The Wild West Coast 2 - Punakaiki Rocks and Cavern

We were in Punakaiki primarily to see the Pancake Rocks, but the best time to see them was at high tide. We needed to wait until early afternoon, so we had a leisurely morning doing laundry and schoolwork.

Then we went to see the rocks. We all LOVED this. 

The Pancake Rocks are part of a heavily eroded limestone area where the sea bursts through underwater channels and escapes via blowholes. The rocks date back some 30 million years and were formed as layers on the seabed, which eventually rose under seismic action. Since then, water, wind, and salt spray have been eroding the softer layers, leaving a ‘pancake’ stack of harder limestone. 

Later we explored the new Punakaiki visitor museum and got to feel what it would be like to stand on top of a blowhole. It was … interesting.

There were lots of other interesting exhibits on Maori basket-making, the first English explorers, the birds in the area (Kiwi, Kea, Weka, Tui, Fantail and many others). We learned about the greenstone (jade) Pounamu.  

Afterwards, we explored the Punakaiki Cavern. There was an official sign out front and a path in, but after that, you just kind of wandered around in the cavern. We had been warned to bring headlamps and I’m glad we did because it was pitch black, and a bit alarming. I felt like I understood how Tom Sawyer and Becky got lost in the cave and I was pretty happy when we agreed to go back. 

The next morning we had planned to kayak on the Paparoa River, but we could not because the river was at flood stage, so instead we opted for a short hike on the Paparoa Track. This was a pretty several mile section along the Paparoa river. There was plenty of moss to ogle, as well as some interesting trees and birds.

Tom and Sammy thought they might have seen the allusive Kiwi, but it turns out to have been a Weka.

We were starting to learn more about the birds of New Zealand than our own North American mid-Atlantic variety.