Day 12 on the South Island

It is day twelve of our four weeks in New Zealand and we already wish we had more time here. The South Island has so many tempting mountain tracks to tramp and such a variety of beaches to explore that we could easily spend months here. We like to play the “what if we lived here” game and imagine what it would be like, but so far have not found any place here that would make us leave home permanently. The oceans are beautiful but too cold, the mountains are gorgeous but many are treeless, some because of the snow and ice, others due to clear cutting ages ago and then sheep farming. I love coming home to our Appalachian mountains after being away, no matter where I have traveled.

The past few days, the sky has colored itself a stormy grey and the rain keeps coming and going but it is not enough to get in our way. I am glad to not be traveling on a bicycle though. We made sure we brought good rain gear on this trip and it has kept us dry and comfortable. We wear quick dry hiking pants and  breathable  rain pants with side zips that slip on easily over our hiking boots so we can adjust to weather changes quickly. I wear a long sleeved T-shirt, my many pocketed travel vest, with a breathable rain jacket/ wind breaker on top as needed . When it gets colder, I add a fleece jacket underneath and gloves. I have not needed my long johns, but it is the beginning of summer here and I have not trekked any serious mountain tops. I have a set of ear pops to keep the wind out of my ears, which I love so much that I bought my daughters each a pair for Christmas this year. They are made of fleece and have a tension spring built into them that holds them onto your ears without touching your hair, making them almost invisible, and are so comfortable I forget I have them on.

Today, we start from our camp north of  Greymouth and continue heading  up the west coast in search of cool rocks, wildlife and vistas.

The morning starts off grey and drippy again but it stops raining as we get out of the van at  Punakaiki and the limestone layered Pancake Rocks, just a little ways up the coast from camp.

Stacks of Pancake Rocks

The rocks really do look like stacks of pancakes and the path winds through some of the rocks, using the natural ledges as steps, reminding me of the stone Appalachian Trail steps going through Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.

The trail winds around up on the cliff, with a view of rocks jutting out of the Tasman Sea and seals  hanging out relaxing on just about every rock down below.

At first they look like rocks themselves, but then your eye gets tuned to seeing them and they are everywhere.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One rock was covered in black birds that I was hoping  may have been Westland Petrels, which nest nearby in burrows, but they are  probably a more common shag.

If we had come at high tide we could have seen Blowholes in some of the sea caves here. Thunderous surge pools bring in waves of kelp and mermaid grass, swirling around and ebbing back out.

 

 

 

New Zealand Flax is blooming red along the pathways, and someone has woven a  frond into a cool shape.

There is a ground dwelling bird called a Weka hanging out near the path. New Zealand has a lot of birds that don’t really fly, which is why many of them are endangered. It is too easy for predators to grab them on the ground and where dogs are even allowed in a park, they must be kept leashed.

We wander back out of Pancakes along a path that looks a lot more tropical than it feels at the moment. I can’t seem to get used to the palm trees that show up everywhere we go.

The next stop is at the Fox river where there are sea caves and a tunnel that locals used to get to a hidden beach on the far side of this point, before there was a road and bridge built.

 

After walking through the tunnel we crossed back over the road and were searching for the trail head to the sea cave. It looked like you had to walk right through the private gardens of some little  cottages to get there, and I did not want to be trespassing. I saw a guy walking across the road bridge, so I back tracked to ask him about the way to go. He turned out to be the caretaker told us to go ahead, it was a public path. The three cottages were tucked away and very private except for that, but it turned out no one was in residence just then, so  we didn’t end up bothering  anyone anyway.

 

The cave was open to the sea on two  sides and to land on the third, so it wasn’t too dark inside, and it was much larger than I expected.

 

 

A very well hidden path around back of the smallest cottage went through a crack in the rock, over a pile of driftwood, and came out on a well hidden beach. We would not have seen this if folks were about.

 

It started raining hard again as we read the sign for the nearby Inland Track.

A major portion of the loop was closed due to a recent Typhoon so we did not feel too bad about not hiking it this trip.

We got back in the van, stopping at Cape Foulwind (where the wind and rain was really very foul) for views of large seal colonies, before heading inland towards the mountains once again.

Even the seals couldn’t find any sun to bath in. They were in the water out of the wind. We decide to drive East into the mountains in hopes of escaping the heavy rain that is forecast for the West coast for the next few days. The West coast of the South Island gets most of the rainfall because the clouds come from the west and get hung up on the mountains. Milford Sound averages 264 inches of rain a year, while Dunedin, on the East Coast, only gets about 28 inches. We are hoping to get ahead of the clouds.

Every now and then a little patch of sunlight pokes it’s way through.

The higher ( and closer) the mountains get, the more naked they appear.

Still trying to get ahead of the clouds. At least the roads are dryer and the wind is less.

Finally we come out into a wide valley with the clouds not quite making it over onto our side.

 

Once we reach the Maruia River Valley follow it upstream and south along Rt 65 heading East again and crossing the mountains south of Nelson Lakes National Park. It was a shame to miss that whole park but the rain was unrelenting at that point. We did get a chance to check out a wild hot spring on the way over, which was situated at the base of a fresh rockslide. I still would have gotten in except that as soon as I knelt down to feel the water, a humongous cloud of biting sand flies descended on my head.I had to give it up. No way was I getting naked with that many hungry sand flies. The water felt nice though and it was a shame to walk away.

As the sun was getting low we entered Hanmer Springs, which is a resort town with fancy golf courses and hot springs. We took a risk and checked into a Top Ten Holiday Park because there did not seem to be much available near there and we were tired. It had good showers and a decent kitchen but not much else going for it. We slept and left first thing in the morning, before anybody else even got up.

Tomorrow we continue to head East and then we’ll swing around North and go back West towards Able Tasman. We might go whale watching if the weather holds off long enough.

-Wendy Lee writing at Edgewise Woods, Gardens and Critters