Our next target was the pancake rocks in Punakaiki, a little way north of Greymouth. We'd decided to spend the night here (many people just pop in on their way along the west coast), in a nice enough backpackers on the beach – our room, which was a shed like annex to the main building was practically touching the sand.
The pancake rocks are limestone pinnacles that formed in distinct 6 inch layers (apparently for reasons unknown), that look not unlike a large stack of pancakes. Amongst the rocks are a couple of blowholes, that fire up large plumes of spry during high tides and heavy swells. Unfortunately during our first visit, a few hours hours before high tide, they were putting on a bit of a lacklustre performance.
The plan for the next day was to drop back down to Greymouth, then cross over to Christchurch on the East coast via Arthur's Pass. Before leaving Punakaiki we revisited the blowholes, which, given the high tide and heavier seas, where putting on more of a performance.
Arthur's Pass is another hiking centre, with many single and multi-day walks starting, finishing or passing through. Given our time constant, we took the easy 1 hour walk to the attractive Devil's Punchbowl waterfall, before continuing on to Christchurch.
As you drop down from the hills to the flat land west of Christchurch, the land becomes more parched and the thermometer starts to rise, reaching 35ºC before dropping back as you near the coast.
Christchurch is a city of some 344,000 souls, and architecturally it differs from other New Zealand cities in its lack of wooden buildings. In fact, in size and appearance, it's not dissimilar to Cardiff. So 24 hours in Christchurch – we had a mediocre meal, then found a bar knocking out indie classics . The next day (after moving the car) we did the circuit on the tram, took in an art gallery, then entered tourist hell as we were punted round the Avon.
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