Punakaiki

In 2002 Rich cycled NZ for 6 weeks. The West Coast was his favourite part of the trip, and he particularly remembers Punakaiki as being a highlight. He has been wanting to come back. It is also 20 years ago at this exact time, (between Christmas and New Years 2006), that Rich and I met in Lima, Peru.

I think it is fitting that we should be here for this anniversary ❤️

We left Tui Cottage at 0845 on Boxing Day, after a relaxed, fun Christmas Day, and headed off.

It was a long drive, we took Arthurs Pass, which like all the Passes in the South Island, is spectacular. On the way listening to our music play list and Luca’s. Spotify does an age calculation based on your music choices and Luca’s is apparently 74!!! 😂 He has an eclectic, diverse taste, growing up listening to our music from 60’s, 70’s and a little 80’s and has always been partial to Jazz, think Chet Baker and a little Paul Anka or Engelbert Humperdinck, so I kinda get it!

We arrived around 5:30 pm to our accommodation, the.Punakaiki Rocks Hotel & Garden Bar. It is pretty basic but sits in a great position to do the things we wanted and fairly reasonable price wise compared to a lot of the others in the area. We had dinner and went for a walk. It had rained hard on the way, and we were worried we were in for a notorious wet, wild, west coast experience. We figured it was time, as each time we have ventured here the weather has been spectacular. As the sun set it though it was cloudy and threating rain, but we had a dry walk…

The rock face sitting above our Hotel…

The foliage on the West Coast is unlike anywhere else in NZ, we absolutely love it. The air is so full of oxygen, it is very invigorating!

The beach goes on forever it seems….

Rich and I headed off early the next morning to do the famous Pancake Rocks. Luca slept he needed to catch up before he hits the ship.

They have done this area up so well protecting the flora and fauna but still letting you explore its wonders, and the weather started to improve which made it even better.

They are called Pancake Rocks for obvious reason 🙂

After this we grabbed a pie, Rich fed a local, because you would not want to be rude and refuse a request…

and we dropped some food off to Luca, then hit the first part of the Paparoa Great Walk. Luca was invited, but when he heard we were off for a “stroll” he said “I know what that means, a 4–5-hour hike!” he wasn’t wrong it took at least that. Needless to say, he declined 😊

I cannot find the words to express how wonderful the hike was. I will let the photos speak for themselves. Rich and I have not felt like that on a walk in a long, long time, we loved it!

We met a couple of friendly locals on the way….

Photo overload I know, but I wanted to try and capture the beauty of it so I can remember how it made us feel. Nothing beats the West Coast of NZ on a stunning day when it comes to natural beauty, nothing!

We arrived home in time to collect Luca for dinner; he reminded us again why, when we use the phrase, “we are going for a stroll”, it is not what most people mean when they say it 😊, but he was happy for us that we enjoyed it.

Up early this morning on the way out of town we hunted for the place Rich stayed in 2002 and found it! He thought it a magical place at the time and although I did not get any photos, we took a sneak peek around, it is indeed magical down that little road, and I understand why Rich was so taken with it at the time!

We drove up the coast all the way to Westport…

stopping at Carters Beach for food …

and onto Cape Foulwind with its lighthouse and beautiful walkway.

Then we hit the road again stopping at Bullers Gorge for an explore and zip line across!!!!!!!! These two are almost shoulder to shoulder these days!

Finally arriving here in Picton at 5pm. We have lovely little Airbnb not far from the centre of town. This is embedded in our small garden hedge, (Rich’s favourite NZ bird, the Pukeko), it is a peaceful and beautifully kept spot, perfect for what we need.

Luca boards at 2pm tomorrow and sets sail at 5pm, so it is bedtime now. It is into the Marlborough Sounds next for us all….