We were sad to leave Karamea, we really loved that it was so secluded and yet had all that you would need in such a small town. The weather was not great as we left and we had rain in the morning. By the time we got to Punakaiki, the weather was perfect. The tide was in and the beaches looked amazing with the white crested rollers slamming their way to the shore.
Punakaiki is known for the pancake rocks and blowholes and as the tide was high and the wind was in the right direction, they really did not disappoint. This is probably a good time to tell you that while almost all the pictures are mine, except from some really good ones from Rob, they are just a drop in the ocean of the numbers of pictures that we take at each location. Also we have been using the Insta 360 (you can google to see what that is) and so we have a boat load of video that Rob will edit when we get home. Don’t worry, we are not going to subject you to the extra photos and video. We also hiked up the Punakaiki river and gorge as far as the swing bridge that anfternoon and that was an interesting path.
We drove on down to Hokitika and checked into our motel. Off into town for a lovely Thai dinner and then parked by the shore and waited for what turned out to be, a pretty lovely sunset.
The next day we drove up to Lake Kaniere and hiked as far as we could before having to turn back as the path was very muddy and waterlogged and my leaping distance is not what it was. We drove up to Hokitika Gorge and were treated to the most amazing turquoise waters that ran through the gorge. According to the “Google” The water of Hokitika Gorge appears a mesmerising shade of turquoise blue due to the presence of glacial flour in the water. Glacial flour is a fine, silt-like sediment that is created by the grinding of rocks by glaciers. So now you are as informed as we were.
Into town again for a walk out to the point where Rob decided to reenact the scene from the Titanic, this would have been more impressive if you could have seen him trying to balance his camera at the right angle on the rocks, set the 10 second timer and then run like hell to get back onto the boat and in position.
That evening we had a really great meal at Stumpers in town, the Salmon was soft and moist and the vegetables were cooked to perfection. We shared a meringue and ice cream sundae (well I had a few spoons and Rob ate the rest) back to the hotel and left the next morning for our next location