Pancakes and Blowholes

Punakaiki. Dec. 2008. Ajr

There are many parts of New Zealand that I prefer over the South Island’s West Coast but one stretch of coastline – between Greymouth and Westport – is definitely worth seeing. The bush is beautiful, the seas wild and the river gorges have that ‘forgotten’ quality that makes you think of lost worlds. One of the biggest attractions of course, is the Punakaiki Pancake Rocks and Blowholes – a freakish collection of pancake-like limestone formations that were pushed out of the ocean by seismic action over 30 million years ago. If you want to see huge spouts of water gushing out of the caverns below, make sure you get there at high tide. There’s been a lot of work done on the track and it’s now sealed for most of the way, with plenty of rock-walled lookouts that make for great photo-taking….if you can push your way through the crowds of tourists that is.