Road trip to west coast, pt 1

Monday was Labour Day in New Zealand. We went away for the long holiday weekend with our buds B & K. We drove about 3 hours west to Greymouth, on the west coast, and then a bit north along the coast to Punakaiki, home of the 'Pancake Rocks.' There are 2 routes to Greymouth, so we took one route on the way there and a different route on the way back.

This installment includes photos from the journey to the west coast and the pancake rocks.

On the way there, we drove the Arthur's pass route. The scenery was other-worldly. The low hanging clouds added to the effect.

Our little Honda Fit managed the mountainous journey like a champ! We were packed with 4 adults and a boot full of camping gear, but chugged along just fine.

This is one of many, many whitebait fishermen we saw over the weekend. Whitebait fishing is big business for lots of south island folks. We saw many people sitting by the sides of rivers with their whitebait fishing nets, waiting patiently. Whitebait are tiny white fish, about the size of a little worm. The cafes in Greymouth sell whitebait fritters.
We've made it to camp now! We set up on this grassy spot at the Punakaiki Beach Camp. We couldn't see the ocean from the camp site, but we could hear it. It was about 100 meters away. That's B & K's tent in the front, and our tent (which before this weekend, seemed huge, but after being parked next to B & K's tent, not so much) behind.
These little flightless birds were all over the place. We learned they are called wekas. They are not shy at all. I fed one a cracker. It ran away into the bush with it, and then came back a second later for more. Pretty cute little dudes.
This is the coastline just by our campsite. Not the kind of beach you'd want to swim in - a bit chilly and very wavy. Very nice to listen to and to look at though. And the crazy kiwis probably do swim in it...

And now here we are at the Pancake Rocks. These rocks are some sort of geological mystery. They kind of look like pancakes. They're pleasing to look at, especially on a sunny day.
During high tide, the waves are supposed to crash up with a blow hole effect. We came right after high tide the first day, and then went back right at high tide the second day. Still, not much blow hole action going on. We think the weather was too calm and sunny for the show to really happen. Still, it was pretty.
More pancakey rocks... would you just look at that blue sea?!? Divine. Way, way in the distance is Australia (not shown here).

We walked back along the rocky beach. This is rugged coast. Think stones, not white sand.
B & K found some choice rocks. If we had a rock polisher and cutter, we could make nice green stone jewelry and sell it to tourists.
The men prepare dinner. Note Gareth's newest toy - the yellow gas stove. We're rocking TWO burners when we camp now, not just one. And dinner was twice as good.
Next up: our hike to cave creek and some other nice things you will want to see.