27 January 2011

13 Km (by Foot)

Okay, so I was a little harsh in yesterday’s blog entry, for this Punakaiki isn’t as bad as initially thought.  Although not a place we would necessarily recommend one take the time to visit should they be on a tight schedule, we are not on such a schedule and ended up having a perfectly enjoyable day.  Plus it helps to wake up on a mattress that is not of the inflatable variety.

First activity of the day was centered around visiting the Pancake Rocks or that thing that most folks do before continuing on.  Since their name conjurs up images of a hearty breakfast, we couldn’t visit them without spending a small fortune on two take-away Flat Whites.  With our blown budget trailing us around the South Island, this took much discussion before allowing ourselves such a (now) extravagant treat.  The walk around the rocks was pleasant enough, their composition reminding us of the Pinnacle Rocks at Crater Lake and the setting a bit like the Oregon Coast.  See, the Pacific Northwest really does have it all.

Walking the rocks was followed by walking the Punakaiki-Pororari Rivers Loop track, a fine tramp in the shaded, jungle-like setting of this Lost-looking world.  We have entered a part of New Zealand that is quite unexpected, feeling more Australia/Hawaii’ish with its limestone cliffs, organic-stained rivers, and bushy palms.  It also feels like we could stumble across a pot-growing farm any minute but not in any dangerous sort of way but more in a Peace, Love and play me some Grateful Dead groove.  So we’ll give Punakaiki a one-thumbs up and one more night not in the tent, the other.