From Nelson, we drove another white knuckle drive, 5 hours to Hanmer Springs. Hanmer Springs is located at the foothills of the mountains and is known for its hot springs and tramping. Unfortunately, it was too rainy to hike and communal hot springs are not our cup of tea. The town is very quaint and lovely though and we enjoyed our AirBNB hosts Elaine and Andy.
(See Photos) We had planned to drive down the east side of the South Island from there, but the weather changed and it looked better to head back over to the west side. So we only stayed one night, in another lovely AirBNB, and left for Westport the next day.
It was another 4 hour drive on wet winding roads to get to Westport. We stayed in a hotel there and the next day was rainy, so I did laundry and planned our next activities. The following day rained, but we did get in a short hike along the coast to see the seals. Westport is pretty basic in terms of places to stay and eat, but we did find a great restaurant, the Day House, with a nice view over the ocean. We also went to the Coaltown Museum that was all about the mining of coal in the region. Believe it or not, we spent a couple hours there as it was very interesting. The following day was beautiful, so left for Punakaiki.
Punakaiki Pancake Rocks & Blowholes
The one-hour drive to Punakaiki was a beautiful coastline drive. Just before Punakaiki, we stopped to do a hike at the Pororari River. The trail was about a 5-mile hike along the river, through the forest, through a small cave, and across a foot bridge.
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We then went to Pancake Rocks. There is an easy 20-minute loop walk to get down to the Pancake Rocks and blow holes. Pancake Rocks are limestone formations that began forming 30 million years ago, when lime-rich fragments of dead marine creatures were deposited on the seabed, then overlaid by weaker layers of soft mud and clay. The seabed was raised above sea level by earthquakes to form the coastal cliffs and coastline. The sea, wind and rain have since etched out the soft layers to form the unusual rock formations that look like stacks of pancakes. And, we timed are arrival to be there during high tide to see the shooting geysers of sea spray as the ocean swells thunder into the caverns beneath the rocks.
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Cheers! G&T