Day 24: Westport - Hokitika

The two guys who own Bazil's Backpackers have a nice set up. Work 4 on / 4 off for 6 months, teach surfing on your days off and travel the rest of the year. They're also very helpful, so when I enquired "is there anything worth doing on the road north of here" I got a long list of options which would take a whole day to get through.

There was a lot of rain forecast for today but it was coming from the south, so heading north first was probably a good idea, despite the fact that I was heading south to overnight. The road north ultimately ends after about 100 kms, at the car park for the 82 kms long Great Walk - The Heaphy Track. The guy on reception had told me to walk about an hour along the track to get to "the best beach ever". I said I'd already seen the 5 best beaches ever and that each one was better than the previous, so he had a hard act to follow. He then countered with "well, at least it's the best car park ever".

He wasn't wrong. Despite the fact it was now very overcast and the rain was on it's way, the views were stunning.

I even had company as I set my foot on the ground leaving the car.

So I took the Heaphy Track and actually walked the first 5.5 kms of it. A beautiful walk with virtually no-one around.

I turned around after a bit more than an hour, a bit worried that the wildlife was getting a bit dangerous ;)

Got back to the car just as a light rain drizzle was starting and drove on to the next point of interest, the Arapito arch - New Zealand's largest limestone arch which you reach by driving 14 kms of rough gravel road.

You can also walk to the Mirror Tarn, a circular lake which acts as a perfect mirror for the surrounding deep forest. It was by now pouring with rain - so it wasn't "mirroring".

With the heavy rain now settled in for the next few hours I decided to drive back south and continue to Punakaiki, home of the famous "pancake rocks".

I try to avoid looking at pictures of places before I go there - I want to have the feeling of awe of seeing things for the first time. This was the case with pancake rocks. I had no idea what to expect, but I wasn't disappointed. The formations, which science still hasn't been able to explain, were spectacular.

I got really lucky with the weather here - the only half hour between midday and late evening when it wasn't pouring down was when I was at pancake rocks.

Didn't take too long to then drive down to Hokitika, tonight's destination. Checked into the Birdsong YHA, another great little hostel.

A great day, despite the rain, with a lot of walking.

Ending the day with the "pancakorama of the day".