It is Saturday, February 13 and we are back on the bus
headed for our scenic circle drive along the west coast to the northern end of
the Southern Alps.
Our first stop was for a walk on the Punakaiki (Pancake
Rocks) in Paparoa National Park. This is a fascinating formation of stacked
rocks formed undersea and over millions of years pushed up and eroded. They
really do look like a stack of pancakes.
They were formed of limestone layered
with mudstone. The mudstone eroded away leaving the pancake formations of
limestone. In addition this rock has eroded and formed caves and crevices which
create “blow holes” (sprays of tidal water) when conditions are right. What a
lovely walk!
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| Paparoa National Park |
Our next walk was a little more strenuous and Don and I
chose to take the shorter route to see the seals basking on the rocks rising
from the sea below the cliffs. We also learned about the Waka (one of the
flightless birds that is almost extinct).
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| Gold stamp mill at Blacks Point |
We ended up in Reeftown for several interesting educational
experiences. We had a tour of a gold mine museum, learned about Reeftown’s role
in being the first town to have DC electricity in the 1870’s, ate lunch in a
local cafe and bakery, drove to Blacks Point to visit a museum of mining and
historical objects (all the stuff we threw away in the 60’s), and ended up at a
peaceful home with a gorgeous garden near the river to have tea. The weather
was perfect and we had a lovely time.
When we got back to our hotel our guide built a fire on
the beach and cooked us a delicious bar-b-q of lamb, chicken, and sausage. After a walk on the beach we headed to bed. A
perfect end to a perfect day.
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| Tour group barbecue at Punakaiki |
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