Rainy Sunday Adventures—25 September 2016

As we are quickly finding out, rain is part of life on the West Coast and we are trying not to let it slow us down.  So, yesterday we packed up our rain pants, boots and snacks and headed down the coast towards Punakaiki, home of the famous Pancake Rocks (so called for their layered stack-like appearance and the English bastardization of the Maori name).  It’s about an hour drive and we expected a fair amount of bellyaching from the backseat mafia; however, we were pleasantly surprised by their chipper chatter the whole ride down.

Our first stop was to check out a sea cave near where the Fox River runs into the Tasman Sea.  For you sticklers out there, it’s called the Te Ana a Matuku Cave and was apparently a stopover for Maori travelers long ago.  After suiting up in our foul weather gear, we cruised across an old wooden bridge and through a mysterious tunnel that ran through the rock adjacent to the River.  On the return, Rosie slipped and fell, and Dara and I shot each other knowing glances about how close she came to sliding down the 10 feet to the river bed below.  Phew.  Then it was under the bridge, through the bush, past three small cottages to the Cave.  Although not extensive, it was grand and provided shelter from the rain and surf.  Since it was low tide, we were able to amble about and check out some of the other rock formations along the coast.

Then it was back in the car to head to Truman’s Track a little further south.  We ate our sandwiches in the car (PB + Nutella for the kids; Turkey for dad; salami, cream cheese and olives for Mom), then headed out to the rainforest/jungle patch down to the beach.  Just before the descent to the beach, we saw a small hole in the rock where the surf pushes a spray of water up through, making a pretty sweet blow hole.  We’ll have to come back at high tide to see it in its full glory.  We cruised down to the beach, taking a moment to hide from Mom and Rose under a rock overhang.  Then it was across the pebbly beach to the waterfall where Hazel threatened to take a shower and Rosie in her traction-less rain boots repeatedly slipped, but avoided serious injury.  Although the waterfall was the highlight, this beach was full of small surprises—overhangs, rock formations, fossils in the rock and a small cavern just big enough for three kids to fit in (and get out of).  On our way back up to the trail, we saw a seal pup tucked in under the rock much to the delight of all five of us.  Then it was a quick look at the blow hole one last time before cruising through the jungle back to the car.

Our final stop was the famed Pancake Rocks.  We didn’t expect much since we weren’t hitting the tides right, but we figured it was still worth a look.  But first, a pit stop.  We paid full tourist prices for hot chocolates (which always come with marshmallows in NZ) and flat whites at the Punakaiki Café, but enjoyed them just the same and snuck in some Tim Tams for good measure.  Then it was a quick cruise down to the rocks where we could see the crazy geologic formations and three dolphins giving a coordinated swimming display.   We will have to return another time for the fury of the high tide blow hole show.

All in all, a good day.

JM

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