West Coast

Karamea is another town at the end of the road, it is 100km from anywhere. This sleepy little place is the starting point for the Heaphy and Wangapeka tracks into The Kahurangi National Park, it is actually further north than Wellington.
We had the long beach to ourselves but there is a lot of coast to come so we'll spare you the photo of that one because the drive from Westport to Greymouth is as dramatic as any you will take.

Driving south you are flanked on the right side by beaches, bays and cliffs reminiscent of the California coast and on the left by the steep bushy slopes of the Paparoa Range with miles of flax plants and Nikau palms (like upturned dusters).

Another place which does not get much of a mention in our guide book is Punakaiki, site of the Pancake Rocks and Blowholes.

This is The Chimney, it looks like steam but is actually the spray created by the waves crashing into the openings in the rocks, which have been created by millions of years of erosion, and forcing the water up the blowhole (look closely for the rainbow).

Nature has also created geologically fascinating rock formations, layers of limestone which have been worn away over thousands of years and look like tall stacks of pancakes. We enjoyed this spectacle and as it was late in the afternoon we decided to stay nearby and watch the sunset from the beach, the sand colour has now changed from the gold of Tasman Bay to grey/black.