanted “Please don’t be a dump.  Please don’t be a dump.”  We are at the Beachside Holiday Park in the roadside blip of Punakaiki, entering the $41 cabin we rented for the night, hopeful that after sleeping the past 10 nights in a tent, we can relax into a cozy cabin.  We might be cheap-o’s but we are definitely not dirty-o’s.  What did we find as the door swung open?  Well, we can relax in the sense of having solid bunks upon which to lay our heads (complete with vinyl, inflatable pillows thoughtfully provided by management for our use which in some small disgusting way that one really doesn’t want to think too hard about makes sense) and the cabin is fairly tidy, making for a decent indoor night’s rest, but overall, this one gets classified in our Dump category.

We are here in Punakaiki at the recommendation of a very nice man who chatted us up at the Franz Josef Holiday Park.  Recommendations can often be dodgy propositions, particularly those from strangers.  Do we like the same things?  Do we enjoy the same kinds of places?  One never knows.  But with no other concrete plan except that we were headed this direction and why not make it a shorter than longer day in the car, we decided to heed his advice.  “My favorite place in all of New Zealand!” he enthusiastically proclaimed.  “Most folks just go look at the Pancake Rocks and keep on going” he said, shaking his head sadly, indicating that those most folks were making the biggest mistake of their lives.  We figured with such enthusiasm, how could we go wrong.

Well, we really should withhold our judgment until we have fully investigated this Punakaiki, beyond the limited boundaries of our holiday park, but at first glance and based on the current vibe of the area – a backpacker-y, granola-y, I-smoke-dope-y kind of feel – we are wondering if maybe there is a reason why most folks look at the Pancake Rocks and keep on going.